Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Comics artists sought in Kensington
June 1: Swann Fellow lecture on Early Turkish Cartoons
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540
May 5, 2010
Public contact: Martha Kennedy (202) 707-9115, mkenn@loc.gov
Cartoons of Early Turkish Republic
To Be Topic of Swann Fellow's Lecture on June 1
Swann Foundation Fellow Yasemin Gencer will explore the visual and textual rhetoric of cartoons from the early years of the Turkish Republic in a lecture June 1 at the Library of Congress.
Gencer will present "Cartooning Progress: Secularism and Nationalism in the Early Turkish Republic (1922-28)" at noon on Tuesday, June 1, in Dining Room A on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are needed.
In her illustrated talk, Gencer will discuss how cartoons had the power to create, shape and project a new Turkish national identity based on European models. She will look at cartoons that highlight reforms initiated during the early years of the Turkish Republic. In one cartoon, for example, an automobile made of Latin letters speeds past a camel composed of Arabic letters, demonstrating how the cartoonist combines text with visual metaphor to underscore the benefits of changing the official alphabet. Such cartoons from 1922-28 illustrate many reforms aimed at secularizing the nation.
The Turkish Republic of today was established in 1922, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938), known as Kemal Atatürk, the new republic put forth a reform program intended to distance the state socially and politically from its Ottoman and Islamic past, while simultaneously drawing itself closer to the secular and more technologically developed nations in the West.
As the first president of the Turkish Republic, Kemal is credited with modernizing his nation's legal and educational systems and encouraging the adoption of aspects of European daily life. The transition from Turkish written in Arabic to Turkish written in the Latin alphabet can be seen as part of the modernization that unfolded during this period.
In her lecture, Gencer will draw on the materials that she has studied in the collections of the African and Middle Eastern Division and the Prints and Photographs Division.
Gencer completed a master's degree in 2008, with a focus on Turkish studies, in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University. Currently a doctoral student in the Department of the History of Art at Indiana University, she is studying Islamic arts with a specialization in Ottoman and Turkish Republican print culture. Her dissertation focuses on cartoon arts and satirical journals of the early Turkish Republican period.
The lecture, sponsored by the Swann Foundation, the Prints and Photographs Division and the African and Middle Eastern Division, is part of the foundation's continuing activities to support the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world.
The Swann Foundation's advisory board is comprised of scholars, collectors, cartoonists and Library of Congress staff members. The foundation strives to award fellowships annually to assist scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. Applications for the 2011-2012 academic year are due Feb. 15, 2011. More information about the fellowship is available through the Swann Foundation's website www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swannhome or by e-mailing swann@loc.gov.
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PR10-103
5/5/10
ISSN: 0731-3527
Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20540-1610 United States
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Shawn Martinbrough profiled
Drawing Noir with Shawn Martinbrough
by Alex Dueben
Mon, May 3rd, 2010
Washington Blade returns while Times fades
Meanwhile, the Washington Times has confirmed that it is for sale. The Times dropped all of its comics months ago.
Dan Clowes at Politics and Prose pictures
I forgot my notes for this at work today - perhaps tomorrow I can put up some of the highlights. In the meantime, here are my pictures. I'd especially like to note that Daniel stayed from 7 - 10:40 pm - he made sure everyone on line got a sketch in a book.
And apparently everyone in DC interviewed him too - I like my interview best of course, but here's another -
DCist Interview: Daniel Clowes
Written by DCist Contributor Allen Brooks
April 30 2010
and another by the Post freelancer who did an excellent job interviewing him at P&P -
Panel Discussion: Daniel Clowes covers cartoon history in one graphic novel, By Dan Kois, published May 2, 2010.
There was a somewhat atypical crowd this time - I saw Martha Kennedy of the Library of Congress' cartoon collection, Larry Rodman the former Comics Journal reporter, Michael Wenthe an American University professor, Hank Stuever the Washington Post's Style reporter, Randy Tischler this blog's co-writer and publicity man for the Baltimore Comic-Con, book collector and Herblock specialist Warren Bernard and a cartoonist for the Times of India whom I didn't get to meet.
Baltimore's Jose Villarubia featured on Canadian site
Monday, May 03, 2010
May 4: Richard Kelly at American Art (repost)
7:00 PM
McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
American Art Museum
Collecting for the Long Haul
Tuesday, May 4, 7:00 p.m.
Richard Kelly, The Kelly Collection of American Illustration
Express website also interviewed Clowes
Clowes was a really interesting interview and a nice guy - if you're later on the book tour, go see this. If you missed him in DC, call Politics and Prose and order the recording of the talk.
