As of September 5, you can visit the exhibition “Pens and Cartoons: Arab comics in motion,” which includes a complete overview of today’s comics and graphic novels in the Arab world through 23 works produced from 2007 to 2015, all very representative of the creative response by Arab writers and illustrators to the social and political transformations occurring over the last decade.

Fresh, imaginative, talented, innovative, daring… these are just a few of the common denominators used to describe the world of Arab comics, surprising not only to those abroad, but also to the people in their own countries. It is a form of expression that has used a smooth, self-assured style to connect with a growing audience which follows and interacts with works written on such different topics as superheroes, traditional tales and stories of a social and personal nature. Lebanon and Egypt have been the main focal points for this creativity in recent years, but comic production in both the Maghreb and the rest of the Arab world is increasing thanks to the creativity of authors who unhesitatingly connect with the international comics scene, in which they are also beginning to earn recognition.  

This show, organized by Casa Árabe and IEMed in the city of Barcelona, brings Arab works of the “ninth art” closer to the Spanish public and is divided into three sections, each focusing on a different type of medium in which comics are produced: “Magazines: The predecessors of new Arab comics,” “Books: The rara avis of Arab comics,” and “Internet: The natural space for creativity in Arab comics.”  

All of the excerpts from the comics are shown in the exhibition with translations into Spanish by a network of translators who specialize in the various dialects of the Arabic language. All of the work was coordinated by curator Pedro Rojo and the Al Fanar Foundation. Moreover, visitors may view the full stories of each comic using an app for their mobile phones, which will help them take the exhibitions with them outside the exhibition halls of Casa Árabe itself.

The exhibition has already been on tour in the cities of Segovia, Madrid, Cordoba, Ceuta and Seville and can now be seen in Barcelona, as well, until October 6, 2016.

Exhibition location: Metro L1, Arc de Triomf

Phone: 93 232 78 27 - Fax: 93 232 82 93

fortpienc@fortpienc.org

fortpienc.org

Opening event on September 5, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.