The 5th COPIC Taiwan ACG Original Illustration Awards Exhibition and Ceremony
Exhibition Period｜2021/02/18～03/01
In 2020, the 5th COPIC Taiwan ACG Original Illustration Competition invited participants to unleash their creativity under the theme "Taiwanese Fruit Rhapsody," charting a fantastical adventure for the island's native fruits. Selected from thousands of submissions, the shortlisted, honorable mention, and winning works are not only on display at the Taipei Tech Arts and Culture Center but will also embark on a series of touring exhibitions. Regarding this year's judging criteria, COPIC Assistant Manager Liu Yen-ting noted: "Beyond technical skill, narrative storytelling is what the judges valued most. The winning pieces mostly integrate backgrounds and characters steeped in Taiwanese cultural elements, backed by highly engaging story premises." Sparking unrestrained imagination in students is the core objective of the competition, with the "Taiwanese Fruit" theme specifically chosen to guide youth in cultivating their imagination and narrative prowess. The works that captured the judges' favor achieved more than just aesthetic "perfection"; they simultaneously demonstrated rigorous thematic arrangement, execution, and underlying logic. The standards of this submission call mirror the current discourse in Taiwan’s aesthetic education. It moves beyond merely teaching students to appreciate beauty, pushing to deepen the connection between aesthetic experience and everyday life—guiding students to actively create beauty so that it continues to sustain, diffuse, grow, and evolve. Through this competition framework, students are encouraged to cultivate sharper observations and reflections on their environment, unearthing the multi-layered possibilities hidden within daily scenes. The Arts and Culture Center space provides a physical sanctuary for viewers to interface and interact with these creations. Through this exchange, the illustrator's intent can forge an empathetic connection with the audience, potentially triggering further dialogue among viewers. These creative sparks and energies—occurring outside the traditional classroom and within lived environments—enrich the accumulation of aesthetic experience, unlocking new possibilities for realizing the ideals of modern aesthetic education.
Performance Highlights