Sweden: Comics on migration

Migration and xenophobia have become major issues in Europe in the last years. In Sweden there are several groups and artists who use comics as a central tool in this debate.

Some of the titles published by Tusen serier.

Tusen serier (thousand comics)

Tusen serier with comics activists Amanda Casanellas and Mattias Elftorp is a group within the Swedish Comics Association. They broaden the Swedish comics scene with artists of migrant background, and publish graphic novels on the theme of migration. They have published several titles both by immigrant comics creators and Swedish artists. 

Check out their excellent website: http://tusenserier.com/index-e.html

The cover of the anthology.

Serier mot rasism (comics against racism) is an anthology edited by four students at the Comics School in Malmö in 2011. It has 140 pages with comics by 34 artists. The publisher is Optimal. The proceeds of this books go to a network called “Ingen människa är illegal” (no human being is illegal), which supports among other things, paperless migrants in Sweden.

Henri Gylander http://www.henrigylander.com/

Henri Gylander is - besides being a prolific comics artist - an asylum activist. Below is a detail from a four-page comic, published in Asylfanzine by the campaign Asylrätt (Right to Asylum) and in “Komika Antologi #1”. It has also been published in Finnish in the magazine “Voima” 10/2014. He is bilingual in Finnish/Swedish and lives in Gothenburg.

A few frames from the story Sara and Zaran.

Kudos to you, Sweden!

(post by Leif Packalen)

Soufeina “Tuffix” Hamed - a Muslim comics artist in Europe

"Thank you Germany" from tuffix.deviantart.com

Soufenia “Tuffix”  Hamed (24) was born in Tunisia, but has grown up and studied in Germany. She is a devout Muslim and her works are much about being a Muslim in Europe. She publishes a lot of her works on the Deviantart-site and has quite a following there. Deviantart.com is an online gallery and social forum for artists of all kinds.

Her profile can be found on this link: http://tuffix.deviantart.com

Soufeina has posted almost 300 pictures and comics on the site during the 5 years she has been a member there. Her works have created a lot of comments (about 6000!) and her pages have been viewed almost 90.000 times. This are very impressive numbers. 

From tuffix.deviantart.com

Soufeina engages in a very active exchange with persons who comment on her works. She receives some negative comments as well, mainly regarding Islam, but she answers them with precise and disarmingly honest replies. Her hatemailers run out of steam quickly. She is a great asset for creating intercultural understanding in Europe, something which is much needed in these times.

Soufeina also makes sketches when she travels. Check them on her Deviantart Gallery -page under “Travel sketches”.  She has been to Bosnia, Turkey, Mecca, etc. Below one sketch from her trip to Paris.

The above illustration was included in Soufeina's interview on the Sufi Comics website: http://www.suficomics.com/interviews/soufeina-hamed-illustrates-muslim-life/ Read it, it's an interesting interview!

Soufeina has had some well-received exhibitions in Germany (do a search on Youtube). I would love to see an exhibition of her works also sometime here in Finland. Her works radiate poised calm and joyfulness. 

(posted by Leif Packalen)

Publication de les BDs de clubs scolaires au Burundi

La publication sur le web

World Comics Finlande a formé, en 2010, des formateurs pour les ateliers de bandes dessinées avec APDH (Association pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme). APDH a utilisé la bande dessinée dans beaucoup de leurs activités au cours des années. 

Nous avons reçu une collection de bandes dessinées réalisés par les élèves de l'école qui sont actifs dans les clubs scolaires pour les droits humains. APDH a animé ces clubs dans les écoles.

Nous avons compilé ces bandes dessinées dans une petite publication sur le Web.  Si vous voulez voir ces bandes dessinées, vous pouvez télécharger la publication (5 MB) en cliquant sur ce  lien:  

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vl25svfam5id9nv/apdh-club-bds-web.pdf?dl=0

(This publication is for the moment available only in French)

Mongolia: Comics in Awareness Raising

Wallposter comic proudly shown by Mongolian kids

Cal Brackin works as a Community and Youth Development (CYD) Peace Corps Volunteer in Choir in Mongolia. Right now he is training the most recent arrivals of Peace Corps CYD volunteers and will promote grassroots comics being used at schools and health departments throughout Mongolia.

