Saturday 4 May, 9am–4.30pm National Library of New Zealand
Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
70 Molesworth Street Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara
This fantastic, national event explores the world of cartoons and comics with some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s finest comic and cartoon creators.
Join us for a festival of workshops, talks, comic giveaways, live drawing and activities for children, including spot prizes and a cosplay competition!
For more information visit: wcl.govt.nz/comicfest
9am onwards: Free Comics!
Graphic Comics has generously sponsored this mega giveaway – they will have a wide range of free comics available. There will be something for everyone! Graphic will also be selling a range of New Zealand-made cartoons and comics.
Location: Te Ahumairangi Foyer
9am onwards: Drawing Competition: Can You Comicify That?
Head over to our drawing competition table and create your own work of art!
Simply draw a ‘comicified’ version of your favourite character from a book, TV show, or movie (or your favourite person in real life!) and submit it before the end of the day to be in to win a bevy of sweet prizes.
Location: Te Ahumairangi Foyer
9.30–10.20am Panel: Drawing Nature –The Great Outdoors with Giselle Clarkson, Lily Duval, and Sarah Laing. Hosted by Neil Johnstone.
The natural world of Aotearoa New Zealand has always been, and continues to be, one of our greatest inspirations. In this unmissable event hear three of our finest graphic artists talk about how they, in their own ways, engage with our great outdoors.
Our fabulous panel features: Sarah Laing, the artist behind the illustrations for the award-nominated Sylvia and the Birds; Giselle Clarkson, the creator of the publishing phenomenon The Observologist and Lily Duval, illustrator for the Critters of Aotearoa, the book based on RNZ’s hugely popular programme “Critter of the Week”. Each one of these acclaimed artists has a unique interest and perspective on our natural environment.
Location: Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium
10–11am Workshop: Creating Comics
with Sarah Howell
Learn to draw cartoon emotions and create a short comic with Australian guest Sarah Howell. Warming up by drawing six basic facial emotions you will be ready to create a short comic using your new skills and the roll of some dice. Sarah Howell is a founding member of the comic and illustrator collective known as Squishface Comic Studio in Melbourne, Australia.
Age range: 8–12 years
Location: Te Ahumairangi Foyer
10.30–11.20am Panel: Finding Your Own Style
with Selina Tusitala Marsh, Ned Wenlock and Jem Yoshioka. Hosted by Sam Orchard.
Comics that make a difference. Comics that create waves and comics that help us to re-wire our circuitry. This panel is all about rocking your own style in comics, with three experts who tell their stories in their own unique ways.
Join the award-winning Dr Mophead, Selina Tusitala Marsh; animator and creator of the smash hit Tsunami, Ned Wenlock and Wellington web-comic pioneer Jem Yoshioka as they explore how they have developed their own voice and style in their comics and creative works.
Location: Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium
11.30am–12.20pm Panel: Expanding Horizons
with Dylan Horrocks, Daniel Vernon and Zak Waipara. Hosted by Stephen Clothier.
As the audience for comics grows, so too does the medium itself expand into new universes of style, content and delivery. This panel explores the work of comic artists who are at the forefront of this expansion, breaking new ground with comics and cartooning, and finding new ways to tell stories using comic techniques. Featuring Daniel Vernon’s inimitable take on political cartooning; Zak Waipara’s work traversing comic creation, teaching, kids’ books and games and Dylan Horrocks’ adventures into the complex world of tabletop gaming systems. This panel promises to expand your conception of what comics are now and could become in the future.
Location: Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium
12.30–1pm: Kids’ Cosplay Competition
If you are 12 or under this is your chance to dress up as your favourite comic character (you can even make up your own character). There will be loads of amazing spot prizes and a parade. It’s going to be lots of fun! (No weapons or military cosplay please).
Age range: for all ages up to 12.
Location: Te Ahumairangi Foyer
1–2pm Workshop:
How to Draw New Zealand Wildlife with Lily Duval
Have you ever wanted to be able to draw some of the wonderful and unique creatures from Aotearoa New Zealand? Then this workshop is for you. Aimed at artists of all ages and abilities, the illustrator of the bestselling Critters of Aotearoa Lily Duval will guide you through the creative process.
Age range: All ages
Location: Te Ahumairangi Foyer
1.30–2.20pm Keynote Address: Dr Mophead with Selina Tusitala Marsh
Selina Tusitala talks about the genesis of the latest book in her Mophead graphic memoir series, Wot knot YOU got? Mophead’s Guide To Life and shares what she’s learned about herself, her drawing, and the human heart from working with more than 2,000 knotty questions she’s collected from kids of all ages.
Location: Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium
2.30–3.20pm Panel: Sharing Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori through Pukawaituhi with Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, Munro Te Whata and Daniel Vernon. Hosted by Zak Waipara.
“Throughout the journey to reclaim our reo, many have asked what it means to see a language thrive. We have statistics and data linking our wellbeing to our reo. We have passion, ignorance and a good deal of bigotry vying for a place at the centre of the argument, causing liberty and tension in unforeseeable ways. But always, in its own stream of this vast ocean of kōrero, is the visual language our Māori artists are using.” – Rangimarie Sophie Jolley
Learn how Māori artists are innovating the comics medium with visual languages grounded in mātauranga, pūrākau, and tikanga Māori. Join Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, Munro Te Whata, Daniel Vernon and Zak Waipara as they follow and nurture the whakapapa of waituhi whakakata me ngā pukawaituhi.
Location: Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium
3.30–4.20pm
Panel: Happy Anniversary ComicFest with Dylan Horrocks, Sarah Laing and Jem Yoshioka. Hosted by Sam Orchard.
Our closing session for ComicFest is all about our 10th anniversary. We’re reflecting on 10 years of free comics, events, panels and, of course, the incredible comic artists who’ve made this festival possible.
We are joined by an amazing panel of comic artists who’ve been with us across the years. Dylan Horrocks, Sarah Laing and Jem Yoshioka will explore the ever-changing world of comics in Aotearoa New Zealand –where it’s been and where we’re heading.
Location: Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium
