Platforma BD - International Cluj Comics, Illustration and Animation Festival

Platforma BD - International Cluj Comics, Illustration and Animation Festival

Cluj-Napoca, November 7th - 10th 2024

OFFICIAL SELECTION EXHIBITION – COMICS & ILLUSTRATION

The Art Museum in Cluj-Napoca, October 24th - November 10th, 2024

Co-curators: Alice Iliescu, Anamaria Tomiuc, Adrian Buda

Exhibition commissioner: Alexandra Sârbu 

Exhibition design & architecture: Evelina Grigorean, Octavian Ciotlăuș 

From October 24th  to November 10th, 2024, the Art Museum in Cluj-Napoca, public cultural institution operating under the authority of the Cluj County Council, in partnership with the Artivistory Association of Cluj-Napoca, is hosting the official selection exhibition of Platforma BD - International Cluj Comics, Illustration and Animation Festival, a pilot event that aims to build up a confluence space in Cluj-Napoca, that will contribute to encouraging artistic creation and innovative, interdisciplinary cultural productions, conveyed in the multifaceted medium of sequential art. The festival draws attention to the creative potential of Romanian art schools and their opportunities for collaboration in an international context, as well as to the role of contemporary artists as facilitators and mediators for social, political, economic and cultural development. 

The official selection exhibition of the Platforma BD Festival includes 108 comic strip projects and 64 illustration projects by young artists from Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Republic of Moldova, Singapore, Spain and Hungary outlining a reflective landscape and a deep investigation into the many facets of the human condition, revealed through sequential art. Integrating works that oscillate between scenes of everyday life and explorations of fictional worlds, the exhibition is a space for introspection and dialog.

The proposed theme for this year's festival, "Thinking Outside the Box", encourages artists to push their boundaries and explore new territories of imagination and expression. In the context of sequential art this takes on a profound significance, challenging creators to reimagine traditional structures and express their ideas in fresh new ways through innovative narrative, bold themes and messages, unconventional aesthetics, interaction and participation. Subsumed under the overall theme of the festival, the works included in the exhibition illustrate the ongoing concerns of young artists conceptually highlighted in categories such as:

• Fragments of the everyday life: artists decompose and recontextualize banal moments of everyday life, composing narrative worlds that transcend the ordinary. Everyday scenes are reinterpreted to reveal unexpected meanings.

• Affective memories: personal memories and experiences are rendered in universal visual narratives that explore new ways of communicating emotion and intimacy.

• States of mind: the artists explore emotional complexity in an unconventional way, inviting the audience to re-evaluate their perceptions of their own emotions and states of mind. The various sufferings, traumas, problems or difficulties depicted in the works integrated in the perimeter of the exhibition deeply portray a status quo of the young generation and the constant concerns they face.

• Identity and the search for the self: capturing autobiographical moments, avatars of becoming, identity trajectories and inviting to a rediscovery of the self, the works on display propose a dynamic exploration of how identity is redefined in the contemporary context.  

• Spirituality, traditions, mythology: the artists reinterpret mythological and spiritual elements offering new keys to reading archetypal symbols and narratives. 

• Urban spaces vs. interior architectures: artists propose a reassessment of the way we perceive and interact with the space around us, with works capturing both the physical and psychological dimensions of urban space and human interior architectures.

• Community and social relations: addressing themes such as friendship, family and community, the artists go beyond the conventional to question the complexity and diversity of social interactions and to delve into a deeper X-ray of human relationships and interpersonal bonds.

• Social vs political: artists aim to deconstruct and re-evaluate dominant narratives in the socio-political universe. Powerful themes such as isolation, alienation and social distancing, protection of individual freedom, fake news and others invite the viewer to debate and engage in society.

• Fictional worlds: artists take up the challenge to build new worlds through reinterpretation and intertextualization and to give new life to highly referential cultural, literary, historical or cinematic constructs.

As part of the Platforma BD Festival, the exhibition promotes various forms of sequential art and creative initiatives of young artists, showcasing a unique, diverse and extremely versatile range of artistic projects. The exhibition creates a context for young international comic and illustration creators to interact with the general public, supporting their artistic debut and contemporary artistic creations.

Platforma BD Festival organiser:

The ArtiViStory Association founded in 2023 comprises a community of artists, curators, researchers and other professionals from interdisciplinary fields who work together for social engagement, primarily through sequential art. ArtiViStory Collective's practice investigates in subjective ways the urban imaginary and social identity and is based on the belief that art is always connected to real situations, contexts and processes and should engage directly with society, either by reflecting ordinary aspects of everyday life, by stirring reactions, conversations or discourses on different topics, or by engaging in projects that act for the well-being of the community.

Partners:

The University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca

The Art Museum in Cluj-Napoca

Signatura Publishing House

Florin Piersic Cinema Cluj-Napoca

Cluj Youth Federation

Cluj Cultural Center

German Cultural Center Cluj-Napoca

Youth Center Cluj-Napoca

Kaboom Animation Festival

Animest International Animation Film Festival

CINANIMA - Espinho International Animation Film Festival

Home to Hundorf Association

Platforma  BD jury is supported by the contribution of institutional partners:  

National University of Theatrical and Cinematographic Art "I.L. Caragiale" in Bucharest / National University of Arts in Bucharest - Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Graphic Design / West University of Timisoara - Faculty of Arts and Design / University of Oradea, Faculty of Arts / Technical University of Cluj Napoca, North University Center of Baia Mare, Faculty of Letters, Fine Arts - Painting Studies Program / National University of Arts "George Enescu" in Iasi / The University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca / Editions GRÈGES / Associazione Culturale Ratatà APS / Signatura Publishing House / Animest

Financed by: The project is organised with the support of Cluj-Napoca City Hall and the City Council of Cluj-Napoca under the title Platforma BD - Festival of urban comics, illustration and animation.

Sponsors: KeepCalling, CMACON, HEXAGON, MediaYoung, Narativo, Estudio, Centra PPlus Prod, CONA, EDIFICIUM, LEONIDAS, The E. Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław,, The Polish Institute in Bucharest

Media Partners: Radio Cluj, EBS Radio