A marker, a patch of white wall and an idea were enough to bring strangers together at the Sharjah Animation and Comics Conference (SACC 2026).
Under the invitation to “Leave Your Mark”, visitors began filling a communal drawing wall with favourite characters, personal sketches and spontaneous doodles, turning it into an evolving record of the people passing through the conference.
Some came with years of professional experience. Others simply wanted to draw.
For the artist Nasser Elsamani, who has worked in the anime industry for nearly eight years, contributing to the wall was something he had specifically hoped to do after missing the opportunity during his previous visit to SACC. That was one reason he made sure to be there on the opening day this year.
His sketches included Naruto and Sasuke from the Japanese manga and anime series Naruto, as well as a character from Fate/Grand Order.
But for Nasser, the wall was only one part of what brought him back. He said events such as SACC are giving animation greater visibility across the Middle East and North Africa, particularly for younger artists who may not have had easy access to training or industry networks.
“Growing up in Sudan, there was nothing like this for me to go to,” he said. “I had to look for courses online and learn the medium myself.”
He said the opportunity to attend workshops and meet experienced animators, including professionals working with Japanese studios, can make creative careers feel more tangible for aspiring artists.
“Maybe you can become an animator or a director, or whatever else you aspire to be in this industry. SACC opens the door to opportunities that weren’t there before,” he said.
Different journeys, one canvas
A few spaces along the wall, Mexican animator Kassandra Chapa was adding her own work.
Now based in Abu Dhabi, Chapa travelled to Sharjah for her first-ever SACC experience with a different but complementary ambition: to meet other professionals and explore how Japanese-style animation could develop further in the UAE.
“We want to make more connections, maybe expand Japanese-based animation into the UAE,” she said. “There’s plenty of talent. It just needs some management; it needs nourishment.”
Chapa has worked in anime for four years and joined Japanese animation studio David Production more than a year ago. For her, drawing has moved well beyond being a hobby, but the emotional reward remains simple.
What matters most, she said, is seeing the finished work and knowing that audiences enjoy it.
She also welcomed SACC’s mix of international guests and emerging creatives, particularly the opportunity for visitors to learn directly from people already working in the industry.
A wall that keeps changing
Around Nasser and Kassandra, other visitors continued adding their own lines, characters and ideas. That is what gives the wall its charm. It is not a finished artwork, nor is it meant to be. Over four days, it will keep changing as more people stop, pick up a marker and leave something behind.
A professional animator may draw beside a first-time visitor. A familiar anime character may sit next to an original creation. Different styles, backgrounds and levels of experience gradually meet in the same space.
At SACC 2026, that shared wall becomes a small reflection of the conference itself: a place where people who make animation, people who hope to make it and people who simply love it can occupy the same creative space.
All it takes is a marker and somewhere to begin.
