Comic Art Europe chooses its five Visions of Tomorrow
BD Europe announced on Tuesday the results of its first open call for applications. Five artists have been selected for a residency. They will each produce a project based on the theme ‘Visions of tomorrow ‘.
The winners of the open call are Philippe Beleza (Portugal), Karrie fransman (UK), Marine des Mazery Author / Illustrator (France), Mathias Meikel (Germany) and Maria surducan (Romania).
On Facebook, Portuguese artist Filipa Beleza reacted to the victory: “I am very excited about this opportunity and I am grateful that #ComicArtEurope has given me this chance to translate my own vision of tomorrow into images! “
Likewise, British artist Karrie Fransman said: “I am delighted to have won one of the residencies of Comic Art Europe on the theme ‘visions of the future’. Check out the other winning jobs – they look fantastic. A big thank you to all the judges for this great opportunity!
Visions of Tomorrow will be the artists’ take on what the world will look like after all of the current upheaval.
As their website describes: “This project invited comic book authors to offer us their visions of tomorrow, of what comes after the strange times we are living through. Optimists or pessimists, realistic or abstract, immediate future or distant future, comic strip artists are invited to share with us their visions of tomorrow.
The artists will each receive a scholarship of € 5,000 (approximately $ 6,000) and the possibility of participating in a two-week artist residency in one of the four partner cities of Comic Art Europe. They will also be given the opportunity to showcase their work at festivals and associated events in 2022. (All of the above assumed to be in the event of a pandemic).
Over 200 artists from thirty-two European countries applied for the chance to participate in the inaugural open call. The Comic Art Europe selection jury was made up of a mix of experts and representatives of partner organizations.
The partners of Comic Art Europe are the Belgian Comic Strip Center & Museum, the Organization of the Lyon BD Festival (France), The International Lakes Comic Festival (United Kingdom) and Escola Joso Center for Comics and Visual Arts (Spain). It is also supported by the European Union Creative Europe program.
The jurists were Charlie adlard (artist, United Kingdom); Juan Carlos Concha (Director of Barcelona Non Stop Animation, Spain); Isabelle Debekker (Director of Belgian Comic Strip Center, Belgium); Mathieu Diez (Director of Lyon BD Festival, France); Marion Glénat (director of the youth and audiovisual department at publisher Glénat BD editions, France); Jordi Sempere (professor at Joso School and cartoonist, Spain); Julie tait (director of International Lakes Comic Festival, UK); and Marie-Eve Tossani (letter and book holder within Wallonia-Brussels International, Belgium).
Comic Art Europe “is a pilot project bringing together five European organizations representing different elements of the comic book ecosystem: a higher education institution, festivals and a museum”, according to their website. “It aims to strengthen the comic strip sector in Europe by experimenting with collaborative working methods. It promotes the transnational mobility of works of art, workers and creators as a way to significantly increase work. It foreshadows a European comic strip community capable of positioning creators and organizations at European level, thus questioning the historical domination of the American and Japanese giants.
As part of the project, he seeks to experiment with training devices – summer camps and artist residences; help with creation; publish and disseminate the work of creators in Europe and beyond; as well as conferences and advocacy workshops to demonstrate the transnational power of comics.
Comic Art Europe is also planning to hold a summer camp in July with applications open until March 30, 2021. It will take place in Barcelona, Spain.
