FINNISH COMICS NOW
MARIA BJÖRKLUNDPLANET Z
Maria Björklund is a comic artist, animator and illustrator living in Helsinki, Finland. She has had her works presented in various international comic group exhibitions and animation festivals.
Björklund’s latest published comic book Madonreikiä (2014) continues the tale of the cute yet odd creatures living in Planet Z (from the similarly titled book published in 2012). The first strip of Planet Z was published in 2010 and appeared also on the Nyt supplement of Helsingin Sanomat.
Kaksin, Björklund’s comic series about relationships won Kemi’s Comics Competition in 1996 and has appeared on many papers since then. The Finnish publishing company Arktinen Banaani has published two albums of the series, the first one in 1998 and the second in 2011.
TERHI EKEBOM - WHAT IF?
With a penchant for trying out different styles, Ekebom (born in 1971) often depicts people’s inability to face each other and the resulting alienation. Ekebom’s published albums include Cow’s Dream (2001), Stella di Natale (2004), Uusissa maisemissa (2005), Honeymoon Island (2007) Voyage (2010) and Kummituslapsi (2013).
Her work is also included in a number of anthologies, including the Finnish Comics Annual series. Ekebom has taken part in a number of comic exhibitions, for example in Portugal, France, Brazil, and the Netherlands. She also works as an illustrator.
In 2014 Ekebom was awarded the prestigious Puupäähattu award by the Finnish Comics Society for her career in comics.
TIINA PYSTYNEN –
SI L´OISEAU NE TE CHANTE PAS, C´EST TOI DE LUI CHANTER
Tiina Pystynen (b. 1955) is a comics artist, writer, graphic artist and occupational therapist. The best known works of her wide-range visual and textual production are, among others, Onnen koukku (The Hook of Luck, 1992), Leskikuningattaren muistelmat (The Memoirs of a Widow Queen, 1993), and Lemmentanssit (The Dances of Love, 2009). Finnish Comics Society awarded the annual Puupäähattu reward to her in 2010.
In her production Pystynen processes the different aspects of womanhood, such as sexuality and taboo elements which are related to it. In ”The Dances of Love” she examines the classics of the art world and their way to describe sex with the methods of the graphics, from the cave paintings to the present day.
The latest book, a graphic novel, called »If a bird won´t sing for you, you´ll have to sing to it», is a touching and hilarious story about aging and an old intimate relationship.
To the works of Pystynen, demarcation between a picture and a word has been central – in addition to comic strip also between prose, a poetry and graphic art. She has brought out her role as the loser who is seriously labelled, “as a drawer of poems”, in her essay collection Runousoppi: teoria ja käytäntö (Poetics: Theory and Practice, 2004) assessing the status of the image and the word historic art widely in the field and the reasons for the complexity of the situation of traditional arts in the borders.
»Morituri te salutant.»
Ceux qui vont mourir te saluent.
Je n , arrive
plus à attacher
mes lacets.
Mon
bide me
gêne.
EstCeque
C,estgrave?
Devraisje
Consulter
mon médeCin?
J,ai observé
les autres femmes
de mon âge.
Elles ont toutes
un ventre
protubérant même
quand elles ont
l, air sveltes.
Horreur! Alors,
Ce n,est pas une
maladie!
Choisissons
donc
le bon
embonpoint!
Le premier Combat de l, âge est livré contre la balanCe.
Je crois que chez
moi, la mort
CommenCe
par les pieds.
J'en
étais où déj à?
Chez
d,autres, elle
CommenCe
par
latête.
Il paraît que
le CognaC entretient
la souplesse
des neurones.
C,est confirmé
par la sCience.
Moi aussi, je suis
prête pour la retraite.
Mais où j, ai mis
mon tiCket?
On n , y voit
rien ici.
DuCalme,
il est l à, votre
Ça
va pas de le
traiterComme
Et
où sont mes
lunettes ?
un enfant!
tiCket.
T, en fais pas.
Moi, plus personne ne
me prend au
sérieux.
Il paraî t que
je suis
devenue mém ère.
Arrivé à un certain âge,
l'homme s , occupe de son
look. Il se procure du
shampoing
antipelliculaire et
se fait poser des
couronnes.
Que de clichés
effroyables surla
gent masculine!
Et le plus
morose est
que c ' est vrai.
J, ai enfin osé faire
mon comingout
et je me suis découvert
l,âme d,une danseuse.
Mon pied a la forme large
d, un sabot. A priori, c,est un beau pied.
Nu et beau.
Les chaussures à talon
mettent en valeur
la beauté de votre pied.
Ma voisine désapprouve
Moi, je vis en dansant.
la présence de femmes âgées
sur scéne.
Si elles se voyaient,
railletelle, jalouse.
amants dela nuit Les
Dis donc, tu
en fais un
boucan
quand
tu dors.
Que se
passetil
dans ton
sommeil ?
Depuis que j,ai arrêté
l,alCool, je picole
dans mes
rêves.
C,est moins cher, et finies
les gueules de bois.
Alors j, en profite
pour déconner un max !
H - P LEHKONEN –AFTER THE FOG
H-P Lehkonen is a Finnish professional comics artist who has a passion for helping others get their dream careers in online comics. He has just finished his previous webtoon series Life Outside the Circle and is now working on his personal project After the Fog. His newest publication is a PDF book called Making Money from Webcomics, done together with a bunch of international professional webcomics authors with funding from KONE Foundation. Apart from those he also goes around the world lecturing about building your career online and promoting yourself.
H-P is a board member of the Finnish Comics Society and works closely with the Femicomix Finland organization. He has also drawn comics for several anthologies and organized a handful of them himself. His comics have been published in Finnish, French and English.
