My paintings from last year’s BLEED exhibition (by CBK/Tusen Serier):
The exhibition was made for the release of CBAvol35.
You can see more exhibition photos at Tusen Serier, samples from the book at CBK where you can also order it.
Please do; CBK desperately needs money (crowdfunding thing coming up soon) and it’s a really good issue.
New year, new plans. Here are a few mentions of future stuff…
UPCOMING GRAPHIC NOVELS:
En Andra Chans (Tusen Serier) by me and Shko Askari
Sagor från Angered (working title) (Tusen Serier & Blå Stället) by me, Amanda Casanellas & Segal Mohammed
Piracy is Liberation v03 (Wormgod) IF I can only find the time for this, it’d definitely be about time to finally be able to continue this story…
EXHIBITIONS:
Cool Cykel (Tusen Serier presents Tanja Komadina) in February
I don’t want to dream (CBK presents Spyros Verykios and CBAvol36) in May
MORE BOOKS:
Berättelser om Yunnan – minnen från kulturrevolutionen (Tusen Serier) by Emei Burell
CBAvol36: In the pits of madness (CBK) with me as main editor, really excited about this one…
CBAvol37: Fragments (CBK)
FESTIVALS:
I’ll probably be going to the usual ones, maybe something new, we’ll see (preliminary dates)…
Copenhagen Comix (Feb)
SIS (May)
CRACK! (Jun)
Helsinki (Sep)
Novo Doba (Oct)
+ VARIOUS OTHER STUFF
It’s too early to tell yet, but we have some big plans for Hybriden. More news when we know if they will actually happen…
2016 ends and it’s time for a summation. I could comment on the new migration laws, on the ongoing/invigorated persecution of undocumented as well as beggars, the seeming rise of general stupidity, the steady decline of hope as species are going extinct at a rate we haven’t seen since the last ice age, various mad-people in power, abuses perpetrated by various states etc etc (I could also talk about celebrity deaths but why?). But I’m probably going to keep this personal and up-beat(?).
So here are some things I made/was involved in during the year. Mostly unpaid work as usual, which I’m getting increasingly tired of, but what are you going to do? Up-beat, was it? Right. Ok. This is me when I’m unemployed:
COMICS:
The Troll actually came out in the end of 2015, but it was still new when this year started, and it was also my only solo book, so I still feel that it counts.
I had some other plans for upcoming solo books, but none of them have turned into reality. Yet…
Publication-wise when it comes to my own comics, this has been more of an anthology year, with some comics being published in several places:
Viral was drawn in 2015 but published this year in CBAvol30.
Medication, published in CBAvol35: BLEED, Komikaze #42 (web) and #15 (paper) and possibly Alkom’x #9
Idle hands & recreation in CBAvol34: Re: Creation and idleness and possibly Alkom’x #9
Fragments will be in CBAvol37 and possibly Alkom’x #9
Arg Kanin om Samma gamla visa in Asylkalendern 2017.
I sent some of these stories to some other places as well so they may turn up in more places in the future…
ASSOCIATIONS:
Some big steps forward were taken for both Tusen Serier and CBK. Both associations broke some ties with the Swedish Comics Association this year, which feels nice for various reasons that shall remain untold for now. It meant that CBK left the Comics Centre in the Mazetti building where we had been since 2005. Tusen Serier also finished the last project period that was run through the Comics Association. Both of these things lead up to both groups moving together and starting our new exhibition/store/studio/library/storage space Hybriden. We officially opened in March but it definitely feels like we’ve been there for more than a year… The new space also brought a brand-new webshop with it into existence.
CBK also started to get its shit together with the release of CBAvol30: A new hope, which was the first volume made/compiled completely by the new editorial crew. We also published our last graphic novel issue, CBAvol33: Repeat Offenders by Julia Scott, and 3 more anthologies.
FESTIVALS:
There was of course the AltCom 2016 festival, themed WORK. In many ways it felt like it was the best AltCom so far. We managed to create our own pocket universe during those few days in the end of July.
Also visited some other festivals/events (not as many as planned, but enough):
SIS, CRACK!, Oulu art night, Novo Doba, Örebro.
EXHIBITIONS:
–Vasta-Aine was an exhibition at the Oulu Comics Centre, featuring 3 of my recent comics, Medication, Fragments and Happiness.
-I had an exhibition at the CUK Imago in Belgrade during Novo Doba, with some of my old Wormgod prints and some original paintings.
-And, also during Novo Doba, I painted a mural at the Zemun-based cultural centre Matrijaršija.
