It’s end of January again, and in comicsland that means that the French town of Angoulême will once again be invaded by comics creators, publishers and fans, celebrating their favorite artform in all its glory (over the weekend of the 28th to 31st). As much as I would have liked joining in the festivities, that’s not going to happen this year due to all kinds of reasons. So, what will I regret not having seen in a few weeks time, when the ecstatic reports come in from those who did make it?
First of course, the 100 pour 100 exposition, which presents one hundred classic pages from the brand-new Angoulême museum, along with their cover versions by current artists from around the globe. Just imagine comparing E.C. Segar with Florence Cestac, Moebius with Kazuichi Hanawa, Alberto Breccia with Lorenzo Mattotti, Milton Caniff with Jessica Abel, and George Herriman with Jean-Christophe Menu. Also in the Musée, a reprise has been organised of the exposition that was held in le Louvre in Paris earlier, featuring work by Nicolas de Crécy, Marc-Antoine Mathieu, Eric Liberge and Bernard Yslaire, and aiming at illustrating the diversity in media and ways of working that comics these days represent.
In the Bâtiment Castro, the celebrated genius Léonardo (from the gag series by Turk and De Groot) has set up life-sized replicas of several of his inventions for the audience to try out. This show, organised in collaboration with Eco-Emballages, wants to introduce concepts like sustainable development and recycling to the younger readers.
There will, of course, also be the great retrospective of the works of Blutch, the winner of last year’s festival, which features no less than 250 images from his work, presented as a tapestry without any obvious theme or subject, leaving the interpretation totally to the audience. Other exhibitions feature the magical art of Fabio Viscogliosi and extracts from the autobiographical strips by Fabrice Neaud. And, of course, there will also be the Young Talents show (which gets more amazing every year), the Russian comics exhibition and the show in the Manga building on One Piece, the celebrated pirates manga that is taking the world by storm.
(artwork from Blutch adorns this flyer for the 2010 Angoulême festival; a preview of the programme can be found here)
On the official interviews roster, many creators from the US or England can be found : Joe Sacco, Ivan Brunetti, Dash Shaw, David Heatley, Kevin O’Neill and Alan Martin. Enki Bilal will do a presentation of his work Cinémonstre and his other work in progress. Clear line purists Floc’h et Rivière will present their way of working as a duo, which has spanned more than three decades.
There’s plenty more on the official Angoulême festival website, and if you’re going, you had better plan ahead. Oh, and finally, may I congratulate the Angoulême organisers for their spruced up website ? I totally love the interactive map, and the hour-by-hour schedule, even though they only twist the dagger more. And now there’s a Festival Web TV for us to check out too.
Better start planning for 2011 now.
Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium which has its own fair share of good comics events, but it doesn’t stop him pining for Angou; you can read more of his comics musings on The Ephemerist blog
Wed, Jan 27, 2010
Comics and cartoons, Conventions and events, From our Continental Correspondent