Upper Silesian Comics Party in Gliwice

Upper Silesian Comics Party in Gliwice

On October 10, Gliwice will once again become a meeting place for creators, readers, publishers and researchers of comics. In the spaces of CKS Mrowisko, CAS Center for Student Creativity and Rynek Artistic Station, the Upper Silesian Comic Festival will take place — a full-day festival full of meetings, fairs and comic attractions! Admission to all events and attractions is free.

GIK combines the formula of festival, fair, cycle of author meetings, exhibitions and workshops. The program will include interviews with renowned artists, the possibility of obtaining autographs, shopping in the fair area, activities for children, youth and adults and presentations dedicated to the different facets of contemporary comics. This year GIK is accompanied by a scientific conference, which will be held on October 8-9, where admission is also free

Author meetings in Mrowisko

The main part of the event is author meetings on the stage in Mrowisko. From 10:00 to 19:00 the audience will be able to participate in conversations with creators representing different ways of thinking about comics: from documentary and autobiography, through fairy tales, formal experiment and reportage, to the history of the medium and its contemporary transformations.

Among the guests will be Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz, Michał “Śledziu” Śledziński, Jerzy Szyłak, Rafał Szłapa, Wojciech Stefaniec, Anna Krztoń, Daniel Tejnický, Anna Wieszczyk, Jakub Kwiatkowski, Ernesto González, Marysia Rostocka, Zavka, Łukasz Godlewski and Łukasz Wojciechowski.

The program will open a meeting with the creators of independent comics, whose works will be available for purchase at the festival. Then Daniel Tejnický will talk about Czech visions of the apocalypse. Later in the day Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz and Anna Krztoń will talk about documentary comics, Jakub Kwiatkowski will introduce Strugliny. Michał “Śledziu” Śledziński will talk about the exhibition and about the magazine “Produkt”, while Jerzy Szyłak will invite him to his office. An important point of the day will be the panel Comic Journalism — Towards Professionalization.

Fairs, zines and autographs

Throughout the day there will be comic fairs, where both large publishers and small and independent publishers will present themselves. This is an opportunity to buy premieres and hard-to-reach publications, talk with authors and visit the autograph zone.

One of the most unique highlights of the program will be the live ZIN. During the GIK, a zine with the works of a dozen comic artists will be created, printed on the historic machine of the Office of Art Exhibitions in Katowice, transported especially for this occasion. Due to the one-time nature of this technology, the publication will never be printed, and the participants of the event will have the opportunity to get a truly unique publication. This is a treat for collectors.

Workshops

The CAS Centre for Student Creativity will host workshops: The following will be waiting for the participants:

· workshops for children with Grzegorz Janusz and Ernesto González, authors of The Fairy Tale of Bajarz;

· screenwriting workshops for youth and adults with Daniel Gizicki;

· comic workshops for young people and adults with Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz;

· mobile comic reading room of the Gliwice Library and chill zone;

· multimedia presentation How they draw.

Information about registration for workshops and organizational details will be published on the social profiles of the Górnośląska Komiksowa Party.

Exhibitions

From 3 October at the Rynek Artistic Station you will be able to see Michał “Sledzia” Śledziński's exhibition Liquid Line. As part of GIK there will be a night tour of the exhibition with the participation of the author 10.10

Rafał Szłapa's exhibition entitled Professor Szyłak's Office, at CAS Centre for Student Creativity, is also being launched. Its vernissage will take place at 9.10 on Friday at 17:00.

Congress of the Polish Society for Comic Studies

The Upper Silesian Comic Festival will be preceded by the 1st Congress of the Polish Society for Comic Studies, scheduled for October 8-9 in Mrowisko. In this case, too, admission for listeners is free.

The Congress program will include approximately 30 speeches, panels and discussions on history, theory, aesthetics, and contemporary comic book practices. Among the speakers will be Jerzy Szyłak, Wojciech Birek and Adam Rusek, as well as researchers representing different methodological perspectives and academic centers.

The two-day meeting of the comic book community will end with the opening on Friday of Rafał Szłapa's exhibition Professor Szyłak's Cabinet. It will also be the symbolic opening of the Upper Silesian Comic Festival. The events combine the reflection on the comic with the lively presence of its creators, publishers and audiences.