in memoriam

Kristiina Kohlemainen, summer 2011

She was missing on her own festival, the SPX 2012 in Stockholm. And still, as Lisa Medin described it so striking, it was like we allways saw her  in the corner of our eyes. Like she would run around, chatting and cackling, electrifying us with her enthusiasm. 

Since she lost her fight against cancer one month ago, the SPX and the comics library lost its excellent spirit. But the last weekend showed that the shock of her death had created an enormous energy to honor her work and to carry on with it. Anders Lundgren and Ola Hellsten, her former co-workers are willing to organize the next festivals and they already did a good job with this one. 

There are plans to establish a grant "to install something permanent in Kristiinas name" (Thomas Karlsson) for international exchange, female artists or else ... the themes are not finally set. 

Celebration in Kristiinas memory at the Kulturhuset. 

Benoit Mouchart, artistic director of the cultural programming of Angoulême International Comics Festival is holding a memorial speech.

Josefin Svenske at the stand of Kolik förlag 

Lina Neidestam  and a mask of the face of one of her heros. A fan made it.
right: Lisa Medin

Josefin Svenske, Fabian Göranson & son Ivan are opening the buffet.

Love at first sight: comic book by Åsa Grennvall.

Elin Fahlstedt and boyfriend

Yet it was a sad sunny festival. 

Comix Festival Fumetto 2012

The idea was born last year at the Comicfestival SPX in Stockholm:

"Why don't we edit a STRAPAZIN issue with female comic artists?"

The SPX shows more female presence than any other festival, thanks to its organizer Kristiina Kolehmainen. It's a big loss for the comicworld, that Kristiina lost her fight against cancer two days ago.

Kati Rickenbach, Kristiina Kolehmainen and me at our Exhibition in the Goetheinstitut in Stockholm 2011.

We will miss Kristiina terribly.

The STRAPAZIN Damenstammtisch in turn was invited to exhibit at the Comix Festival Fumetto in Luzern 2012.

Kati (with new born Emma) is signing a special Strapazin issue for Kristiina, not knowing, that it was too late for this small gesture.

Coverart: Sharmila Banerjee,

Short stories by: Kati Rickenbach (Editor), Aisha Franz, Eli Zwimpfer, Sharmila Banerjee, claire Lenkowa, Gabrielle Bell, Vanessa Davis, Caroline Sury, Ulli Lust (Editor)

Aisha Franz, who kindly, perfectly supervised the building of the exhibition.

Sharmila Banerjee

Caroline Sury

Sharmila Banerjee

Aisha Franz, Vanessa Davis

Gabrielle Bell, Vanessa Davis, Eli Zwimpfer, Kati Rickenbach, Aisha Franz (Foto: David Basler)

Box of Eli Zwimpfer.

Elis Comic for the Strapazin you can also read in full colour at electrocomics.

(in the magazin the story is printed in black and white and some pages shortened).

inside the Box of Vanessa Davis

inside the box of Caroline Sury

Saturday night the work was done, we were ready for the big opening buffet ... but first everybody had to watch the award ceremony for the Fumetto Comic Contest.

Here you see jury member Dominique Goblet in her gala dress. (Foto: Aisha Franz)

Ulli Lust, Aisha Franz, Vanessa Davis, Dominique Goblet (Foto: Gabrielle Bell)

Jana Jakokoubek, Artistic Direktor of the Festival, Kati Rickenbach and Emma in her bag, on the traditional boat trip on the Vierwaldstättersee.

outlook

insight

Gabrielle Bell

Dominique Goblet, anonymous bear, in the exhibiton of Anja Wicki

tropical fairy tale

The new e-book by Lorelei Herrera warms my heart, even if it's - as the author says - a story about legacy, disappearance and renunciation. Life in the jungle decomposes quickly, turns brown, get's ugly ... and is still breeding ground for new life.

check it out:

"An old story" by Lorelei Herrera, 59 pages >>>

Leroy & Dexter Live!

Am Freitag, den 25.11. startet ab 19:00 Uhr die "Doch eher ganz winzige Leroy & Dexter - Show" im Comicladen Comics & Graphics (Prenzlauer Allee 46, Berlin)! Es gibt etliche Attraktionen, minimal dosiert: Ausstellung, Lesung, Getränke. Aber auf dem anhängenden Flyer könnt Ihr die Details nachlesen.

Da der Vortragende sich jetzt tat-säch-lich noch erkältet hat, ist es sein Ziel, sämtliches Gerede in lässiger Rock'n'Roll-Stimme zu absolvieren, oder aber die Bude so vollzubekommen, daß technisch sowieso nur noch Rumstehen mit Getränken möglich ist. Im Sinne zweiterer Lösung dürfen wir darum bitten, diese Information - solltet Ihr zufällig eben mal nicht aus Berlin kommen (gibt's ja auch) - weiterzuleiten an potentielle Raumfüller.

Rio Comicon

It was a very special moment, when the guy from the hotel opened the curtains in the room.

There was the atlantic ocean, and when I bent my head down, I saw beautiful people jogging on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Yeah, Rio has a Comic festival since last year, this year was the second issue. I am pretty sure, only few artists will reject their invitation.

Rafael Coutinho and me; before I met him in person, I already was enthusiastic about his comics. Discovered them in a great comic shop called Itiban in Curitiba, a town in the south of Brazil, where I had been for an exhibiton at the local Goethe Institut before coming to Rio.

Curitiba has the oldest comic library of South america, - the oldest and perhaps most beautiful.

The Rio Comicon took place in an abandoned trainstation, an environment which looked more familiar to me, than the 5 star hotel on Praja Ipanema (but no complaints about that).

With Peter Kuper

Exhibition of Guido Crepax

His daughter Caterina Crepax, is an artist as well, for the exhibition she designed a paper dress.

Rahel, who sells marvelous contempory alternative comics.

Henrique, one of the organizers

Dan Goldman, Maria, Beth Fleischer and her husband Chris Claremont, Jo Oliveira

With Dan Goldman in a panel about digital publishing.

Exhibition of Will Eisner, curated by Denis Kitchen

Denis Kitchen, his wife Stacy, me, Junko Mizuno joining a tourist trip on the sugar loaf

We did, what tourists do ...

On top of the sugar loaf

Two days before I have done another trip with a cable car, but this one was not for tourists. It was build by the gouverment for the dwellers of twenty favelas in Rio.

View from the final station of this cable car.

Our group today: Otávio junior, who is organising a mobile library in the favelas, Almerinda Stenzel, the charming lady from the Goetheinstitut in Rio, and next two are working in another library in a favela, it's a beautiful new one, as you can see on the photo below.

Rodrigo Marinho is not only a big fan of the comic reports of Guy Delisle, but also of Günther Grass and Friedrich Nietzsche.

I can highly recommend the comic report "Inside the Favelas" by the brazilian author Augusto Paim and the artist Mau Mau. You can read it online on the website www.cartoonmovement.com.