CAREP Square | Arab comics in turmoil
A new wind seems to be blowing on the 9th art in the Arab world, driven by a freedom of tone won, it is said, in the light of the eponymous springs. But the Arab comic strip did not come out of nowhere, it descends from a long tradition carried by cartoonists, caricaturists and cartoonists, although little known in France.
Simona Gabrieli runs Alifbata, a young publishing house dedicated to translating and publicizing comics by demanding and creative authors. During this meeting, she comes back to us on the main currents, the themes that drive the cartoonists and the difficulties encountered by the authors in the context of the upheavals that the region is experiencing.
She will be accompanied by the two authors of "A Tunisian revolt, the legend of Chbayah": Aymen Mbarek (screenwriter) and Seif Eddine Nechi (illustrator), both members of LAB619, one of the emblematic collectives of the new Arab comic strip offering a critical look at Tunisian society.
Moderation: Racha Abazied
Simona Gabrieli, linguist and Islamologist passionate about the interactions between Mediterranean imaginaries. Based in Marseille, she is the founder of the Alifbata association, which has specialized since 2015 in the publishing and translation of comics from Arab countries.
In this capacity, she published the first graphic novel translated from Arabic into French and directed the publication of the comic book adaptation of Mohamed Choukri's novel, "Le Pain nu", directed by Abdelaziz Mouride.
Aymen Mbarek (script) and Seif Eddine Nechi (drawing) live and work in Tunis. They are among the founding members of the LAB619 collective, the first Tunisian comic book magazine for adults. Together they also launched the comic blog "Soubia" (soubia.com) and created the new graphics "Tawahoch" ("Best Comic", Cairo Comix 2, 2016) and "Bombyx Mori" ("Best Graphic Novel" Mahmoud Kahil, 2018).
They sign together "A Tunisian revolt: the legend of Chbayah", which has just been published by Alifbata editions.
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