-The BLEED group exhibition at Hybriden, organized by CBK and Kinga Dukaj, was the coolest exhibition I’ve been a part of for a long while. I made three paintings for this exhibition that took place in the midst of a seriel killer’s murder scene, walls and ceiling covered with plastic sheets, blood (most of it fake) spattered everywhere, special music by Feberdröm…
MORE BOOKS:
Tusen Serier released a batch of new books this year:
Fem historier om prostituerande by Amalia Alvarez
Myling by Amanda Casanellas & Yossra El Said
Mapuche by Jorge Varas Varilla
Void by Susanne Johansson (published in cooperation with Wormgod)
Cool Cykel by Tanja Komadina
THE ANGERED THING:
In November I took over from Amanda Casanellas who was there in October as the Tusen Serier residence artist at Konstepidemin in Gothenburg, a special residency that they had in cooperation with Blå Stället in Angered. During one month I could (mostly) concentrate on one thing instead of a hundred, which was probably quite healthy. I took some breaks to be at the BLEED exhibition and the Örebro festival, but still managed to draw 55 pages based on Amanda’s ideas, which were based on stories from Angered. Urban legends, folk tales, local mythology which we will work into a story to be published at some point during 2017…
LIKE TEARS IN RAIN:
There were probably some more things that might be worth mentioning, some short comics, illustrations, book covers, maybe some project or other, but I simply can’t remember everything and I’m too lazy to look it up.
So I’m going to leave you with a (surprisingly long) list of stuff I’ve watched/played/read in the sessions of downtime squeezed in between all the rest. It’s not all from this year, because only idiots think that there’s no past. And yes, these are just from the top of my head, things I recommend that happened to not slip my mind:
PS3/4:
DMC | Beyond: Two Souls | Enslaved | Alice 2 | The Last Guardian (finally!) | Shadow of the Beast (worthy remake of childhood nostalgia) | Life is strange (just started but seems promising)
TV SERIES (the most noteworthy new discoveries / steady classics):
South Park | Rick & Morty | Westworld | Crazy Head | The OA | Orphan Black | Preacher | Daredevil | Jessica Jones | Luke Cage | Doctor Who (even if there was only one new episodes)
FILMS:
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen (Kitano is back!) | Sausage Party(!) | Maps to the stars | Lamerica | He never died | Extracted | Mr Six | Batman v Superman (Martha?!) | May Allah bless France | M. Butterfly | Borgman | The Lobster | High-Rise | Schizopolis | Kontroll | The Witch | Urge | Upstream Color | Ghostbusters | Vanishing Waves (ok, I saw this in 2015, but still worth mentioning) | + of course the MCU stuff…
COMICS:
Low | The Wicked + the Divine | Supreme Blue Rose | Starve | Punk Rock Jesus | Empty Zone | Monstress | (all of) Hellblazer | Deadenders | Bitch Planet | Velvet | New Lone Wolf & Cub | Lazarus | Saga | Nameless | Injection | Caliban | Blackgas | Stormwatch (Ellis) | Animal Man (finally caught up on Morrison’s run)| Trees | Deadly Class | Miracleman | Annihilator | + caught up on the X-books up until Secret Wars…
BOOKS:
Woman on the edge of time by Marge Piercy | The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin
Yeah, regular books take me a long time, so 2 in one year is unusually good.
LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH:
Hope you found something interesting that you might have otherwise missed in these lists, and enjoy the last few hours of the year…
In the midst of everything else, I am currently in Gothenburg on an artist’s residency collaboration between Blå Stället in Angered (a suburb of Gothenburg) and Konstepidemin.
Amanda Casanellas was here last month and did research about the myths and legendsa of Angered. This month, I’m continuing that work, trying to take these old stories in new directions and tying them together in a new narrative.
Came home to Malmö over the weekend for the BLEED exhibition and took the opportunity to finish some of the pages.
Tomorrow (Nov 22) at 1630 at Konstepidemin (close to Linnéplatsen) I will do a short presentation about everything, basically. There are also other residence artists who will also present their stuff and ther will be beer etc. And I will have lots of books that you can buy. So drop by if you’re in town!
Here’s one of the pages of the upcoming book:
Edit: The time said 17 before, but my presentation starts at 1630, it turns out…
Really excited about this one. I made some paintings for this exhibition. I also have a comic in the new volume of CBA. I haven’t seen any of the other art but I have a suspicion that it’s all going to be really interesting.
If you can’t make it, you can order the book here.
BLEED: Art exhibition by Tusen Serier & Release party for CBA vol 35 by CBK
Opening: November 18, 17-22 @ Hybriden (Claesgatan 8, Malmö)
The exhibition will remain until November 28.
