28 May 2014 - The Philippine Embassy in Vientiane, in cooperation with Adarna House Publishing Company and Room-to-Read Laos, organized a Workshop on Illustrating for Children’s Storybooks from May 20 to 23 at the Vientiane City Library.

Ms. Asa Montenejo and Ms. Elirita Camacho, Director and supervising illustrator of Adarna House, conducted the four-day workshop. Twenty (20) illustrators from the Lao National Institute of Fine Arts, the Fine Arts Department of the National University of Laos, representatives from the Publishing Department of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICT), and freelance illustrators participated in the workshop.

At the opening ceremony of the workshop, Philippine Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos (Lao PDR) Maria Lumen B. Isleta shared that the partnership between Philippines and Lao PDR on this project reflects the value placed by both countries on education and in inculcating in children a love for books and reading.  Ambassador Isleta expressed the hope that the workshop will not only contribute to the moulding of young minds but also to the moulding of hearts, emphasizing that through storybooks, a country’s values, traditions, cultures and heritage are also imparted.

The Lao Illustrators’ workshop is part of the Philippines-Lao PDR Cross Cultural Exchange on Children’s Literature project of the Philippine Embassy in Vientiane. END