The programme was highlighted during President Emmanuel Macron’s official visit to India in 2026, underscoring a new chapter in Indo-French cultural relations.
New Delhi, 25.08.2026: India and France have further strengthened their cultural partnership with the introduction of ‘Desibel’, a pioneering multi-year initiative aimed at elevating India’s AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics and Immersive Content) industry on the global stage. Introduced by the Embassy of France in India and its department fostering France-India cooperation in science, education, and culture, the French Institute in India (IFI), along with support from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Desibel was highlighted during President Emmanuel Macron’s official visit to India earlier this year, signalling a new era in Indo-French cultural relations.
Backed by a two-year grant, the Desibel programme brings together four of India’s leading cultural organisations, spanning community libraries, publishing, and the animation and XR industry, reflecting the diversity and depth of India’s visual storytelling ecosystem. Inspired by India’s rich legacy of visual storytelling, from ancient manuscripts and regional comics to cutting-edge animation and XR, Desibel champions and connects these traditions with the world. Instead of backing a single project, the French organisers have united 3 Indian partners, Kutumb Foundation, Westland Books, and Aniverse & Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF), to drive impact from grassroots communities to the global stage.
Commending the initiative, H.E. Mr Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, said, “France has emerged as a pioneering partner in building cooperation with India in AVGC-XR industry. The strategic importance of this collaboration was underscored by the recognition of the Desibel initiative during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India last February, which opened the India-France Year of Innovation 2026. The talented Indian creators involved in the Desibel project are true Passeurs of culture, carrying stories, ideas, and innovation across borders. France is honoured to contribute to showcasing and amplifying their work on the international stage.”
At the grassroots level, the Kutumb Foundation, with the support of knowledge partner the Free Libraries Network, is transforming library engagement across India by distributing comics in multiple local languages and training librarians to make reading a community experience. This approach has
led to a 24% increase in library visits and greater circulation of comics, illustrating the immediate impact of Desibel’s vision. Meanwhile, Westland Books is at the forefront of a new publishing endeavour with the India Comics Project, commissioning 24 Indian artists to adapt literary classics into graphic novels. This ongoing programme, which is being published under the newly established imprint Lattis and will release its first titles in late 2026, is set to position Indian graphic storytelling on the international literary map.
Aniverse & Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF), for its part, is opening international doors for Indian animation, gaming, and XR talent through the AniMela Festival and the International Mifa Campus pitch lab. In a landmark moment for the sector, five Indian animation projects were pitched at France’s world-renowned Annecy Festival in June 2026, offering Indian creators unprecedented visibility among global industry leaders and audiences.
Desibel is anchored in four values: access, ensuring visual storytelling reaches communities beyond major cities; capacity-building, equipping librarians, artists, and creators with new skills; preservation, documenting India’s visual storytelling heritage; and international exchange, building sustainable pathways between Indian creators and the global, especially French, creative ecosystem. In every programme, Indian and French mentors, artists, curators, publishers, and institutions work together, whether it involves training librarians or mentoring animators, or shaping the future of Indian publishing.
Each strand of Desibel reinforces the others: Kutumb’s libraries cultivate new readers, Westland’s imprint delivers high-quality Indian comics, and AniMela helps Indian creators explore new technologies and international markets. This interconnected approach ensures a virtuous cycle from grassroots access to global recognition. With the India Comics Project reaching new readers, and AniMela’s talent featured at Annecy, Desibel marks a new chapter for Indian visual storytelling, inviting the world to experience the remarkable creativity and potential of India’s visual arts through international collaboration.
About the French Institute in India
The French Institute in India / Institut français en Inde (IFI) is a section of the Embassy of France responsible for connecting and implementing Indo-French human exchanges. IFI performs numerous functions: from promoting academic and scientific exchanges between higher institutes of learning and research to enabling student mobility and promoting the French language. We also foster links between artists, scientists, NGOs, professors, enterprises, film professionals, publishers and more. We support partnerships in research and innovation, capacity-building and interactions with civil society, vocational studies, as well as artistic and cultural partnerships in performance, books, film, fashion, design and more. We support and organise forums and debates that bring together innovators and thinkers from both countries. IFI works hand in hand with the network of 15 Alliance Française offices
across India: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Panjim, Pondicherry, Pune, Lucknow and Trivandrum.