Pictures coming soon.
Barbarian Comics profiled in today's Post
As Friend of ComicsDC Robert Montgomery noted when tipping me to this article, "The reporter breathlessly mentions that one of the owners has a "30 year old Batman." Probably worth $0.50-$1.00. Or less."
Indeed. Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be comic store owners.
Clowes interview up at City Paper - he's at Politics and Prose tonight
Monday, May 3rd, 2010 is short email interview that he did with me - he's very funny. Go read it now, and then see him tonight at Politics and Prose at 7 pm.
Here's the PR from his publisher:
Dan Clowes On Tour! WILSON in stores!
All of our North American distributors have shipped the most anticipated book of the year to stores -- WILSON by Daniel Clowes, the cartoonist of David Boring, Ghost World and Ice Haven and the legendary Eightball comic book series. Today, WILSON is available everywhere in North America, at a finer store near you. In the next year, foreign language editions will also come out in the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands and Denmark.
Dan Clowes embarks on his tour next week in support of his first ever original graphic novel. In each city, Dan will be talking with a special guest moderator complete with slide show. (and it's a great slide show) And in Boston you get to see Ghost World after the event, with an introduction by Dan himself.
05/03/10 | 7 PM Washington DC POLITICS & PROSE With Dan Kois
05/04/10 | 6 PM Cambridge BRATTLE THEATER & HARVARD BOOKSTORE With Hillary Chute
05/05/10 | 7 PM NYC THE STRAND With David Hajdu
05/07/10 | 7 PM Toronto TCAF & TPL With Mark Medley
05/08/10-05/09/10 Toronto TCAF & TPL
05/13/10 | 7:30 PM San Francisco THE BOOKSMITH With Glen David Gold
05/14/10 | 7:30 PM Los Angeles SKYLIGHT BOOKS With Dana Gould
05/16/10 | 7:30 PM Portland POWELLS With Greg Netzer, Director of Wordstock
06/03/10 | 7 PM Oakland DIESEL With Eli Horowitz
06/12/10 | 7 PM Chicago QUIMBY'S (signing only)
06/13/10 | TBA Chicago PRINTERS ROW With Ray Pride
ABOUT WILSON: Meet Wilson, an opinionated middle-aged loner who loves his dog and quite possibly no one else. In an ongoing quest to find human connection, he badgers friend and stranger alike into a series of one-sided conversations, punctuating his own lofty discursions with a brutally honest, self-negating sense of humor. After his father dies, Wilson, now irrevocably alone, sets out to find his ex-wife with the hope of rekindling their long-dead relationship, and discovers he has a teenage daughter, born after the marriage ended and given up for adoption. Wilson eventually forces all three to reconnect as a family - a doomed mission that will surely, inevitably backfire.
Full Color, 80 pages, 8 1/4 by 11 1/2 inches ISBN: 9781770460072 $21.95 US / $22.95 CDN
For more information visit www.drawnandquarterly.com/blog
Ann Telnaes and other editorial cartoonists condemn threats against South Park
Comics on the Rack, Quick Picks for Comics Due 05-05-10
TODAY: Kal on Kojo on NPR, May 8th in Baltimore
On Monday May 3 I will be a guest Washington's NPR showcase station , WAMU (www.wamu.org, 88.5 FM), on the Kojo Nnamdi show. I will be on the 1-2PM slot as part of a discussion on Satire and Culture.
I will be the guest speaker at the annual benefit fundraiser for "At Jacob's Well" (http://atjacobswell.org) a very worthy charity dedicated to aiding the homeless community in Baltimore. Here are the details:
When: Saturday, May 8, 2PM
Where: Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD
Details: $20. Admission includes Wine and Hors d'oeuvres. Silent auction to benefit the charity
If you cannot attend but want to help this very worthy group, please visit their website: http://atjacobswell.org/
Also,
Best
Kal
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Book reviews up at City Paper
International Ink: Clowes, Kids, Crackers and Hellboy
PR: DC Comic-Con Costume Contest
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May 3: Daniel Clowes at Politics and Prose
Daniel Clowes - Wilson
Start: May 3, 2010 - 7:00pm
End: May 3, 2010 - 8:00pm
The latest graphic novel by Clowes, the author of David Boring and Ghost World is his first not to be serialized. A sequence of single-page vignettes, it’s drawn in different styles and dramatizes the life of a lonely, bitter man searching for human connection.