MARI AHOKOIVU – OKSI
Mari Ahokoivu (born in 1984) is a comics artist originally from Oulu, Northern Finland. Ahokoivu’s linework has developed into a delicate and recognisable line with a sparing use of colours. Her themes vary from autobiographical or semi-autobiographical works to short poetic pieces, real world commentary, pop culture satire and children’s comics.
Ahokoivu also works as an illustrator and teacher. She is one of the pioneers of Finnish comics blogs. Many young artists now publish online and develop networks via comics blogs, often with diary-like stories.
Ahokoivu made an unusual debut by creating a comprehensive guidebook to making comics, Sarjakuvantekijän opas (2007). As for her personal artwork, Ahokoivu’s debut album was Löydä minut tästä kaupungista (2009), a graphic story of alienation and inner demons in a strange city. Her latest book Oksi has been published in Finnish in 2018 by Asema kustannus.
Translations of Oksi by Kirsi Kinnunen (French) and Silja-Maaria Aronpuro (English).
|
Where was the bear born
Where delivered? | By the Moon, Next to the Sun | Among the stars of the Plough | Sent to Earth in a golden cradle | With silvery chains. -Song of the Birth of the Bear-
Daughter of the Heavens, the Forest is
Daughter of Heavens, come in secret | Come against your mother’s word | Come to Mana (3, come to the Forest | Come dance with the shadows.
FINNISH COMICS ORGANIZATIONS
Finnish Comics Society was founded in 1971. The Society presents comics both to the wider public and the cultural establishment. It aims to promote the awareness and critical reading of comics and to gain respect for the art form. In recent years the Society has been active in launching several new cultural export projects. Helsinki Comics Festival is the biggest comics event in Finland and in Northern Europe and has been organized since 1979 by Finnish Comics Society. The festival offers events such as the comics market, Zine Fest, panel discussions, interviews, exhibitions, workshops and performances. One of the bench marks of the Society is the Comics Center (Sarjakuvakeskus) which was founded in 2008 as an open cultural centre for comics and the related arts. It is situated in Helsinki, in the district of Kallio. The center includes a gallery and a comics shop and it organizes comics courses for both beginners and professionals. There are also regular open workshops, lectures and other events such as book launches. It is also possible to order comics courses and other services from the center.
KUTIKUTI is a non-profit contemporary comics association and artist collective formed in Finland in 2005. The core of Kutikuti consists of ca. fifty members who make, teach and publish comics. Kutikuti has over hundred supportive members around the world and has fastly become one of the most recognized marvels of the Finnish comics scene abroad. Kutikuti operates internationally with an aim to maintain and develop comics as an art form. Kutikuti also publishes a quarterly KUTI magazine focusing on comics and their authors. The magazine is circulated through cafes, galleries, comic stores, schools, restaurants, book and comic fairs. In Finland the circulation covers ca. 250 places in 13 cities. Abroad Kuti is distributed in several countries through our partners in crime.
Sarjakuvantekijät ry (The Finnish Comics Professionals) is an interest organization of Finnish comics creators. The organization has been founded in 1995 and has approximately 160 members in 2019. It is a trade union, which also organizes seminars, exhibitions, courses and competitions and makes an effort on making comics recognizability and exposure of Finnish comics. They also reward annually Comics Act of the Year–prize and grants for making comics and other comics related projects.
Helsinki Comics Festival 2019 will be held from 7th until 8th of August in Kattilahalli & Tiivistämö, Suvilahti.
The doors are open on Saturday from 10:30 to 19 and Sunday from 10:30 to 18.
Suvilahti is the cultural heart of Helsinki right next to Kallio, the most bohemian part of the city. This is our third year filling the Suvilahti and its industrial buildings with comics, their readers, Zine fest filled with self publishers and music and performances by people from our comics community!
Themes for the festival this year are environment, influential comics and North. Helsinki Comics Festival 2019 will collaborate with influential organizations to drive home this year’s themes, and raise awareness for comics as a social force for change. Finnish comics are artistically ambitious and internationally recognized. With our theme of the North, we want to bolster the status of Finnish comics as well as draw attention to stories about the indigenous inhabitants of these northern regions, such as the Sámi. Climate change is also one of the most pressing issues humanity currently faces, and addressing questions surrounding global warming is integral to the festival, too. Our festival will approach the Environment theme both through the eyes of Earth’s natural ecosystems as well as constructed human spaces.
This year our Festival Artist is Maria Björklund, comics artist, animation director and illustrator from Helsinki whose area of expertise includes experimental films as well as designing cute characters. Björklund has participated in numerous exhibitions around the world with comics, animations and other work. In recent years her most well-known work has been “Planet Z” which started off as a comic in the Nyt (“Now”) supplement in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. A Planet Z animated TV series is at the moment in pre-production.
We are also honoured to tell that eminent and Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême winner 2013 Willem will be participating the festival this year. Rosi Kämpe, a Finnish artist drawing for Marvel, is also part of our guests in 2019!
The festival is completely free and open for public. Join us in our riot!
FINNISH COMICS NOW offers a glimpse to the colorful, powerful and most intriguing of visual talents and storytellers of Finnish comics. The zine showcases five comics artists with very different styles and from different generation –born between the 1950’s and 1980’s.
Feelings of alienation and other worlds – either outside or just at the borders of our own reality – are common themes in contemporary Finnish comics. Several artists also handle themes of dealing with the past – either on an individual or a collective level.
This zine features works from:
Mari Ahokoivu
Maria Björklund
Terhi Ekebom
H-P Lehkonen
Tiina Pystynen
The zine is produced by Finnish Comics Society.
www.sarjakuvaseura.fi | finnishcomics.info