At the opening ceremony, President of the International Board on Books for Young People Basarat Kazim reflected on her early connection with Chinese art and the universal power of visual storytelling.
"Illustrations have a language of their own. They cross borders without a passport and speak to the heart before the mind," Kazim said. "In a world that so often speaks loudly, they remind us that the gentlest voices are sometimes the ones that stay with us the longest."