Join us as we dive into a red world. Tonight we’ll explore just what it means to BLEED. What does blood mean to you? Are you afraid of it? Do you worship it? Or is it just the color that attracts you?
At Hybriden you will see artists draw blood and see their visual interpretations of the theme.
It will indeed be a red experience. We will overwhelm your senses! Not just by the artwork itself, but the music will be tailored for this night. The wine will be blessed and prepared. Amongst all of this we will have a blood fountain.
The exhibition is accompanied by CBA vol 35: BLEED that includes a wide array of comics on the same theme.
Participating artist in the exhibition are:
Vladica Čulić
Merima Dizdarević
Kinga Dukaj
Mattias Elftorp
Bekim Gaši
Aida Ghardagian
Susanne Johansson
Vuk Palibrk
Stefan Petrini
Henrik Rogowski
Rakel Stammer
more may be added…
Music by Markus Samnell (better known as Feberdröm)
See you there!
See also:
Tusen Serier
CBK
Facebook event
The exhibition is a cooperation between Tusen Serier and CBK, with support from Malmö Kulturstöd.
I’m having an exhibition at CUK Imago in Beograd, Friday Sep 23, starting at 19!
As far as I understand, there will also be a couple of other exhibitions (Great Libertine Comics, Unobserved) at the same place, and also live music (Feberdröm, Nike Eyes).
It’s all part, of course, of the NOVO DOBA festival.
It’ll be a mix of prints, mostly Wormgod stuff, and a painting or two. And my books will be there, we’ll all be drunk, it’ll be great!
Also, don’t miss the Myling exhibition this Friday (Sep 16, 18-22) at Hybriden. Original drawings by Yossra El Said, Ida Mårdhed will read from Amanda Casanellas‘ short story, we’ll all be drunk, it’ll be great!
This Friday we will host the release exhibition for Amalia Alvarez‘ new book, Five stories about prostituters at Hybriden.
As with her first book, Fem papperslösa kvinnors historier, this one is based on interviews with people who are often discussed but seldom with their own voices.
They live in a part of the Swedish society that isn’t visible for everyone but that still exists, under the surface.
Hybriden (Mitt Möllan, Claesgatan 8, Malmö)
Opening June 10 16-22
Opening hours until July 20:
Mon/Wed 16-20
Sat 12-16
From 17 during the opening, Amalia will hold a presentation and read some from the book.
See more at the Tusen Serier website.
See you there!
We’re finally ready to open The Hybrid, the new space we’ve been building since the beginning of the year!
The Hybrid is Malmö’s new comics hang-out! A space for exhibitions and workshops, an artists’ studio and comic shop/library, open for anyone (if not necessarily at all times). Here, you will be able to see exhibitions of comics you’ve never heard of, by recognized and unknown comic creators. Join workshops to learn how to draw comics or experiment with new forms of storytelling. In our shop you will find books from CBK, Tusen Serier, Wormgod and exquisitely selected international comics found at various festivals in different countries. We also have a comics library section where you with zines, anthologies and graphic novels where you can sit and read in our sofas.
WHAT: Opening/exhibition/release/workshop
WHERE: Hybriden @ Mitt Möllan, Claesgatan 8, Malmö
WHEN: Friday, March 11, 16-22
EXHIBITION
The comics in the international comics anthology CBA have been called “supposedly poetical”. They have also been called “witty, challenging and eye-opening”. Judge for yourself when the all-new editorial crew show their own comics and artworks.
Same goes for Tusen Serier, where the inner circle shows their own works along with samples from the upcoming titles.
Artists: Amanda Casanellas, Christina Cromnow, Henrik Rogowski, Kinga Dukaj, Luddvig Melin, Mattias Elftorp, Oskar Aspman, Stefan Petrini, Steve Nyberg, Susanne Johansson, Shko Askari, Amalia Alvarez, Tanja Komadina, Jorge Varas Varilla, and Yossra El Said.
RELEASE: CBA vol 30: A NEW HOPE
The members of the new crew have made the comics in CBA vol 30: A NEW HOPE, to signal a kind of new beginning for the series, and because we wanted to find out what we’re actually doing. Anything from angst-ridden animals to a psychosomatic virus to a postapocalyptic Malmö and fragments of lego. You have to see for yourself what all this means in the new issue…
JAM COMIC WORKSHOP
Between 16-19 you can join a jam comic workshop where we collectively create a story on the theme of WHATEVER. No pressure, we’re just drawing togehter because it’s fun! No experience required, just bring a bit of imagination!
