The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

If you’re a comic buff and you were planning on a weekend in Amsterdam, September might be a good time to do so. The city which always has been associated with illustrators and cartoonists (and which since 1968 has been the home to one of the best comic stores in the entire world, Lambiek) has renamed September into Striptember, and is organising comic-themed events all through the season.

Among the aims of the festival, the organisers intend to use it to:

“Highlight or/ promote the diverse medium of the comic strip as an art form

Keep the medium of comic art alive and developing/growing by exploring current issues and themes and the future of comic art

Provide opportunities to view first hand the work of local, national and international comic illustrators and provide networking opportunities

To enhance/ develop the role of the comic art and illustrators and explore how comic strip is a fascinating and undeniable part of Amsterdam art and culture”

All over town, comics are taking over. City Hall is host to a special comic exhibition about Amsterdam, with contributions by the cream of the crop of current Dutch comicdom and visual arts (including Maaike Hartjes, Typex, Waso, Guido Van Driel and Theo van den Boogard). Peter Kuper and related souls present a crossover expo, showcasing techniques from comics as used in other visual arts. In the Maison Descartes a special exhibition with work by French cartoonist Edmond Baudoin is opened to the public from September 10th (entrance is free) and on September 16th, Brazilian comics are the centre of attention at Unidos.

Next to the opening of the official Heinz museum (presenting the life and times of  the  most funny cat in comics), the most fun event in my opinion is the free-podium auction in Lambiek due to tak place on September 30th (anyone who will be in the city then, pencil it into your diaries now). The motto of this auction is “Bring your old stuff and we’ll auction it and buy beer with the proceeds”. It’s listed as only running until 5pm, but I have my doubts. More info on the official Striptember website here.