Sharing is caring!

Association Of Promoting Macao Comics and Animation Cultural Exchange has been working for many years to promote comic culture. Apart from publishing every year, the association also organizes regular exhibitions which features local comic artists and foreign cartoonists. At the same time, it also strives to promote Macao comics locally and internationally!

To promote the exchange of local comic artists with foreign cartoonists spanning from across different boundaries, “Asian Comic Artists’ Exhibition” was held at UNESCO Centre of Macau between Oct 9~14 by the Association Of Promoting Macao Comics and Animation Cultural Exchange. It was sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Macau Foundation.

The exhibition has invited several renowned foreign cartoonists including Leung Wai Ka (Hong Kong), Hiroshi Kanatani (Japan), Wee Tian Beng (Singapore), Huang Junwei (Taiwan), Kiattisak Phiokao (Thailand) and Lake Blue (Macau), where they attended the opening ceremony. The officiating guests were representatives from Macau Foundation and Macau New Daily.

Asides from the exhibition which featured impressive comic works and creations from different Asian regions, a free reading area was also set up on-site to showcase selected comic titles of the invited artists.

President Howard Chan revealed that he hoped to invite more comic artists from different countries in the coming year, and planned to incorporate interactive lectures and a comic-centric art market to create a more wholesome experience to increase the appeal of Macau as a tourist city.

Lake Moon ( 湖水蓝 ) is an artist based in Macao and was once very active in the local ACG scene. She likes to challenge a wide spectrum of themes and is currently creating her first comic debut – “Cruel Angel” 《残酷天使》.

Kiattisak Phiawkhao, an artist based in Thailand and who started off from a very young age, his company of 9 years – “Dreampath Studio” is an established name in the comics industry, where he focuses on overseas projects with much of his own style and themes. He is an active advocate for Thailand comics, where his representing comic “Muay Thai: Fighter for Freedom”  《泰拳：争取自由的战士》has been translated into many overseas editions.

Wee Tian Beng (黄展鸣 ) is the first Singapore comic artist to officially make a break into the market of international comics.

Recently, Tian Beng’s comics had been translated into 11 different languages – Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian. His comics have reached nearly 20 countries on four continents (Asia, Europe, North America and Australia).

To date, he has created more than 200 volumes of comic works and is also the only local comic artist which had attained a sales figure which stretched over millions.

In 1990s, he was invited by 2 Hong Kong publishers to create comic renditions for 2 famous novels “The Adventures of Wisely” by Mr. Ni Kuang and “Return Of The Condor Heroes” by Mr. Louis Cha. In 1999, he created his major comic series “The Celestial Zone” ( total of 5 series, 170 volumes). The Celestial Zone has become the longest-running and best selling comic series in Singapore.

In 2015, he organised the one-month long event “Singapore Original Comics Festival”, which included an exhibition featuring comic submissions from local and overseas artists, interactive artist talks, creative workshops, discussion panels, as well as Creative Market to promote original comic culture.

In 2016, he received the “Award of Creative Excellence – Outstanding Contribution to the Singapore Comics Industry” from ACAS.

In 2018, he started on his latest comic creation – “NEO ERA – The Adventure of TCZ Ai” .

In 2019, he organised the “Singapore International Original Comics Competition” to encourage the younger generation to show their creative flair and develop appreciation for original comics and creation culture.

Currently, Tian Beng is the Managing Director of TCZ Studio Pte Ltd, President of Singapore Comics Society and the representative of Singapore in International Comic Artists Conference.

Huang Junwei (黄俊维) hails from Fu-Hsin Trade & Arts School (Taiwan), he had solid experience via being the assistant to many established artists. His art style is delicate and precise and he an experienced illustrator and educator. He specializes in themes related to Time and Space, where he developed a unique story-telling style which melds reality and fantasy. 

Awards: Comic Award’s “Best New Entry”, 1st News Agency Comic Scenario Award (“Time Forest”. 2003)《时间森林》, News Agency Comic Scenario Award (“Vessel of Stars”, 2005)《星之船》, National Institute for Compilation and Translation’s Best Comic Award (“Disaster Detective”, 2010)《厄运侦探》, 1st Golden Comic Awards Nomination (第一届金漫奖少年漫画组)

Comic Titles Portfolio: “Sword of Dawn”《百辰劒》, “Disaster Detective”《厄运侦探》, “Star of the Night Demon”《夜魅星》, “No Kill”《不杀》, “Demon Transfer Student”《宇久纷华》, “Yu Jiu Atlas”《宇久纷华》.

Leong Wai Ka (梁伟家)，an established artist from Hong Kong, he was once the chief editor for “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber”《倚天屠龙记》 and “Heroes Shed No Tears”《英雄无涙》. After he went solo, he collaborated with Dai Qing Xian to create “Elimination Game”《灭绝遊戏》. He was once invited to do the storyboard for the “Psycho Detective”《诡探》 movie and was had formerly oversaw the production of the multi-verse comic “Black Comic”《黑漫画》. He had also recently collaborated with Zhu Fei Yang to create the “Earth Bodhisattva”《地藏》 graphic novel. He is also currently creating a special magazine edition for “All-Purpose Detective Agency” 《万能侦探社》movie!

Hiroshi Kanatani (金谷裕)，he’s a Japanese artist who once assisted renowned comic artist Kenichi Muraeda for “Oretachi No Field”《我们的足球场》, “Koujirou”《光路郎》, “Short Compilations of Kenichi Muraeda”《村枝贤一短篇集》and many other well-known titles. His recent works include “Shadowless”《无影》, “Yarukinai Boxer King”《没幹劲拳王》, “Lion’s Roar”《狮子咆吼》, “IROS”《怪兽阿伊洛斯》and soon to published “Black Angel”《黑天使》. In recent years, he had been very active at several comic conventions in the US, like San Diego Comic Fest, where his works are very much well-received.