New Kids' Festival in Singapore

I'd like to thank Jade Young of the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) for letting me know about the upcoming Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) happening this May in Singapore and--hopefully--traveling around to new countries and venues in the years after that. In this inaugural session the organizers hope to bring together authors, illustrators, filmmakers, television producers, and everyone else involved in creating (or consuming!) children's media in Asia for a few days of workshops, classes, networking opportunities, an Asian Media Market, a Children's Book Award, Children's Writer Award, and other fun activities. There's a little information on this website. The whole program is an offshoot of the ten-year-old Asian Children's Writers & Illustrators Conference, so although this specific event is new the organizers themselves are not neophytes, as the following information from the NBDCS shows:

1. Asian Content for the World’s Children

Over a billion children in Asia lack good resources, both for their education and entertainment. Those who have the means and the access, benefit from a wide selection of edutainment material available from the West. Asian material, even those available, is seldom promoted and is therefore left unexplored. Bringing quality Asian content to children is paramount as it would make children aware of Asia’s unique environment and cultural values, promote understanding of, and love for, the literary and visual arts. It will thereby lay the foundation for a good and all-round education.

Asia is rich in culture and tradition; a heritage from which content could be developed. What’s more, the region has talent to produce content based on these sources. It is therefore critical that an annual programme called the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) be organised to draw the attention of content creators and producers to this vast opportunity AFCC will also showcase content already available, and promote new materials that are produced and published. This will benefit parents, teachers, librarians and children in Asia as well as the world.

For the past 10 years, the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS or The Book Council in short) has organised the Asian Children’s Writers & Illustrators Conference (ACWIC) to develop new materials for children. It now aims to expand ACWIC’s reach by including the new initiative that AFCC promises. The Festival, with a series of innovative programmes, seeks to fill the direct need for quality Asian Children’s content worldwide, particularly in Asia.

The inaugural AFCC will be held in Singapore in May 2010 and will be organised by the Book Council and The Arts House.


2. Advisory Board

Ms Claire Chiang, Senior Vice President of Banyan Tree Holdings (Singapore) is the Chairperson of the Board.

Please see Appendix 1 for the full list of members in the Board.

3. Vision, Mission & Objectives

a. Vision

To provide the World’s children with quality Asian content for education and entertainment.

b. Mission

To foster excellence in the creation, production and publication of children’s materials with Asian content in all formats and to facilitate their distribution and access, first in Asia and then to children worldwide.

c. Objectives

• Develop children’s materials with Asian content for information, education and entertainment.
• Promote publishing of Asian children’s content in all formats.
• Provide children in Asia and the world with ready and easy access to Asian content.


4. AFCC Programme Outline

a. Core Programmes (6 & 7 May 2010)

• Asian Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference (ACWIC)
• Asian Children’s Media Mart (ACM) including Asian Children’s Rights Market
• Special programmes, master classes and workshops on a variety of specialised topics
• ASEAN / India Writers and Illustrators Dialogue (AIWID)
• Asia / Australia Writers and Illustrators Network (AWIN)

b. 8 May 2010 (Saturday)

• Primary and Pre-School Teachers Congress (PSTC)
• Asian Children’s Librarians Seminar (ACLS)
• Asian Children’s Publishers Symposium (ACPS)

c. 9 May 2010 (Sunday)

• Asian Parents’ Forum (APF)
• A special session on suitable content for children and young adults

Please see Appendix 2 for the AFCC programme structure.

5. Target Audience

The entire community of children’s content creators in all formats, i.e. aggregators, disseminators, retailers and consumers etc.

• Writers, illustrators, digital artists, producers and designers of children's content, including comics, books, e-books, graphic novels, videos, films and educational games
• Librarians and institutional buyers
• Publishers and broadcast media executives
• Educators, primary and preschool teachers
• Literary agents, translators
• Media distributors and vendors
• Multimedia professionals
• Parents
• Vendors of educational products and services

More than 400 hundred participants from the region are expected to participate in the Festival.


6. Conclusion

Over four exciting days, the AFCC delegates will get to celebrate and learn about Asian children's content in all formats and subjects from diverse sources. It will provide a platform to trade, exchange and access Asian children’s content.

The participants will network with fellow producers of children’s content, as well as meet solution-suppliers from the region.

Very crucially, AFCC provides a unique opportunity for professionals involved in developing Asian content for children to reflect on how these materials could be produced, distributed and effectively used to provide quality education and stimulating entertainment for the young people.


R. Ramachandran
Executive Director
National Book Development Council of Singapore
www.bookcouncil.sg
November, 2009


* I've omitted the appendices, but those interested in more information can contact the NBDCS. Best of luck to the organizers!