Maja communicates the “French Kiss” exhibition to a school class during the 2019 festival.
Maja communicates the “French Kiss” exhibition to a school class during the 2019 festival.


Mastering Visual Storytelling - A Common Challenge

We live in times where many new media and platforms constantly challenge our perception of identity, democracy and society. Libraries have always adopted the role of guarantor of knowledge and enlightenment, but developments make it necessary to think in new directions if we are to reach children and young people in particular in a chaotic flow of media.

This is why Svendborg Library launched the innovative CREATE Festival in 2017 (formerly known as Svendborg Graphic), which invites its participants inside the visual storytelling of games, animation and comics.

Aesthetic Learning Processes

At the festival, students have to get involved and become co-creators together with professional artists, game developers and communicators. Through the aesthetic learning processes, their world view is challenged and qualified through the very same media with which they are in constant contact.

An Extended Toolbox

So it's not just about giving children and young people a critical eye but about equipping them with the right tools to master these media. The toolbox this festival provides comes from the world of art and creativity.

From the “French Kiss” exhibition in 2019 – photo by Louis Thomas.
From the “French Kiss” exhibition in 2019 – photo by Louis Thomas.
Picture by Mathilde Garreau from the “Graphic Storytellers” exhibition.
Picture by Mathilde Garreau from the “Graphic Storytellers” exhibition.

Schools are Important

Without the participation of schools in the festival, our ambition to qualify the visual competencies of children and young people would be impossible to achieve. CREATE Festival has therefore continuously strived to develop the best possible conditions for teachers, so that they can incorporate visual storytelling into their teaching with a clear conscience.

Skills Development Offering

From 2023, CREATE Festival will therefore start to offer competence development for teachers who want to offer visual storytelling techniques in their teaching process. This offer is currently under development in collaboration with The Animation Workshops department for Animated Learning.