Democratic Republic of Congo
Impressions from Kinshasa

Other perspectives - this was the approach of the AFRICOMICS workshop in Kinshasa, led by the Congolese Jérémy Nsingi and the German Sebastian Lörscher. The workshop had a total of 13 participants. 4 women and 9 men, all from Kinshasa itself. The guiding principle of the workshop was the cultural exchange of knowledge, ideas, styles and the insight into the different understandings of art, as well as the importance of this exchange between Germany and the already large local comic scene.

The workshop facilitators

© Jérémie Nsingi Jérémie Nsingi is a Congolese comic writer and director of animated films. He lives and works in his hometown Kinshasa. From 2010, after illustrating awareness-comics commissioned by NGOs and magazines (2005 to 2009), Jérémie Nsingi started a series of school comics, which he showed and sold at several national and international comic exhibitions and festivals. In 2018, he created his own label through which he publishes his comics.  These have revolutionized the image of Congolese comics by being of high quality and at the same time adapted to the purchasing power of the population. He currently heads the 'nouvelle dynamique de la BD congolaise' ASBL (Association Sans But Lucratif), a platform that brings together several young and talented local authors. Its aim is to train authors, produce quality comics at affordable prices and revitalize the local comics market. The association organizes exhibitions and sales, drawing contests, and promotes exchanges between authors and students.
INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

© Sebastian Lörscher Sebastian Lörscher, born in Paris in 1985 and raised near Munich, is a drawer and author living in Berlin. He studied visual communication at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg and at the Berlin-Weißensee Academy of Art. His graphic novels have received numerous awards (including the Sondermann Prize and from the Stiftung Buchkunst) and are published by various publishers in Germany and France. Lörscher's most recent works deal in particular with the medium of drawn reportage. With pen and sketchbook, he roams distant countries and records his impressions in drawings, texts and image sequences. He recounts them in his books and in readings in Germany. His most recent projects have taken him to Bangalore in southern India, to the Caribbean state of Haiti, through wild Austria and most recently to Nigeria. He works for his clients in the fields of illustration and graphic recording and gives all kinds of workshops on drawing and storytelling.​​​​​​​
WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM