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Comica & South Asian Literature Festival: A Visual Renaissance
Posted: October 2, 2010
Comics from India and South Asia have been on the rise for some time now. Ever since I met Sarnath Banerjee in London around 2003 and followed the gestation of his debut graphic novel for Penguin Books India, The Corridor, I’ve been excited at how the medium is flourishing in its own unique ways in India and beyond. Sarnath was a guest at the Comica Festival in 2006 and the following year was an inspiring tutor for the Lingua Comica project with the Asia Europe Foundation. One of the young Lingua Comica participants was the talented Indian artist Vishwajyoti Ghosh, whose debut graphic novel Delhi Calm was published this July by Harper Collins India. Also from Harper came the first major graphic novel by an Indian woman cartoonist, Amruta Patil, who I profiled and interviewed over on the Paul Gravett website.
The literary graphic novels such as these are only part of this renaissance, which also embraces comic books ranging from the perennial Amar Chitra retellings of myths and histories to the more recent fantasy and genre output of Virgin Comics, now known as Liquid Comics through a management buyout, and the fresh adaptations of Western classics by Campfire.
To find out much more, join me on Saturday 23 October from 7pm, when I will be hosting a presentation and panel discussion at the new DSC South Asian Literature Festival in London entitled A Visual Renaissance: The Rise of Graphic Novels in South Asia.
Joining me for this will be Mustashrik, who dazzlingly adapted Julius Caesar for SelfMadeHero’s Manga Shakespeare line. ‘Mustashrik, born in 1985, is a multi-disciplined and -skilled artist, who fleets confidently and spiritually between the narrative mediums of canvas and film. Having travelled around a lot as a child, he’s used these experiences and chance encounters to create worlds and visual stories. The people he has met, the ones he knows, and those who have fallen off the beaten track in life, are what fuel, inspire and move his art onwards. Driven by the fashion, lifestyle and music of youth and his own, Mustashrik’s art is focused on a zeitgeist view on sub-culture’s ‘hipster’ scene. He currently contributes to the design of animations, commercials, films and other artistic avenues, having collaborated on creative teams for clients such as Coca-Cola, Stella Artois and The Department For Transport.’
Equally important is the dynamic independent small press scene, represented on the panel by Kripa Joshi. A former graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts graduate from Nepal, she self-publishes her colourful, witty comics about Miss Moti. As she explains, ‘The protagonist of my comics, Miss Moti, was born out of my own struggle with being overweight. Taking my mother as an inspiration, I wanted to create a character that, like my mother, would be able to do amazing things despite her weight. In a world that places so much important on appearance, Miss Moti is an unlikely “hero”. She is plump and big and, on the outside, her life might seem very ordinary. However, as her fertile imagination blurs the line between fantasy and reality, we realize that her life, like her personality, is indeed extraordinary. I work without speech bubbles and there are minimum words in the books. I think this helps the book to reach across the boundary of language. The style of drawing has been inspired by the Mithila (Madhubani) folk art traditions from Nepal and India. In Nepali, the word Moti when pronounced with a sharp ‘T’ means a plump woman. However, when pronounced with a softer ‘T’ it means a pearl. I think this summarizes what her character is all about.’ Kripa Joshi’s two volumes so far, Miss Moti and Cotton Candy’ and Miss Moti and the Big Apple’, are on sale at the Cartoon Museum shop and Gosh! Comics in London.
The third panelist is Woodrow Phoenix, author of the remarkable Rumble Strip, who visited India last November through The British Council to meet graphic novelists, lead workshops and explore the current comics scene. A fourth exciting late addition to the panel will be S. Anand, co-writer and editor at Navayana Publishing of the forthcoming graphic novel Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchabilty illustrated by traditional Pardhan Gond artists. All being well, I hope also to be talking via the magic of Skype live to Vishwajyoti Ghosh in Delhi about his controversial book Delhi Calm, and other South Asian and UK artists and publishers will also be attending in the audience. To read more about Indian comics, see this Article on my website.
Tickets for the presentation and panel discussion on Saturday 23 October cost £8 including drinks and can be booked here. This event is being held at Q Forum, 5-8 Lower John Street, London W1F 9AU, a brand-new, central-London cultural venue, near Piccadilly Circus - see you there.
