The World Illustration Awards bring together illustrators from across the globe.

This curated selection showcases work that explores cultural heritage from a diverse range of perspectives and countries.

A shared visual language gives an insight into how other people live, and the stories they tell.

Alona Shostko‘s book illustrations skilfully blend text and imagery to create dynamic spreads full of interesting facts about Ukraine, it’s people and culture. The aim is to get more people interested in Ukraine and promote its culture and traditions more widely.

This design for a long silk scarf by Grace Park shows the silk road trading route that runs between China and Italy. The limited colours allow for the tonal patterning and delicate details to shine through.

This illustration by Maria Kim was created in response to a memoir about the author’s grandmother, a Korean restaurant owner. This stylised depiction uses traditional elements to enhance the feeling of looking back in time.

Darel Seow and Lee Xin Lee‘s mural for Singapore Art Museum shows the connection between culture, environment and architecture. The juxtapositions of ideas allow for viewers to form narratives and question those presented to them by the Museum.

Willustration‘s ambitious work for the public realm celebrates the heritage and industrial history of the city of Sheffield through bold sweeps of colour.

This illustration by Pang is inspired by the Chinese Spring Festival, where vast numbers of people return home to celebrate with family. This piece is created digitally, inspired by traditional ink drawing, and using a crayon texture to convey the dusty road.

This delicate illustration by Xin He shows the culture and poetry of the Song Dynasty of China. The image has references to traditional Chinese painting, with accents of colour that make these illustrations come to life.

A series of illustrations by Victoria Semykina for Baku magazine celebrate Azerbaijani jazz composer and musician Salman Gambarov. The mixed media drawings capture the spirit, energy and physicality of jazz music.

Xinmei Liu‘s illustration looks at the different etiquettes of diverse cultures. It questions what makes ‘good manners’ and ‘good behaviour’, important themes in the face of trends such as social credit.

Virginia Lorente‘s elegant children’s book illustrations tell the story of Rafael Guastavino, an architect who emigrated from Spain to the USA. The book has a wider message about the power of cultural exchange.

This map by Laimute Varkalaite gathers together the world’s cryptids. Cryptids are animals and beings that are thought to exist – some possibly do, while others exist only in folklore and the collective imagination.