Slideshow: Palestine Comics Festival
All photos by Dalia Hatuqa. Hear/read her accompanying story, Visual storytelling emerges as a medium to de-code Holy Land conflict.
Click on any thumbnail image to launch slideshow.
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- The first Palestine Comics Festival was held in East Jerusalem with the aim of encouraging young new talent and reviving cultural life in the Holy Land.
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- Comics and graphic novels by Palestinian and international cartoonists were showcased depicting the reality of Israel-Palestine tensions.
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- Girls from an East Jerusalem school were invited to attend the exhibition. The organizers hoped this would pique their interest, especially because comic strips are a relatively novel genre in the region.
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- At East Jerusalem’s Yabous Cultural Centre, 50 standalone cartoons, comic strips and excerpts from graphic novels were on display- all with political messaging.
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- People from all walks of life attended the event, which drew international and local graphic novelists.
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- The organizers say the festival’s goal is to encourage cartooning among Palestinians and to showcase a new breed of talents.
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- In attendance was Guy Delisle, a Canadian cartoonist, who won an international award for his travelogue ‘Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City.’ He said his inspiration came from living in the Holy City in 2009.
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- The event proved controversial when one of the leading artists, who was due to present his work, was deported by Israeli immigration authorities at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
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- Palestinian political cartoonist Mohammad Sabaaneh was jailed in Israel for five months for his satirical work. He works for al-Hayat al-Jadida daily in Ramallah.