Cal was recently involved in organizing an anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco week and the comic below was created during the week. It is easy to understand: after getting drunk in a bar, a man falls off his horse and dies.

Cal, a comics artist himself, has promised to continue using comics in his work both in the secondary school where he teaches as well as in different projects involving raising environmental awareness, gender equality, and trafficking in persons. He will also translate some of our training materials into Mongolian language to be included in our website. We look very much forward to that and further news from Mongolia!

The Comics Power wall in the school. Many points of views.

APDH in Burundi runs more comics workshops

Detail from a comic by Olette Ngabire. In the story a man, who abuses his wife severely, ends up in prison.

APDH (Association pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme) arranged three grassroots comics workshops in Burundi in September with a small grant from World Comics Finland. The workshop was held with the human rights clubs of APDH in local schools in Ngozi, Kirundo and Muyinga. Trainers at the workshops were Simon Ahishakiye,  Euphrem Rukizangabo,  Serge Barutwanayo, Cyriac Simbizi, and Jean Marie Nimenya.

The comics will be distributed in December this year and used in public discussions in different gatherings of the APDH in its promotion of local governance and of securing land rights. The comics will add much to the local debate, according to APDH's previous experiences.

The workshop comics were focussed on many different issues, such as women's rights, discrimination of the Batwa people, inheritance rights, land rights, child abuse, etc.

A small publication of the comics will be compiled soon, here is a sample:

In this story by Elvis Ndagumana, a man sells his wife's inherited land and she has to go to court to retrieve it.

Strong comic about an Ethiopian maid in Saudi Arabia

A detail from a page in the Almaz story

Almaz,  the story of an Ethiopian migrant worker in Saudi-Arabia was published in the BBC’s NEWS Magazine at the end of September.The story is about an Ethiopian girl, who is sent for work in Saudi Arabia and her fate as a maid in Riyad. She is maltreated, like countless other migrant workers in the Gulf. It is an important story, well told in poignant comic art. The drudgery of Almaz’ daily work is shown very skilfully in a long succession of panels. 

Check out the story from the link below and you can also download the story in a pdf-file (MB 2.8) to make a printout. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29415876

The story is the work of journalist Benjamin Dix and artist Lindsay Pollock of Positive Negatives http://www.positivenegatives.org/#0

The duo follows a set methodology in their work. First they research the topics they would like to cover, then identify respondents, explain to them what is the intention of the publication, and then go on with the interviews and photographing. Then the stories are worked out and turned into comics. After that all the background material, the recordings, the photographs, visual source materials, reports etc are used to make a story board, then a sketch which is taken back to the respondents for comments. After editing, based on the comments, work starts on the final art. 

The methodology makes sure that the stories are truly representative and usable in education and advocacy. Read a detailed description of their methodology in this link http://www.positivenegatives.org/methodology#0

Dix and Pollock have completed in 2013 a comprehensive story “Meet the Somalis” for Open Society (more in our blog posting dated January 14, 2014). They are now working on story about the Sri Lankan conflict seen from the perspective of family “Vanni”. The first part: “The New Arrival: Antoni’s story” is already viewable on their website link: http://www.positivenegatives.org/vanni-preview

Dix’ and Pollock’s way of using comics to address very complex issues, such as conflict, migration and asylum, is impressive because behind it one can sense a serious quest for truth and justice. This is political art at its best. 

(posted by Leif Packalen)

We have an office...

World Comics Finland's corner in the basement.

...or actually it is a workstation in the basement of the Comics Centre in Helsinki. We have moved our main archives and publications there. From now on we will have all our meetings and also small workshops at the centre.

We have applied for funding for part-time staff.

