9月26日、27日，法國里昂的 Les SUBS 與里昂高等美術學院（ENSBA Lyon）兩個場地，掛著六位台灣創作者的名字。這是第四屆 IF Illustration Festival，也是這個藝術節第一次設「主賓國」，第一個被請上位置的，是台灣。
名單很具體：Acia Yang、洪添賢（Croter）、張梓鈞、黃大為（David Huang）、黃詩柔、鍾承旭。展覽之外，還有兩支台灣動畫 VR 短片放映，黃詩柔的《Girl in the water》與鍾承旭的《Me and Me》，透過 Festivals Connexion 進到歐洲短片節的管道裡。
主視覺只有五個名額
整份名單裡，黃大為的那一行最耐看。黃大為旅居英國，同時被邀請成為本屆五位主視覺創作者之一。主視覺是整個藝術節的臉，海報、場刊、街上看板都得靠它。五個名額裡有一個給了從台灣出發、人在英國的插畫家，這個位置不是陪襯用的。
一位插畫家身上同時掛著英國和法國兩個市場的履歷，放在這次台法合作裡看，是一條很具體的路：先在一個地方被看見，下一個地方的策展單位接得住。
英美與法國，畫的是兩種書
張梓鈞對兩邊繪本的觀察，講得很直白：英美作品偏重邏輯，帶著經典童書的味道；法國繪本不受年齡限制，設計感更強。一本書給五歲小孩讀，一本書放在大人的書架上，兩種做法都叫繪本，客人卻不一樣。
台灣插畫家要把作品帶去歐洲，先得知道面對的是哪一種桌子。這句觀察等於替後面的人省下好幾年摸索。
誰搭的台
這次由文化部駐法國台灣文化中心與法國文化機構 KIBLIND 合作推出「Focus Taiwan」。台灣文化中心在法國有長年累積，法國策展單位負責對接，一邊是展覽，一邊是動畫 VR，兩條線同時走。至於為什麼是這個組合、這個時間點被選上，背後通常不會只有一個原因：作品本身的辨識度、既有合作基礎、單位之間談得攏，都得算進去。
同一年的4月，台北花博公園辦過 Illustration Taipei，約 400 位創作者從台灣、日本、韓國、東南亞，以及法國、義大利等地過來。人往台北走，作品往里昂走，兩個方向都有動靜。
藝術節結束了，海報撤下，場地回到日常。六個名字接下來會出現在哪一本書、哪一面牆上，還沒有人寫下來。
— 蔡子涵
Lyon’s First Guest Country Is an Island
On September 26 and 27, six Taiwanese names went up at two venues in Lyon: Les SUBS and ENSBA Lyon. It was the fourth IF Illustration Festival and the first time the festival had a guest country at all. Taiwan was the first one invited.
The lineup was specific: Acia Yang, 洪添賢 (Croter), 張梓鈞, 黃大為 (David Huang), 黃詩柔 and 鍾承旭. Alongside the exhibition came two Taiwanese animated VR shorts, 黃詩柔’s 《Girl in the water》 and 鍾承旭’s 《Me and Me》, screened through Festivals Connexion, a route into the European short-film circuit.
Five key-visual slots
The line worth reading twice belongs to 黃大為. Based in the UK, 黃大為 was also invited as one of the festival’s five key-visual creators. The key visual is the festival’s face: posters, programs, signage on the street. One of five slots went to an illustrator who left Taiwan and now works from Britain. That is not a decorative seat.
An illustrator carrying both a British and a French track record shows what this Taiwan-France collaboration can look like in practice. Get noticed in one place, and the next place’s curators have something to pick up.
Two kinds of picture book
張梓鈞’s observation was blunt. British and American work leans on logic and has the feel of classic children’s books. French picture books carry no age limit and push design harder. One kind of book is read to a five-year-old. The other sits on an adult’s shelf. Both are called picture books, and the audiences differ.
A Taiwanese illustrator taking work to Europe first has to know which table is being set. That one remark could save the next person years of guessing.
Who built the stage
The 「Focus Taiwan」 program came from the Taiwan Cultural Center in France and the French cultural organization KIBLIND. A cultural center with a long presence in France, a local organizer to make the connections, an exhibition on one track and animated VR on another. Why this lineup and why this moment rarely comes down to a single reason. The strength of the work, existing relationships and organizations that could agree on terms all count.
Earlier in the same year, in April, Illustration Taipei at Taipei Expo Park gathered about 400 creators from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, France, Italy and elsewhere. Visitors travel to Taipei, and work travels to Lyon. Traffic runs both ways.
The festival is over, the posters are down, and the venues have gone back to ordinary days. Which book or which wall will carry these six names next has not been written yet.
— 蔡子涵
延伸閱讀
https://justfly.idv.tw/s/d1nTSnN