The Komikazen International Reality Comics Festival (Italian: Komikazen festival internazionale del fumetto di realtà) was an annual festival focusing on non-fictioncomics. It occurred every year between 2005 and 2016 in Ravenna, Italy, usually in the month of October. Komikazen was sponsored by the Mirada Association and organized by Elettra Stamboulis and Gianluca Costantini.
"Created with the aim of researching and investigating the relationships between the presentation of reality and graphic literature,"[1] the festival was intended to promote and celebrate Ravenna as the capital of "reality-based" comics. The festival had no commercial areas, but instead focused on exhibitions, workshops, and discussions.
As in the French city of Angoulême during the Angoulême International Comics Festival, shops in Ravenna often customized their window displays with comics themes during the festival period. Related exhibitions in various venues in the Ravenna area generally remained on display for at least a month after the festival.
History
Mirada ("look" in Spanish) was founded in 1997 and moved to Ravenna in 2000. Its mission is to identify and promote young artists from the Ravenna region.[2] Mirada was part of the Periscopages Association (based in Rennes, France), an organization devoted to independent comics that included Babel (Athens, Greece), Comica (London, UK), Chili cum Carne (Lisbon, Portugal), the Boom Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia), and La Maison du Livre (Beirut, Lebanon).[1] Periscopages Association disbanded in 2012.[3]
The 2006 festival featured Turkish cartoonists of the long-running comics magazine Leman.
In 2007, the festival expanded to two days, and inaugurated the GEAR Awards, celebrating young artists of the local Emilia-Romagna region. In attendance were more than 50 artists from the nonfiction comics magazines Strapazin (Switzerland), Babel (Athens), Glomp (Finland), Chili Com Carne (Portugal), Hard Comics (Romania), and Stripoteka (Sarajevo, Bosnia). The exhibition Honey Talks was sponsored by Stripburger. Artists featured in the exhibition included Danijel Zezelj, Rutu Modan, and Matthias Lehmann.
The 2008 festival featured the first exhibition of Lebanese cartoonists in Italy.
The 2009 show focused on stories that "originate with individual tension, research and experimentation."[2]
The 2013 festival was themed in solidarity with the Occupy movement—99 cartoonists came to Ravenna and made work related to the concept of "We are the 99%."[5][6]
The theme of the 2014 festival was autobiography and biography.[7] Headline guests included Eddie Campbell and Gipi.
The final Komikazen festival was held June 20–22, 2016.
Official prizes
The GAER (Giovani Artisti dell'Emilia Romagna) prize is awarded to young cartoonists of the Emilia-Romagna region, whose work is then published in time for the following year's festival. Award ceremonies and exhibitions are held at the Ravenna Office of Youth Policy.
2007 — awarded to Marino Neri and Leonardo Guardigli, whose work was published by Kappa Edizioni and Centro Fumetto Andrea Pazienza respectively
Ho Che Anderson[10] (guest of honor), Le Dernier Cri, Stefano Ricci, Filipe Abranches,[11] Tommi Musturi,[12] Marcel Ruijters,[13] Matei Branei,[14] Kostas Maniatopoulos,[15]Paul Gravett, Milos Javonovic, Jacob Klemencic, Gaspar Rus, Marcos Farrajota, Kati Rickenbach, Ines Didovic,[16] Armin Barducci, Andrea Bruno
MAR (Museum of Art), Casa delle Marionette (the House of Puppets), Classense Library, Rasi Theatre, Cellars of Palazzo Rava, Casa delle Donne (Women’s House)
Eddie Campbell, Gipi, Giuseppe Palumbo, Gord Hill, Hamid-Reza Vassaf, Ugo Bertotti, Tuono Pettinato, Rocco Lombardi, Marina Girardi, David Vecchiato, Liliana Salone, Maurizio Ribichini, Roberto Recchioni
^Riciputi, Marco (25 October 2007). "Komikazen: European comics go independent". Cafebabel.com. Retrieved 4 March 2008. [dead link]
^Stamboulis, Elettra (2007). Cartesio e il fumetto. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 3–4. ISBN9788889890066.
^U_net Pipitone, Giuseppe (2007). MLK di Ho Che Anderson. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 55–56. ISBN9788889890066.
^Farrajota, Marcos (2007). Il mercato portoghese del fumetto e gli autori di realtà. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 11–12. ISBN9788889890066.
^The Finnish Comics Society (2007). Fumetti finlandesi?. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 25–26. ISBN9788889890066.
^Stripburger (2007). Honey Talks. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 36–40. ISBN9788889890066.
^Jovanovic, Milos (2007). Hardcomics: Fumetti quasi hard dalla Romania. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 42–43. ISBN9788889890066.
^Tzouda, Niki (2007). Rivista Babel. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. p. 47. ISBN9788889890066.
^Pasanovic, Emir (2007). Stripopeka: un progetto giovane di Sarajevo. Jesolo Lido (VE): Edizioni del Vento. pp. 19–20. ISBN9788889890066.
^Stefanelli, Matteo (2012). Th subtle distortion of Shout. Ravenna: Giuda Editions. pp. 61–63. ISBN9788897980063.
^Costantini, Gianluca (2012). Grapgic/digital activism Carlos Latuff.Drawings useful for the struggles of peoples. Ravenna: Giuda Editions. pp. 69–72. ISBN9788897980063.