With the ominous spectre of Brexit looming ever closer here’s a reminder of something comics-related designed to foster links within the European comics community. The UK’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival will be a part of this initiative which is led by the Lyon BD Festival. More details, courtesy of LICAF, in the press release below.
Comic Art Europe is an international pilot project bringing together 4 European organisations promoting and championing the power of Comics and Graphic Novels. The project is led by Lyon BD Festival and includes a higher education establishment (Joso Comics School in Spain), a museum (The Belgium Comics Centre) as well as the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
It aims to strengthen the comic book sector in Europe by experimenting with collaborative working methods. It promotes the transnational mobility of artworks, workers and creators and prefigures a European comics community capable of positioning creators and organisations at a European level, challenging the historical dominance of the American and Japanese giants.
The project will include professional training (summer camps and residencies), creative assistance (grants), dissemination of results in Europe and outside Europe (European comic book catalogue, large-scale dissemination channels) and research about the transformational power of comics (in particular through literacy workshops with comics).
This project, supported by the European Commission, will run from 1 September 2020 to 31 December 2023.
For more information and the application form, please see comicarteurope.eu
