The Live Comics Show
The selected projects, the Kick-off and the first dates
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The second open call of Comics Beyond ended on the 15th September 2024. The call was about selecting four projects about live exhibitions that blend comics and performative arts. We called these mixed live events “Live Comics Show”. The purpose of these shows is to publicize comic art to a wider audience thanks to a more interactive and performative way, since one of the objectives of the Comics Beyond’s project is to give European artists more professional tools for better career opportunities.
The selected projects and the Kick-off
The jury members selected four Live Comics Show, each one proposed by an artistic duo.
Moby Dick Blues: A Graphic Performance Experience
Moby Dick Blues is a powerful performance by Italian artists Cosimo Miorelli (drawings) and Stefano Bechini (music). This unique adaptation of Herman Melville’s classic tale merges live drawing, music and narration in a mesmerizing show. A not-to-be-missed event that brings the epic of Ahab and the white whale to life with an emotional, contemporary twist.
Inyeon
French duo Jung and Laetitia Marty present Inyeon, a poetic performance that delves into the concept of fate and interconnectedness. Through a blend of live drawing and movement, they explore the invisible threads that bind individuals across time and space.
Am I Not a Woman?
Spanish artists Quan Zhou and Ruth Frías offer Am I Not a Woman?, a multidisciplinary piece that combines visual art, performance and narrative to question and celebrate female identity. This thought-provoking show invites audiences to reflect on gender roles and societal expectations.
MONKEYBIZ
Cecilia Valagussa and Marta Del Grandi, another Italian duo, bring MONKEYBIZ to the stage, a dynamic fusion of comics and live performance that satirizes modern consumer culture. Through humor and vivid imagery, they critique the absurdities of contemporary life.
The selected project and their artistic duos will bring the shows to many European and international stages. Each Live Comics Show will be staged at least at two different locations during two different occasions.
The kick-off of the shows took place on 30th April in Naples at HDE Gallery during the opening event of COMICON Napoli, the international pop culture festival and one of Comics Beyond’s main partners. This was the first time one of the Live Comics Show was presented to a live audience and Moby Dick Blues was the selected project for this premiere. It was a huge success attended by all the partners, some of the special jury members for the open call and many Italian and international professionals. The next day, during COMICON Napoli and inside the festival location, it was time for a live talk attended by the same professionals and partners of the day before but also by a wider live audience and some of the artists of the Live Comics Show. The panel was about what Comics Beyond and its partners have already done and what are the project’s next steps. On 3rd May 2025 the duo behind Moby Dick Blues performed a second time, opening the Awards Ceremony of COMICON Napoli inside the theater that hosted the festival’s main events, a modern structure with 800 seats. So, a great start for the Live Comics Show.
Live Comics Show: the first dates
The tour, started in Naples, will continue with new dates all around Europe.
MONKEYBIZ in Morocco and in Belgium
After the first shows in Naples, Cecilia Valagussa and Marta Del Grandi captured the audience on 16th May 20205 at the Forum international de la Bande Dessinée de Tetouan in Morocco with their Live Comics Show: MONKEYBIZ. This date of the tour was staged by the Brussels Comic Art Museum, the founder partner of Comics Beyond. The show will also be presented in Belgium in 2026.
Inyeon in France and in the UK
Inyeon was next in line and it’s been staged on the 8th June 2025 during the Rendez-vous BD Amiens festival at the Halle Freyssinet in Amiens, France. The festival and the performance were organized by On a Marché sur la bulle, another main partner of Comics Beyond. The show will also be presented during the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in September 2025.
Am I Not a Woman in Portugal
After France it will be the time of Portugal with the performance of Am I Not a Woman? that will be staged on 25th October 2025 in Amadora during Amadora BD, a festival organized by the last main partner of Comics Beyond which has the same name of the event.
Stay tuned for the next steps of Comics Beyond, such as new dates of the Live Comics Shows European Tour and a big update for comicsbeyond.eu that will give european comics artist and professionals a new useful tool.
The partners
Comics Beyond is supported by the European Commission as part of the Creative Europe – Cultural cooperation projects (small scale) program. Four comics professional structures from different countries are cooperating to make the project a reality: the Brussels Comic Art Museum (Belgium), Amadora BD (Portugal), Rendez-vous BD Amiens (France) and COMICON Napoli (Italy), in partnership with Escola Joso (Spain), Art Bubble Festival (Denmark) and the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival (United-Kingdom).
Led by the Brussels Comic Art Museum, Comics Beyond brings together all of these renowned international partners, each one working on different aspects of the project, to make the project’s mission a reality and to develop an European network for comic art.
Contacts
@comicsbeyond.eu on social media (Facebook, Instagram)
Communications Coordinator
Kevin Scauri
For COMICON
Project Coordinator
Lisa Weill
For Brussels Comic Art Museum
