Skip to main content
Asian Festival of Children’s Content
22—25 May 2025

The Book Illustrators Gallery (BIG) is a key feature of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. From featured twin illustrators and budding artists, to seasoned and award-winning submissions, this year’s gallery showcases the best picture book illustrations by illustrators and artists from Southeast Asia, those based in Asia and in the global Asian diaspora.

For this edition, the Open Submissions category received tremendous support, with more than 730 illustration submissions - the most number AFCC has received to date. 

Of these, more than 340 illustrations by 84 artists from 24 countries have been selected to become part of the Open Submissions gallery. Meanwhile, 43 illustrations by close to 20 Korean illustrators comprise the COF Korea gallery.

This year’s galleries revolve around themes of family, emotions, imagination, courage, community, self-discovery, friendship, nature and many more!

Here's a snippet of what some of our curators say about this year's selection:

We hold the belief that a great picture book is never just “for children.” It opens doors for readers of all ages. With that in mind, we looked for illustrations that spark curiosity across generations—images that speak to the child and the grown-up
within us all.

- Phuong Vu & Pham Thi Hoai Anh
Initiative of Children's Book Creative Content-Vietnam 
(ICBC)

 

Read more about the
curators' comments here.

We extend our special thanks to this year’s curation partners for the Open Submission gallery: International Youth Library-Munich (Germany); IndBBY (Indonesia); Chihiro Art Museum (Japan); PBBY (Philippines); Hyundai Museum of Kids’ Books & Art (South Korea); ThaiBBY (Thailand); Initiative of Children’s Book Creative Content (Vietnam); and Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (USA).

BIG COF Korea extends our special thanks to our friends from the Korea Publishing Industry Promotion Agency (KPIPA) for curating the gallery.

Marked by their dynamic and energetic styles, discover these artists' free-spirited approach to storytelling through the illustrations in our galleries. BIG 2025's virtual galleries run until May 2026.

Rahma Muthia
Open Submissions Gallery
Kim Woo-young
Country of Focus: Korea
BIG Illustrators Directory
BIG Illustrators Directory
BIG Curators
BIG Curators
Top