Regionaler „AFRICOMICS“ Workshop
The group consisted of four female and thirteen male comic authors from fifteen different countries: Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, DR Congo, Rwanda, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Senegal, communicating in English, French, Portuguese and occasionally German.
It was planned that the workshop would be led by a team of three, but unfortunately Birgit Weyhe was unable to travel from Germany due to a Covid illness. Akosua Hanson from Ghana and Michael Ross from Germany then formed a tried and tested team (already in the Ghanaian workshop) and were also able to draw on Birgit's ideas from the preparation.
The group spent the first three days in Ko-Sa, a holiday resort on the beach about 150 kilometres west of Accra. On the way there, the group had the opportunity to visit the fortress in Cape Coast, which was one of the most important stations for the transatlantic slave trade. The dungeons preserved there, where thousands of prisoners were crammed in for many weeks at a time before being taken through the "door of no return" onto the slave ships, left a deep impression on everyone.
In Ko-Sa, the days were initially dedicated to getting to know each other, presenting one's own work and projects and working on the stories. All participants were very well prepared and despite some language barriers, the exchange was intensive, which was mainly due to some polyglot participants. Despite all the diversity, it was quickly noticeable how much common ground could be found, especially when it came to finding one's role as an artist in society. There were group sessions, individual discussions with Michael and Akosua, and many opportunities to work on their own designs on the computer or drawing sheet.
The group spent the last two days in Accra, and the content focus was now on the visual design of the stories, which were then presented to the plenary on Friday afternoon. The week ended with a meal together at the Institute's director Heike Friesel's home.
This one-week workshop was the preliminary culmination of a two-year project, and we are happy that all the goals we had set ourselves were actually achieved. In particular, the dynamics within the group were remarkable. Whenever there was an opportunity to dance, everyone was there, many beautiful souvenir photos were exchanged in the WhatsApp group and the goodbyes were tearful.