It is great to have a foot inside the Comics Centre, which is a beehive of all kinds of comics activities, most notably the annual Helsinki Comics Festival.

Our Exhibition on tour

Kaisa Leka spoke at the opening of the exhibition at the Porvoo City Library

Our latest exhibition "Maailman sarjakuvittajat" (loosely translated: comics makers of the world - also alluding to our organisation's name in Finnish) has been on display in the Porvoo City Library in February and in the Tampere Comics Festival “Tampere kuplii” (Tampere bubbles) in March. Parts of the exhibition were also displayed at the World Village Festival in May in Helsinki. The exhibition shows comics by our workshop tutors and each tutor has chosen a favourite comic from his/her own workshop. The comics are shown in pairs.

The exhibition in Joensuu City Library

Next stop was in Joensuu City Library in August, from where the exhibition came back to Helsinki to be put up at the Helsinki Comics festival in September. In October-November it will be shown at the Comics Festivals in Oulu and Kemi in the North of Finland.

Our exhibition was next to the entrance at the Helsinki Comics Festival

An A3-sized printable version of the exhibition is downloadable from our website: Link   You can download it, print, and tape it up spontaneously anywhere. Note: the texts are in Finnish.

Sit-up sarjakuvaa

Sarjakuva venyy moneen! 

Vappu-Tuuli Fagerson pitää blogia http://sit-up.blogspot.com, jossa tarkastellaan maailmaa pyörätuolista käsin. Kirjoitusten lisäksi blogista löytyy tällä hetkellä 70 Pätkät-sarjakuvaa.
(http://sit-up.blogspot.fi/search/label/pätkät)

Vappu-Tuuli tekee sarjakuvansa perustyökaluilla (hiirellä ja Windows Paint -ohjelmalla), mutta se ei haittaa menoa. Sarjakuvissa on asennetta, huumoria ja teräviä viestejä. Hän lähestyy liikuntarajoitteisuutta asiallisena asiantuntijana, mutta sarjakuvamuoto tekee hänen viesteistään nasevia ja helposti avautuvia. 

Vappu-Tuuli on bloginsa lisäksi julkaissut myös e-kirjan “Special Edition”, jonka voi ostaa 2,90 euron hintaan Elisa Kirjan sivulta. https://kirja.elisa.fi/ekirja/special-edition

Alla pari esimerkkiä blogin sarjakuvista. Käykää tutustumassa, se kannattaa!

(Leif Packalen)

Sit-Up blogista

Sit-Up blogista

A remarkable comic book on saving a neighbourhood

"For decades these rooms have been homes, workshops and storerooms"

Tiitu Takalo, an accomplished Finnish comics artist, has published a remarkable story on how a complete block of houses was saved from demolition. The houses were built about a century ago in a working class area of Tampere. In the mid-sixties the city authorities laid down a plan that would demolish all the houses in the block. The city started buying up the houses and left them without repair. Soon the houses were in bad shape and the city moved towards pulling them all down.

However, some of the inhabitants and a group of civic activists stood up to protest. The fight over the houses took decades but ended in triumph. Now all the houses in the block are occupied by people who share a similar idea of town living - neighbourliness, ecological and simple life.

The comic book (237 pp) reiterates the story of the place and the phases of the struggle with the city. Intertwined in the book is also Tiitu's personal love story with Mikko, with whom she now shares a flat in the block. The book documents historical events, a lot of facts, numbers, dates, names etc., but the author makes them vivid, with an almost tangible presence of herself and her values.

The book is an enjoyable read - the artist uses different narrative styles brilliantly, from quasi-medieval to neo-realistic and to romantic. It is almost impossible to imagine that the same story could have been told as well in any other medium than comics.

The book, "Minä, Mikko ja Annikki" is available only in Finnish, but you can check Tiitu Takalo's other works on her website: http://www.tiitutakalo.net/index.php?page=english

(posted by Leif Packalen)

Planning the renovation work.

Finally, the city of Tampere decides to sell the block to the activists