COMICS!
And of course, all our books will be available, as well as a few extra titles, in the bookstore section.
We’re going until 22 or when we fall asleep/run out of wine!
www.hybriden.tk
www.tusenserier.com
www.cbkcomics.com
+ You will also find us at the SciFi-mässan (Malmö) this weekend, March 5-6, where CBK & Tusen Serier share a table with Wormgod and the comics course of Malmö Högskola!
+ Also do not miss the ongoing (until Monday, March 7) special offer at our new webshop!
WELCOME!
Let’s celebrating the birth of the CBK web-shop!
You can find most of my books at the site, and a whole lot of other stuff.
From the site:
Once upon a time, there was a small group of comic artists with a big dream. 15 years later the shop was finally born. We invite you to celebrate this magnificent event, internally known as “Second Christmas.”
Saunter through our virtual bookshelves, sigh with pleasure upon seeing our works in all their glory and find that not only CBK‘s works are presented. Tusen Serier and Wormgod are our first affiliates that we are proud to represent.
Use coupon code: newcbkshop2016 to get a 20% discount on everything but subscriptions in our new shop.
As we have seen in The Troll. memories work both backwards and forwards in what we usually see as the linear flow of time.
They’re not always exactly corresponding to what actually happens when it actually happens, so bear that in mind when reading these recollections from the future:
SPACE
CBK and Tusen Serier will move into a new space together at Mitt Möllan. It will work as a combined exhibition space and studio, with the possibility for workshops and a store for buying our books, as well as stuff from Wormgod, Ritualen and others that are connected to CBK or Tusen Serier in some way.
BOOKS
Personally, I really really want to get started on the next Piracy is Liberation book. I also have ideas for The Troll 2, but I promised myself I would make another Piracy book first. It’s been far too long…
I wrote the script for a book that is now being drawn by Shko Askari, to be published by Tusen Serier pretty soon, I hope. I have a preliminary title for it, but I’m trying to think of a better one, so I won’t tell you what it is.
I didn’t manage to make the Transgressions 2 book last year, which would have a soundtrack by Brazilian band Anarcho Vomit Noise, but with any luck that could also happen this year.
PUBLISHING
Apart from the Askari book, there are several more books planned from Tusen Serier. Here are a few of them:
Myling by Amanda Casanellas & Yossra El Said:
Five stories about prostituters by Amalia Alvarez:
Void by Susanne Johansson (published as a collaboration between Wormgod & Tusen Serier):
Mapuche – Jordens folk by Jorge Varilla
From CBK, CBA vol 30 already came from the printer but hasn’t been officially released yet, so that will happen when we get the new space up and running:
This is actually the last issue from last year, so there will be 4 more in 2016. But more on those later. We’re right now in the process of finishing the selection for vol 32, which has been a far more complicated process that expected, then there’s a graphic novel issue by Julia Scott (some time around May) and two more anthology issues before the year is over. We’re right now preparing the call for submissions for those books.
I will be the main editor of vol 37, but that’s not until 2018. No hurry…
EXHIBITIONS
The Troll exhibition is still up at the old Tusen Serier place, but it’s not really open for the public any longer…
We also have some other stuff planned for the new place, but it’s all very vague so far, so I can’t say any more about it yet…
I’ve been asked to have an exhibition at the comics centre in Oulu in August. That’s gonna be fun, especially if I’ll be able to go there to see it myself. Tommi Musturi will have an exhibition there at the same time, so that could turn out really nice.
FESTIVALS
So the AltCom festival will happen in August, after all (for a while we thought we would have no budget for it at all, but then we got some so now everything is ok). We will try to figure out the last details in the coming few months, and then there will be some kind of announcement about it.
Not sure yet which other festivals I’m going to, but here’s a preliminary plan for the tour of 2016:
Uppsala Comix
Fumetto
SIS
CRACK!
Helsinki
Novo Doba
Maybe also Å-fest and possibly something else. It all depends on funding, mostly. Anyway, see you there, hopefully!
MORE
Oh, and did I mention that I am currently unemployed? Luckily, there should be no problem with the unemployment insurance, so it’s ok, but I will need to spend some time looking for new paid jobs. Some of the above will come with some money, but most of it is pure creativity and lack of self-preservation skills.
As you may have noticed, I didn’t include any links here, so for more information you can go to www.elftorp.com and find your way to most of what I’ve mentioned here.
Anyway. The future is coming towards us and not all of it is bright. As usual. So let’s just do our best and I’ll see you when it arrives.
