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The Comic Strip Workshop Cairo and its various off shoots; the exhibition and this publication, were mainly aimed to allow a new generation of young comic strip artists to develop and improve their tools. We believe that the power behind any art form or art work is the individual, and that the labour of these artists might not only create a valuable work of art but can also instigate a whole movement and introduce, develop or revive an art form.
In July 2002, the first phase of the workshop took place at art studios of the American university in Cairo. Egyptian professionals from various art fields gave lectures about elements in their professions that can be directly connected to the comic strip art from (framing in cinema, costume design, dramatic structure of a story etc …). Parallel to that a more detailed analytical, theoretical and practical seminar was conducted by Golo the French comic strip artist currently living in Egypt. While a simultaneous seminar was held by Ahmad El Attar on the writing process and the treatment of the story.
It is important to note that the 12th century Arab Epic (Sirat Seif Bin Zi Yazen) was the material the young artists used in their work.Our aim was shed light on the rich and diverse nature of one of the marginalized areas of our Arab literary heritage that is generally neglected and looked at condescendingly, while providing the artists with a pool of dramatic material to work with. What we had discovered as one of the biggest problems facing this art from in Egypt today.
This publication is not meant to be a comic strip book in the classic sense of the word but rather a showcase of the work of 16 new and young talented artists, a model of healthy international cultural cooperation where both the South and the North reap lasting and benefits and where a real exchange of knowledge takes place. Finally it is a way of realizing the potential of an old hertigage that is condemned to death
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