JUNE 7 TO 23, 2024
The Beja International Comics Festival will welcome Belgian author Alix Garin, French artists Jacques Tardi and Dominique Grange, and Portuguese artists Miguel Rocha and Kachisou in June, director Paulo Monteiro announced today.
Beja Comics Festival announces this year's program
In a press release, Paulo Monteiro unveiled the exhibits and guests that will make up the 19th edition of this event dedicated to comics, to be held at the Casa da Cultura de Beja from June 7 to 23.
Sixteen solo and group exhibitions will be presented, most of them in the presence of their authors, as well as a program of parallel activities including book launches, signing sessions, drawing concerts and a book market with the participation of 60 publishers.
Among the exhibitions announced include Belgian author Alix Garin, whose book "Ne m'oublie pas", about Alzheimer's disease, was published last November; and French author Jacques Tardi, famous for "C'était la guerre des tranchées" and the "Adèle Blanc-Sec" series.
Tardi will return to Portugal with his partner, French artist Dominique Grange, with whom he published "Elise et les nouveaux Partisans". Director Pedro Fidalgo, who released the documentary "N'effacez pas nos traces!" about Dominique Grange in 2022, will also be present.
Other guests include Portugal-based Brazilian André Diniz, Italians Gloria Ciapponi and Luca Conca, co-authors of "Urlo - Cri dans l'obscurité", Spaniards Miguelanxo Prado and Javier Rodríguez, as well as Portuguese Miguel Rocha, whose latest album is "La reine des cannibales", and Kachisou, 'mangaka' Cátia Sousa, author of "Je veux voler".
Also worth noting is the group exhibition "Héritiers du Manguito", presenting the work of authors from the Bordallo Pinheiro Museum's comics course.
The festival is one of a number of municipal initiatives focusing on comics in Beja, a town where a bedeteca has existed for several years, where artistic and cultural activities are regular, notably with the Toupeira collective, and where a museum - the first in Portugal - dedicated to this art form is currently under construction.
