ComiX4= Comics for Equality

Kuš! (the association 'Grafiskie stāsti') is a project partner of the ComiX4= Comics for Equality project. Find out more about it!

The ComiX4= Comics for Equality project is based on the need to promote the development of a European society based on respect for fundamental human rights, and to fight against racism, xenophobia and other related forms of intolerance. This is more important than ever due to ongoing European enlargement, and to European countries’ key roles as destinations for migrants from both outside and within other European states. The most effective way of achieving this goal is to promote mutual understanding and dialogue.

The main activities include the ComiX4= Comics for Equality Award; the interactive website www.comix4equality.eu; an eighty-page catalogue containing the best comics submitted within the award; a “Comics Handbook” for use in conducting informal creative workshops; a traveling exhibition of the comics; and comic strip workshops to be held across Europe.

 

ComiX4= Comics for Equality Award

The ComiX4= Comics for Equality Award is a competition for the best unpublished comics by authors with migrant backgrounds.

The ComiX4= Comics for Equality Award has three categories: The fight against racism, stories of migration and stereotypes.

Two prizes will be allocated within the Award: the Jury Award and the Audience Award. There will be three winners in each category, with a total of six prizes awarded, of  € 1,000 each.

Download the award rules now to find out more!

This award is open to comic strip authors in all 27 EU member states, EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and the countries on the road to membership (Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, FYRM, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo).

 
Follow the project also on facebook and read and vote for the submitted comics here. The deadline for submitting comics is the 30th of June 2013, so you still have some time to take part!



The project ComiX4= Comics for Equality is led by Africa e Mediterraneo (Italy), in partnership with NGO Mondo (Estonia), the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation (Bulgaria), ARCA (Romania) and Grafiskie stasti (Latvia).

The ComiX4= Comics for Equality project is funded by the European Union – Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme – November 2012.



For further information please contact:
Marta Meloni
Africa e Mediterraneo
m.meloni@africaemediterraneo.it
0039 051 84 01 66

Comics Residency in Riga I - James Turek

During the whole month of April kuš! hosted the first CUNE comics artist in residence in Riga in cooperation with NOASS. Now James Turek is back in Leipzig and he sent us the following report with pictures (some additional ones added by us):

CUNE Residency RIGA, April 2013

Notes from the field

April 1st, shortly before midnight I arrive in Riga airport and pick up my bag. David Schilter is waving me on..."We have to run to catch the last bus!!" We run across a nearly empty parking lot as snow falls heavily and spring into the bus as the doors close behind us.



This was the first residency I have ever had and the first for kuš! to host. From the beginning until the end (one month later) it was a bit like hurrying through the snow at night, inspiring, new and exciting, and a good feeling of relief when you make it to your destination.

Behind the Comics XII - Marlene Krause

The newest 'Behind the Comics' comes from š! #13 'Life Is Live' contributor Marlene Krause.

Marlene Krause // *1984, Germany. Marlene founded the comics anthology Two Fast Colour together with Martina Lenzin. She has contributed to publications like ORANG, Colibri, Nobrow and Turkey Comix. Her first graphic novel ‘A un autre endroit’ is published by L’Association in May 2013. Marlene loves black chocolate with almonds and riding her bike up and down the hills of Barcelona.

Now read about her adventures drawing her comics for š! #13 'Life Is Life': 

Well, unfortunately on New Year's eve I crashed with my bike and broke my left collarbone. At first I wasn't even able to walk, so I spent loads of time at home, and the first thing I did was sending this NewYears-greeting to my friends:

It says in German: "Happy New Year! oh, what's that? ---My broken collarbone--- My bike is well though... See you soon!"

š! #13 'Life Is Live'

Twenty-six international cartoonists contributed comics to the Baltic Comics Magazine š! #13 'Life Is Live' which focus on autobiographical stories. Most of the artists taking part usually don't make autobio strips at all and interpreted the theme freely from very different perspectives. Some of the stories are also semi-autobiographical and others even "autobiografictional". š! #13 is filled with very colorful, weird and surprising stories about life, like getting your leg prosthesis stolen, forgetting your pin code because of Modern Talking or drinking beer with temple knights…

Cover: Ana Albero (Spain/ Germany) Contributors: Akvilė Misevičiūtė (Lithuania/ Spain), Ana Albero (Spain/ Germany), Anete Melece (Latvia/ Switzerland), Anna Vaivare (Latvia), Berliac (Argentina/ Norway), Bianca Bagnarelli (Italy), Dace Sietiņa (Latvia/ The Netherlands), Dogboy (UK), HTMLflowers (USA/ Australia), Ian Andersen (USA), Inés Estrada (Mexico), Ingrīda Pičukane (Latvia), Jonny Negron (Puerto Rico/ USA), Julia Gfrörer (USA), Kārlis Vītols (Latvia), König Lü.Q. (Switzerland), Liisa Kivimäe (Estonia), Līva Āboltiņa (Latvia), Maciej Sieńczyk (Poland), Maija Līduma (Latvia), Marlene Krause (Germany), Oleg Tischenkov (Russia/ Canada), Rūta Briede (Latvia), Sabīne Moore (Latvia), Simon Hanselmann (Australia), Thomas Wellmann (Germany)

Summary: š! # 13 'Life Is Live', Format A6, 26 artists, 164 pages, full-color, perfect bound, English, locally printed in Riga on environmentally friendly paper, ISBN: 978-9934-518-00-3, released on the 29th of April, 2013

Price: $ 13.00 (worldwide shipping included!) Order here: http://www.komikss.lv/books/. Safe payment via paypal or credit card. Soon also available in selected shops around the world. In Riga also available soon for LS. 3.00. 

