Portuguese emigration, the rural world and female visibility are prominent issues at Amadora BD 2022, whose central theme is the relationship between Portugal and France, the organization revealed at a press conference.
The 32nd edition of the comic and cartoon festival takes place between October 20 and 30 and is part of the agenda of the Portugal-France Cross Season, a cultural exchange program that unites the two countries and ends in October.
In this context, the exhibitions “Central Warehouse” by Régis Loisel and Jean-Louis Tripp stand out, which “tells the lives of the inhabitants of the small parish of Notre-Dame-des-Lacs”; “Os Portugueses”, by Oliver Afonso & Chico, which narrates “the adventurous life of emigrants in a marginal neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris”; and “4 Rooms (and they are ours!)”, in which the authors Blanche Sabbah, Elléa Bird, Joana Mosi and Patrícia Guimarães address female visibility.
Patrícia Guimarães was inspired by the journalist, writer and women’s rights activist Maria Lamas to tell “different stories”.
“Rather than talking about stars like Beyoncé, who appear as symbols of feminism, I was interested in showing that a feminist can be a symbol of resistance and daily struggle, like my mother or a domestic worker,” Patrícia Guimarães told the Lusa agency.
The motto of the work that Joana Mosi will exhibit was a conversation between Joana and her grandmother, who was “very moved” by the death of the painter Paula Rego, despite the fact that “she had never shown her great affection, but they were the same age” “.
The artist also wants to pay tribute to the struggles of previous generations for women’s rights, “a battle that is not over”.
The director of Amadora BD, Catarina Valente, highlighted the alliance between Portugal and France to project Portuguese authors in the French market, taking advantage of the ongoing cooperation with the Lyon comic festival and which runs until next year.
“Many editions that come out in Portugal are adaptations of French works, but there is a lack of Portuguese production in France”, he summed up, wanting to turn Amadora BD into a “launch platform”.
This year’s event will feature the unprecedented presence in Europe of Marvel illustrator and co-creator of “The New Mutants” Bob McLeod, marking the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, a space dedicated to the award-winning Portuguese work “Ballad for Sophie and an artistic show by humorist Hugo van der Ding.
In total, there are 13 exhibitions spread over three parts of the city of Amadora: the Artur Boal Gallery, the Fernando Piteira Santos Municipal Library, and the Ski Skate Park, a place that Catarina Valente describes as the “city of comics.”
This space will be the highlight of the festival, which for the first time will have an area dedicated to video games, as well as a shopping and dining area.
Amadora BD has been held since 1990, organized by the Amadora City Council, and brings together national and international authors, publishers, agents and collectors of these genres.
Source: Observadora
