Reason # 36 why Bamako rocks

This past Sunday, I went to a very cool exhibit on comics (bandes dessinées) in Africa. The centerpiece was a comic book telling one story illustrated by 9 different artists. The premise of the book was an exploration of the things (poverty, corruption, apathy) with which Africans struggle, and the catalyst for the plot was a little girl getting malaria – as the blurb said, a practically banal event. The story is interesting, the characters are well thought-out, and the different illustration styles are super cool – my favourite was inspired by traditional art, and all the characters had faces reminiscent of different kinds of masks. And it’s so funny – there were footnotes on a couple of phrases translating them from African French to French French! (i.e. ‘C’est comment?’ = ‘Qu’est-ce qu’il y a?’)

Link to the organizers: Afrique Dessinee