About the project
Why an international comic project?
AFRICOMICS – Comics in and from Africa
Interest in comics and their reach varies greatly in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, a large proportion of comics by African artists often do not make it beyond the borders of their own country. In addition, in many places the former interest of young people and adults in comics has diminished. AFRICOMICS wants to contribute to strengthening and enriching interest in literature and storytelling in Sub-Saharan Africa through comics. By networking with artists from many other African countries, a change of perspective and thus a better mutual understanding can emerge. Furthermore, the support of potential comic artists by the Goethe-Institut in the region with its more than 650 million inhabitants and more than 1000 languages is an important goal.
Project procedure
The AFRICOMICS project is made up of various elements: In addition to the website, which provides information on the project and videos on the topic of comics, local workshops and then a regional workshop take place in succession. The videos are made by comic artists from different countries and serve as a source of information for interested people and future workshop participants and can also provide new insights for experienced comic artists.Local writing and drawing workshops: 2021-2022
In this phase, local workshops will take place at all participating institutes. The one-week workshops will be led cooperatively by local and German trainers, in order to include both perspectives. The aim of the workshops is both the creation of a short comic strip on the theme "IMAGINE your world at its best ..." and personal and individual training through various input modules. At the end of the workshops, the best works will be selected.
Regional Workshop: 2022
The authors of the selected comics will then be invited to take part in a joint international workshop. There they will have the opportunity to discuss their stories, exchange ideas with colleagues, further develop their comic stories and at the same time develop an international, especially intra-African network. It is planned to publish the resulting work digitally and as a print edition.
The Regional Workshop, will be held on the theme of "DECOLONIZE" and will take place in Ghana in July 2022. More information about the workshop will be available on this website afterwards.