Cosplay – when imagination has no boarders. Foto: Olha Kuzmyn
“I’m too old to be an adult” – this was my motto during the 17th International Comic-Salon in Erlangen that lasted four wonderful days (26-29 May, 2016). What is it? It’s a combination of all possible events connected with art and comics: exhibitions, workshops, comic books fair, cosplay, lots of fun and what not. My biggest problem was how to choose from about 181 events and even more artists, where to go and what to see, because usually physically you can be only in one place at a time. So if the next time, in 2018, you decide to join this fantasy madness, here are my 5 suggestions:
1. Museums
I know what you think right now – “Are you serious?” Absolutely! During the Comic-Salon you won’t see “traditional” exhibitions but rather the newest and most popular works of painters, sculptors and other modern creative artists. These are representatives of a great variety of countries and cultures. For example, the exhibition “The little drunk theatre” has completely changed my idea of perception. To see it you have to enter a dark room with a few sculptures and buttons. When you press a button, the sculpture starts rotating and the light flickers creating an illusion that a man is falling down the stairs or a car is burning. “Evil Clowns_reloaded” is another example of a striking exhibition (not recommended in case of coulrophobia ). There you can find a big exhibition dedicated to Joker or a kidnapped and beheaded Ronald McDonald (as a protest to fast-food industry). You still have a chance to visit this exhibition till the 26. June in the Kunstpalais.
2. Interactive installations
Artists at work. Foto: Olha Kuzmyn
All the best things are for free – and this is really true. Even if you didn’t have time or didn’t want to buy tickets for the festival, you could attend some attractions for free. One of them was “Trubel mit dem Kleinen Strubbel” – a big room with comics for kids and many coloring papers where you could also try out your talents. Another example would be the “Kinky&Cosy experience”. This was a small truck with 4 cute mini-laboratories. Here you were literary “brainwashed”, gifted with a pill of knowledge and could watch some nice cartoons about Kinky and Cosy.
3. Comic books fair
Of course, the main place to visit was, is and will be the fair. Not only to buy a book or two but mostly to get acquainted with the authors, publications and recent trends. It’s usually nearly impossible to keep track of all the modern artists or publications, so such a fair is the right place to widen your knowledge. Moreover, most of the artists were creating some “recent” works in front of your eyes, so you could ask them any questions about the techniques of painting or just simply admire how a few lines on a paper can turn into a Spiderman.
4. Sticker-Album
Can you find 172 different stickers hidden in 13 different locations in two days? – Yes, easy! This was my little personal challenge because sometimes they were not displayed on an open space and you had to apply real deduction skills to find them. Nevertheless, you couldn’t feel more childish than during the whole process of finding these stickers. It was fun not only to find all of them (because only then you could receive a special bonus-sticker and yes, I wanted them all), but also to reveal all the galleries that are in Erlangen (some are well hidden as well). Moreover, afterwards you get a big colorful book full of memories and great pictures.
Manga vs The little drunk theatre. Foto: Olha Kuzmyn
5. Cosplay
I guess all of us have seen at least once many people gathering in one place somewhere in the USA or in big European cities, putting on fancy costumes of their favorite characters from movies/computer games/comics/books/TV series… and having lots of fun. What if I told you that you could have all of this in your own city? This was one of my big dreams to see and the International Comic-Salon topped all my expectations: The costumes were really professional; people were really friendly and, finally, many favorite characters came to life right near me. For those who think they don’t have any skills in cosplay, no problem, there usually are special workshops how to make a proper costume and present it.
As a conclusion…
Even if you’re not keen on modern art or comics in general, you will find something special here. It could be a lecture about comics, an old edition of some comics series, a workshop about origami or sketching, smart souvenirs from some artists (free postcards, stickers or business cards) and memories of many smiling childish faces of adults.