Preview pics:

Bianca Bagnarelli

Marlene Krause

Open Call for Comics Journalists

In our next issue we would like to publish a text about:

SPORTS IN COMICS

If you are a comics journalist / scientist or writer and would like to write a text about "sports in comics" for kuš!, then please get in touch with us.  The text we look for can have about 700- 1000 words. Write to kushmens@gmail.com until the 3rd of May if you are interested to write something. Tell us in a few sentences, what you intend to write about. Also send along a text you previously wrote about comics as reference. We'll then select the proposition which seems most interesting and you'll have until the 21st of May to finish the text. "Payment" will be 1kg of š! (6 copies of your choice).

š! #13 'Life Is Live' coming out soon!

š! # 13 is coming out on the 29th of April.

For this issue 26 international artists contributed comics to the theme 'Life Is Live' which focus on autobiographical stories. But don't worry, you will not get to see the classical autobiographical comics which currently are all so popular. Most of the artists taking part usually don't make autobio strips at all and interpreted the theme freely from very different perspectives. Some of the stories are also "only" semi-autobiographical and some even "autobiografictional"! Overall the issue is filled with very colorful, weird and surprising stories about life-from childhood through cyberspace until ...

The cover of š! #13 'Life Is Live' was drawn by Ana Albero, a Berlin-based artist who together with previous kuš! contributors Till Hafenbrak and Paul Paetzel founded Edition Biografiktion.

See all the contributors of this issue:

Akvilė Misevičiūtė (Lithuania)

Ana Albero (Spain)

Piedalies nākamajā (ku)š!ā!

Piedalies - radi un sūti komiksu nākamajam (ku)š! numuram par tēmu "SPORTS"!

1927.gada 25. marta žurnāla "Atpūta" vāks

Tēmu vari interpretēt ļoti brīvi - mēs gaidām dažnedažādus eksperimentālus, mākslinieciski un saturiski aizraujošus un kvalitatīvus grafiskus stāstus. Tie var būt gan par kādu īstu vai izdomātu sporta veidu, notikumu, skandālu, personību, gan vizuālas pārdomas par sportisko mākslā vai māksliniecisko sportā - spēles laukumu izvēlies Tu!

Noteikumi:
- Tēma: "Sports"
- Lappušu skaits: Ne vairāk par 12

- Valoda: Angļu
- Formāts: A6, platums 105mm × augstums 148mm (+ 5 mm malas pārlaides. Tā kā izdevums būs līmēts, ja zīmē atvērumu (2 lapas blakus), svarīgākās detaļas nezīmē vidū, tās būs grūti saskatīt.) Oriģināls, protams, var būt lielāks par A6. Dažkārt oriģināli lielāki darbi izskatās labāk drukāti mazākā formātā.
- Krāsas: Jā, CMYK (drukāsim uz Munken Print Cream papīra)
- Izšķirtspēja: 300 dpi, vēlams kā tiff vai pdf fails
- Citas lietas: Ieteicams dot darbam nosaukumu, to ieraksti vai iezīmē pirmajā lapā. Autoru vārdi tiks nodrukāti katras lapas apakšā blakus lappuses numuram. Tāpat par katru autoru publicēsim īsu aprakstu (ku)š! pēdējā lapā. Kaut arī katrā numurā publicējam tikai vienu autora darbu, konkursam vari sūtīt vairākus darbus, bet ne vairāk par 3!

- Termiņš: 2013. gada 26. maijs (svētdiena)

- Sūti jpg failus ar mazu izšķirtspēju uz kushmens(at)gmail(.)com
- Publicētajiem autoriem atlīdzība graudā: 1 kg (ku)š! = 6 žurnāli.

Jautājumu vai neskaidrību gadījumā raksti Kušmenam: kushmens(at)gmail(.)com. Negarantējam, ka visus iesūtītos darbus publicēsim, dažādu iemeslu dēļ tas var nebūt iespējams. Saņemot komiksu, nosūtīsim katram autoram apstiprinājumu, ka komiksu esam saņēmuši. Taču tā kā ar katru reizi atsūtīto darbu skaits arvien pieaug, e-pastu par publicēšanu izsūtīsim tikai tiem autoriem, kuru komiksus būsim izvēlējušies publicēšanai. 

Kā vienmēr gaidīsim kā jaunu, vēl neatklātu autoru, tā iepriekš publicētu un "Open call"ā piedalījušos autoru darbus.

 

Lai iepazītos ar jau kuš!ā publicētajiem komiksiem, meklē iepriekšējos numurus Lukabukā, Randomā, Muhamorā, kafejnīcā "Kafka", Dizaina drukas studijā TELPA un Galerijā „Istaba".

Vairāk info: www.komikss.lv

Don't miss!

If you are ready to wake up from hibernation, we have a bunch of comics competitions and other opportunities to recommend to you.

The regular kuš! blog readers might have found all of the recommendations already right here on our blog's "don't miss" section (column on the right side). We regularly update it with links to events, open calls and competitions, which we personally like and want to advise to others. Now we'd like to say a few words about some of the upcoming ones:

kuš! goes Angouleme

We were the lucky ones who won this beautiful cat at BD Angouleme last year. Its orange color indicates that it is the PRIX DE LA BANDE DESSINÉE ALTERNATIVE, the alternative comics award.  So this year we get to go there to attend the festival and have a stand!

mini kuš! #10-13 are out!

Exciting day at the kuš! HQ - The mini kuš! #10 - 13 are printed! Best imaginable start into 2013!

Read more about them below, see some preview and order them from our our webshop or website. Soon also available in shops! (Currently in Riga Lukabuka (Opera), Galerija Istaba, Randoms, Muhamors, Dizaina drukas studijā TELPA and Kafka Kafija, but soon also in selected international shops)