In a graphic novel, the visual aspect is usually at least equally important as the text, and sometimes more so. Often graphic novels present personal, autobiographical content, and their creators both write and illustrate them. The books of the participants in the exhibition engage, among other things, with relationships: with one’s family, one’s roots, and even with the potted plants in one’s urban apartment.
We sometimes forget that the book in our possession is but one stage in a long creative process, which began many years before it was written, and often continues even after the book’s publication. The illustrators have taken the opportunity to revisit these works and highlight for us readers another layer within them. Some returned to the moments prior to writing; some observe their graphic novel with the benefit of hindsight; others chose to expand on and emphasize particular moments; and still others seek to recreate the original ideas behind the work and express them in new ways.

While in the books published by these eight authors the medium is the same – illustrations printed on paper, albeit in various formats and styles – for this exhibition they chose a variety of practices and means: two- and three-dimensional work, ceramics, animation, digital illustration, and readymade. They also chose diverse storytelling strategies: reversing perspective, focusing on a single character or scene, or on a changed aspect in the protagonists (or themselves) over the years, since the book’s publication. In this way, they have moved out of the printed page into the museum space, exploring alternative storytelling formats and breathing new life into the books.

Thanks to Emda Group for its generous support

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