the International Festival of Comics

Posted: Tuesday, July 29, 2003
By: Darren Schroeder

The 14th Comics Festival is due to be held 24-26 October 2003, Lodz - Poland, and the organixers have invited us all.....

The festival, first organized in 1991, is one of the best - known cultural evens in Poland and Eastern Europe. Every year thousands of people interested in this kind of art come to Lodz to meet the best artists and talk on topics of their interests. Owing to the International Festival of Comics Lodz has become the Polish capital of comics. The festival lasts three days. At that time you can visit numerous exhibitions (open to the public till November 2003), attend interesting meetings called comics sessions and lectures. This year you will be able to meet J. Szylak and W. Birek and watch films made on basis of some famous comics. During the festival the jury will announce the results of the competition for the best comics. Every year over a hundred artists from Poland and abroad enter the competition.

One should mention here many famous artists you can meet at the festival. One of them is G. Rosinski living in Switzerland. In the past we were honoured to invite such artists as B. Polch, H. Chmielewski, J. Christa, T. Baranowski, Sz. Pawel and many others. Every year you can see works of the artists who have gained much popularity in Poland and abroad. During the festival you can also meet many very young artists whore works are becoming more and more popular. The Comics Festival is a great opportunity to talk about this kind of art. While visiting the exhibitions you will be able to learn much about the history and theory of comics.

The organizers haven’t forgotten about comics collectors. There will be plenty of opportunity for buying some older and the latest comics. We are honoured that nearly all Polish publishers want to present their comics during the festival.

Since 1998 the third day of the festival has been devoted to Manga – Japanese comics. It creates a great opportunity to present the Japanese culture and tradition to the public. The festival is very popular with artists, publishers and mass media. Every year a large number of journalists observe the festival. That is why. You can find numerous reports on KOMIKS 2003 in the Internet, newspapers and on the radio and TV. People organizing the cultural event deeply believe that the main aim of the festival is to promote young talented artists by showing their works to the public and publishers.

organizer the International Festival of Comics:
Lodzki Dom Kultury, Traugutta 18, 90-113 Lodz
phone: (42) 6339800 wewn. 244 lub 247
e-mail: festiwalkomiksuSTOP-@-SPAMpoczta.wp.pl
http://komiksforum.republika.pl

Komiks 2003 Poster

Rules of comics competition

The competition is open to the public. The theme of the comics is free. You can use different techniques such as drawing, painting or photography.

You may submit comics which have never been published before. You can put forward up to three comics. The number of pages must not exceed twelve pages A3 (297x420 mm) or A4 (210x297 mm). All the pages should be signed and numbered. At the back of the pages you ought to write the title of the work, your name, surname and your address. All the comics should be packed in a cardboard folder which is needed to send you back the comics (photocopies will not be sent back).

The comics should be sent to Lodzki Dom Kultury, Traugutta 18, 90-113 Lodz, KOMIKS 2003, by 31 August 2003. To take part in the competition and exhibition your are requested to pay 10 euro into our bank account Lodzki Dom Kultury, Traugutta 18, 90-113 Lodz, PKO BP SA I o/Centrum in Lodz, 91 10203352 125924934, and send the photocopy of the receipt together with the comics.

Your works will be shown at the Exhibition of Comics housed in LDK. All competitors will be allowed free admission to all fringe events. A special jury (Comics Academy) will announce the final results on the 4th of October 2003. Grand Prix and other awards will be handed to the winners during the International Festival of Comics.

Once the festival has been over, the exhibition will be shown in other Polish cities. The Grand Prix winner will be honoured to prepare poster for the festival KOMIKS 2004.

The organizers reserve for themselves the right to publish some of the works in the catalogue of the exhibition, magazines and Internet to promote the artist and the festival itself.

You will be requested to collect your comics in the Festival Office when the festival is over or they will be sent back within three months.



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