BolognaFiere China Launches 'Shanghai Illustration and Pop Show'

In a major new undertaking in illustration—BolognaFiere China aims to expand the sphere of world book fairs and trade shows.

The Shanghai Exhibition Centre, a 1955 facility is to become the home of the new Shanghai Illustration and Pop Show in May 2025, a joint presentation of the BolognaFiere Group, carried out through its subsidiary BolognaFiere China Ltd. Image: BolognaFiere China

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Introducing the ‘Shanghai Illustration and Pop Show’

As Publishing Perspectives will recall, the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF, November 14 to 16) is directed by Donna Chai and enjoys a close collaboration with Elena Pasoli‘s Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF, April 13 to 16).

What has developed in that collaboration since its inception in 2018 is a unique model of trade-show mentoring, if you will, and today (September 8), a new chapter in that mutually beneficial relationship has been announced. As some of Bologna’s literature explains, the Shanghai trade show “is the only event that can be analogized to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in being focused exclusively on children’s publishing and with a predominantly professional format.”

On the ground, BolognaFiere China produces a seamless, comfortable working relationship between Chai, Pasoli, and the Bologna Book Plus director Jacks Thomas, all of which is clearly evident. on the ground in Shanghai during the annual show in November. And that success is a logical reflection of Pasoli and Bologna’s frequent ability to read the horizon and make out new undertakings to take advantage of it–sometimes years before other industry players and exhibitions do.

Pasoli, for example, has mad Bologna Children’s Book Fair a patron member of the International Publishers Association (IPA), which sets the Italian trade show squarely into the context of the book publishing world industry’s developments and challenges, and provides for channels of influence between the nations and business sectors with which the Bologna program works.

Now, the relationship is bearing new fruit: In 2026 (May 29 to 31), the “Shanghai Illustration and Pop Show” is to be established at the iconic 1955 Shanghai Exhibition Centre and organized by BolognaFiere China with the support of the Shanghai International Culture Association and the Cultural Office of the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai—all in scientific collaboration with the Illustrators Exhibition of Bologna and the Milan-based Mimaster Illustrazione.

The intent is not just to present an attractive exhibition but to “provide brands, agencies, buyers, collectors, and illustrators from China and across Asia with a shared professional platform dedicated to illustration—not only linked to the children’s world, but embracing the entire spectrum—and pop culture.” There’s a good chance that some of the growing success of the annual Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids program will be influential in the new program.

Three Major Sectors in the New Exhibition

Image: Shanghai Illustration and Pop Show, BolognaFiere China

At this point, organizers say they anticipate as many as 300 exhibitors from at least 10 countries and regions, including brands, studios, and independent creators.

Three thematic sections are being developed for the show:

Illustration as Art is to feature illustration in the context of contemporary art, through works and artist collaborations;
Pop and Brand is to “explore the role of visual storytelling in fashion, designer toys, and lifestyle”; and
Illustrators Avenue, focused on the work of independent illustrators from many parts of the world–a great hallmark, of course, of the Bologna fair’s annual emphasis.

In reference to Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the new Shanghai Illustration and Pop Show is to include an Illustrators’ Survival Corner, as the trade show in Italy does each year, something curated by Mimaster Illustrazione.

But as discerning observers of the Bologna-Shanghai development, this news represents a major new sphere of presentation and a formidable new undertaking likely to expand the immediate community of world book fairs and trade shows. Publishing Perspectives will keep you apprised of developments as they arrive.

At Frankfurter Buchmesse (October 15 to 19), find Bologna Children’s Book Fair and its Bologna Book Plus and in Hall 5.0, at Stand B63.

More from Publishing Perspectives on the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair is here. More from us on China’s market is here, our closely followed China Bestsellers series produced in association with Beijing OpenBook is here, more on illustration in the book business is here, and more on children’s books is here.

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About the Author

Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.