Weaving Local Stories with Animation: 2026 Animation Art Workshop Concludes Successfully

The 12th Taichung International Animation Festival (TIAF) will take place from October 3 to October 10 at the Vie Show Cinemas in iFG Far Eastern Plaza, Taichung. The opening warm-up event, the '2026 Animation Art Workshop,' successfully concluded on September 9. Organized by the Taichung Film and Cultural Development Foundation, the workshop attracted 40 enthusiastic elementary school students from grades three to six. The children unleashed their boundless imagination, transforming Taichung's banana industry and the cultural history of its famous sun cakes into creative inspirations, producing a series of animated works rich with local flavor and leaving unforgettable, precious memories of their summer vacation.

This year’s workshop once again invited instructor Chang Shu-man, a long-time advocate of children's animation education, to guide the young participants. Using diverse materials such as collage, cardboard, and wooden puppets, the children experienced the full animation production process—from story conception and art design to animation shooting and voice recording—step by step, gradually crafting their own unique animated works. To deepen the children's understanding of their hometown's culture while learning animation, the workshop specially adopted two creative themes: 'The Great Adventure of Banana Soldiers – Taichung's Green Gold Time Machine' and 'The Train Journey of Sun Cake – The Legend of Taichung Pastries.' These themes guided participants to draw inspiration from Taichung's history and industrial culture. Through animation, the children rediscovered the cultural landscape of their hometown, transforming familiar local memories into playful stories. Not only did they experience the joy and sense of achievement in animation production, but they also expressed deep affection for their community.

Wang Yun-yu, Acting Executive Director of the Taichung Film and Cultural Development Foundation, stated that the foundation has long been committed to promoting animation education, aiming to make animation not just a professional field within the film industry, but a cultural art form accessible, experiential, and creatable by everyone. The annual Animation Art Workshop, held each summer, has become one of the key pre-festival events of the Taichung International Animation Festival. It not only showcases the fruitful results of Taichung's deep-rooted animation education but also highlights the vibrant energy of animation culture taking root and expanding outward. She expressed that witnessing children transform a single creative idea into a complete animated work within just a few days is both surprising and moving. Through hands-on creation, children not only understand the principles and processes of animation production but also experience the essential differences between handmade creation and AI-generated content, further cultivating respect for the creative process and media literacy—key educational values of the Animation Art Workshop.

The '2026 Taichung International Animation Festival' will be held from October 3 to October 10 at the Vie Show Cinemas in iFG Far Eastern Plaza, Taichung. The exciting lineup and series of events will be announced progressively. For the latest updates, please follow the TIAF official website (https://twtiaf.com) and Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/tiaf.taichung/).