Africa Comics Opens In New York City

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on November 14, 2006 Sign up now!

-- Publishers Weekly, 11/14/2006

The American comics market has long embraced comics from Europe and more recently an influx of comics from Japan and Korea have made a splash in the U.S. market. Beginning this week on November 15, Americans will get a chance to see the work of a new generation of contemporary African cartoonists when the Africa Comics exhibition opens at the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York City.

Organized by Africa e Mediterraneo, a non-profit organization founded in Bologna, Italy dedicated to international development, the Africa Comics exhibition features the works of 32 African cartoonists and comics artists. Most of the comics work in the exhibition has never been seen in the U.S. The exhibition features the works of African cartoonists that live in Europe and many other, less-known cartoonists still living in Africa. The show represents artists from across the continent, with work from Central African Republic, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, South Africa and other African nations.

The comics offer a fascinating look at contemporary African society, depicting issues around politics, war, refugees and public health and the conflicts between tribal traditions and modern life. Some of the works were commissioned for comics competitions organized by Africa e Mediterraneo. The show was co-curated by Sandra Federici, Andrea Marchesini Reggiani, Mary Angela Schroth and the Studio Museum's executive director Thelma Golden.

The exhibition is documented in a full-color 200 page catalog featuring an introduction by Okwui Enwezor of the San Francisco Art Insitute and including additional essays by Valerie Cassel Oliver and PW Comics Week's Calvin Reid. The exhibition will run through March 18 at the Studio Museum in Harlem; 144 W. 125th Street.