Opening of the 6th National Comic Week moves cultural spaces in Manaus

The 6th week of Quadrinho Nacional brought excitement to the cultural spaces of Manaus during its opening this Friday (04/26). The exhibition of works and activities take place simultaneously at the Amazonas Public Library, Provincial Palace and the Largo Gallery, cultural spaces maintained by the Amazonas Government. The themed week, until Sunday (28/04), represents the stage for the meeting of talents from the comics universe, providing a meeting between nationally and locally renowned artists. Free entrance.

Promoted by the State Government, through the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy, the 6th National Comic Week featured premieres by local artists, such as illustrator and comic artist Otoniel Oliveira. Born in Amapá, the artist has been working with comics since 2004, he started drawing as a child and became increasingly identified with comics and animations. When he realized, he already had a space to tell his own stories.

PHOTOGRAPH: Marcely Gomes / Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy

“I thought this event was brilliant, bringing together all the artists from other corners of Brazil, including the North itself, so that we could experience the city and look at it as field research as well. I wanted to talk about something that was closer to us, that had people drawn more like us”, said Otoniel.

Among his works, he highlighted “Vila Barca”, which is a series of tales and legends of the riverside population and the series of the universe with female and indigenous protagonism, the “Icamiabas in the Amazon city”.

He says that “As Icamiabas na Cidade Amazõnica” is a 2D animation, where old gods have retired and the conflicts that take place in the city between enchanted beings and humans are resolved by the Icamiabas warriors: Luna, Laci, Coroni and Thyhi. Otoniel also revealed that the absence of visual references to the Amazonian identity stimulated the desire to represent narratives with the characteristic environment of our region.

For the first time in Manaus, Leonardo Dressant debuts at National Comics Week. Born in Belém (PA), the comic artist has been working professionally since 2017, the same year he created the characters of Turma do Pitiú and Xibé, two vultures that live in Belém’s postcard, at Mercado do Ver-o-peso, and address issues environmental. The artist adds that his motivation is to create comics that transmit information, mainly to his target audience, who are children. “The whole work is based like this, there are three comics that I brought here, each comic is a theme, one talks about the issue of garbage thrown in the streets, another talks about the trash thrown in the rivers and seas and the other about the global warming, so each comic is an issue of an environmental problem”, highlights Leonardo.

PHOTOGRAPH: Marcely Gomes / Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy

Guests

Amazonian journalist and comic book artist Mário Adolfo, whose strips and stories from the work “Curumim, The Last Hero of the Amazon”, marked a generation of readers, was one of the guests at the exhibition. The character was created in 1983 and has 40 years of stories and recognition in the world of Amazonian comics. “Curumim is a little Indian who wanders through the forest defending the Amazon, the trees, the animals, fighting against river pollution and has several little friends. When it was launched, this idea of ​​defending nature did not exist and Curumim saw this proposal for defend the Amazon, nature. And over time, today, the main footprint of the planet is this, defending life, the environment, forests, rivers, and Curumim has been doing this since 83”, highlights the artist.

PHOTOGRAPH: Marcely Gomes / Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy

The artist’s work served as musical inspiration for singer and composer, Zeca Torres, reaching the stage at Teatro Amazonas and Teatro da Instacção, last year. “Curumim was not a comic book, it was a children’s newspaper included in the newspaper, which in the past had 60 thousand copies, in other words, a very large presence. So, a lot of people who are making comics today were inspired by Curumim. He grew up reading Curumim and became a comic book artist too” concluded Mário Adolfo, highlighting that, in the future, the idea is to launch a three-decade collection of various comics, called “Todo Curumim”.

According to the screenwriter, teacher and cultural producer of Semana de Quadrinho Nacional, Evaldo Vasconcelos, previous editions always took place in one place, this time, the big news is being able to provide an event divided into three cultural spaces that take place simultaneously over three days, initiative motivated by the number of artists registered in the exhibition.

“All spaces were received by the State Secretariat for Culture and Creative Economy. This is new for us, there’s an exhibition at Galeria do Largo, at the Public Library there’s an artists’ fair, lectures and workshops. And there are still more lectures in the Provincial Palace auditorium. So, this experience of holding the event in more than one place is something new that also allows for a larger audience”, comments Evaldo.

PHOTOGRAPH: Marcely Gomes / Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy

According to the organizer, the sixth edition was a significant milestone, both for artists and the public, boosting artistic richness in all its forms. From the comics exhibition, lectures to indigenous crafts and beads.

The 6th National Comic Week continues with activities until Sunday (04/28). Follow the program on social media at @culturadoam and @semanadoquadrinomao.