COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP WITH BIM ERIKSSON AND ALEKSANDAR ZOGRAF

25 Mar COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP WITH BIM ERIKSSON AND ALEKSANDAR ZOGRAF

In the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Pančevo, we hosted Bim Eriksson, a world-renowned Swedish illustrator and comic book artist, who, together with Aleksandar Zograf, one of the most famous regional comic book authors, conducted an interactive comic creation workshop with interested young artists from Pančevo. Bim is currently staying in Belgrade as the 153rd guest of KROKODIL’s residency for literary creators, as part of an exchange project between KROKODIL and our partners and friends from the Swedish literary festival Littfest, under the project titled Spaces of Freedom 2.0. This project is supported by the Swedish Institute.

The Gallery of Contemporary Art in Pančevo turned out to be a truly perfect place for the workshop, considering that it currently hosts an exhibition showcasing four decades of Aleksandar Zograf’s work. The exhibition covers a wide variety of Zograf’s pieces, from his earliest drawings, episodes from the Pančevo flea market, dreams, and travelogues, all the way to comics he has published in Japan, America, and China. Naturally, it also reflects another important legacy of Aleksandar Zograf: his idealistic and activist work in creating and maintaining local, regional, and international networks of comic creators and lovers of this art. This network is now open to Bim Eriksson as well.

Through interaction with the exhibition, a space for exchange was opened between these two authors and their different perspectives on creative work. The workshop thus began with a conversation in which Aleksandar and Bim shared their personal experiences of creating comics, collaborating with international publishers, as well as the local challenges and difficulties faced by comic creators in both Sweden and Serbia.

After that, the attendees had the opportunity to witness an innovative comic reading performed by Bim, which combined audiovisual elements, comic image analysis, and the actual narration of the story using sound effects. In this contemporary way, everyone present was involved in an interactive performance.

The event ended, of course, with drawing! In the first part of the workshop, the group joined forces to produce collaborative works full of character and creative potential. By connecting in this way with each other, as well as with Bim and Aleksandar, all the artists exchanged ideas, techniques, and creativity. In the end, everyone individually had the opportunity to present themselves through a drawing. The workshop gathered truly dedicated, talented, and creative people, and here we present some of their brilliant final works. We were left deeply impressed by the power of the submitted works, just like Bim and Aleksandar.

It was a great pleasure and delight to host Bim Eriksson, learn about her experience, and exchange the knowledge, ideas, and techniques of the local drawing community, all while surrounded by the incredible forty-year-long creative work of Aleksandar Zograf!

It would be hard to wish for anything much better than that!