STRypson and Gallery WM showcase Comic-Strip Lodz – Polish Comics Abroad: series of Polish comics exhibitions, featuring all Grand-Prix winners of the International Festival of Comics in Lodz: 1991-2006.
Comic-Strip Lodz – Polish Comics Abroad: series of Polish Comics Exhibitions at Gallery WM in Amsterdam – 24.11-22.12.2007
The opening on Saturday, the 24th of November, between 17:00-19:00
The Comic-Strip Lodz
exhibition consists of all Grand Prix winners of the International
Festival of Comics in Lodz. Organized for the first time in 1991, when
the Polish comics industry was almost nonexistent, the festival has
grown ever since, pushing the level of the competition higher and
higher every year. In 2006 the organizers received almost 100 works
from Poland, Austria, Ireland and Czech Republic. In the past years,
artists from Japan, Israel, Russia, Germany or Brazil signed up for the
contest. There is no given theme of the competition, but the stories
cannot be longer than 8 pages. Almost all the works are shown in the
exhibition; the best of them are printed in the annual catalogue of the
festival. The official rules of the competition are available on www.komiksfestiwal.com.
Artists have 2 categories to choose from – amateurs and professionals.
In
each category there are 3 prizes to be taken by the best cartoonists,
however, only one work from both categories is chosen by the jury as
the Grand Prix of the International Comics Festival in Lodz and thus,
becomes a part of this very exhibition. Taking part in the competition
(not to mention winning it) can be a key to starting professional
career. Those who won in the past have published several albums by now.
Additionally, the lucky Grand Prix winner visits the Angouleme festival
in France, the biggest comics event in Europe – this special award is
sponsored by the French Embassy in Poland.
The Comic-Strip Lodz project is a selection of the
finest young cartoonists in Poland, many of whom have already published
albums and also managed to succeed internationally. Among them are
artists associated with the city of Lodz: Przemyslaw Truscinski, Tomasz
Piorunowski, Agnieszka Papis, Adrian Madej, Krzysztof Ostrowski or
Slawomir Kielbus. One can also find works by Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz
(apart from several books published in Poland, he was also acknowledged
abroad with two critically acclaimed albums). The exhibition also
presents works by Tomasz Lesniak, Rafal Skarzycki or Pawel Zych (thanks
to winning the festival in 2004, he had his first album published two
years later). To sum it up, the exposition consists of 16 cartoon
stories dating from 1991 to 2006. It is also accompanied by a four
language catalogue.
The Amsterdam exhibition is part of the Polish Comics Abroad project.
Presentation of Polish works abroad is one of the main goals of the
International Festival of Comics in Lodz. The organizers believe it is
not enough to hold a three day event for the fans, the crucial part of
the festival’s mission is to promote Polish artists. The festival in
Lodz is the only comics event in Europe that continues to support its
prizewinners long after their triumph. So far, the festival has shown
Polish cartoon art in Brussels, Vienna, Moscow, Budapest, Vilnius,
Kiev, Budapest and Lyon. To this day, the Grand Prix exhibition of the
festival has been presented in Vienna and Moscow.
location:
Gallery WM – Wanda Michalak
Elandsgracht 35
Amsterdam
www.gallerywm.com
Organizer: Lodz Community Center
Partner: The Association of Creators ‘Contur’
International Partners: Verein Idee Direkte Aktion (Vienna), Big Ant (Moscow), Gallery WM (Amsterdam)
Project is co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage – the ‘Promotion of Polish Culture Abroad’ program.
published in webportal Polonia.NL 12.11.2007
