Quebec Comics in the Spotlight in Switzerland!

The Montreal Comic Arts Festival travelled to Switzerland with a mandate from the Government of Quebec to promote Quebec comics abroad. Accompanied by a major artistic delegation, the Festival took part in several activities during the 20th edition of the BDFIL festival in Lausanne. An exhibition on Quebec’s ninth art is on display there until May 10 before travelling to Montreal for MCAF. Mélanie La Roche, Executive Director of MCAF, tells us about the journey.

Why did you travel to the BDFIL Festival in Switzerland?

For the past few years, we’ve been building relationships with people from the Swiss Comics Network. Those discussions eventually led to Swiss comics being featured at the Montreal Comic Arts Festival last year. In return, Switzerland was happy to invite us to present Quebec comics at the BDFIL festival in Lausanne. So it became a reciprocal exchange between our two comics communities and our two organizations.

Can you describe the BDFIL Festival?

Most of the exhibitions are located in a former train station that has been repurposed. It’s a space well suited for presenting multiple semi-indoor exhibitions: covered by a roof and fitted with several installations, but open on the sides with views of the station and the Alps. It’s really wonderful!

Another part of the festival takes place at Plateforme 10, also within the train station facilities. They built outdoor structures to host the festival bookstore and a covered area for author signing sessions. There are also other exhibitions and an indie comics section spread throughout the city.

This area is located right next to some of Lausanne’s major museums. Inside, there were rooms where the festival organized panel discussions. Just like at MCAF, all artists invited to BDFIL participate in at least one programmed activity and have scheduled signing sessions.

What was the highlight of the trip?

There were so many wonderful moments! For our MCAF team, it was especially great to reconnect with members of the Swiss Comics Network and the BDFIL festival whom we’d had the pleasure of meeting over the years.

Another particularly enjoyable moment was the fondue dinner organized on Friday evening with all the cartoonists and members of our delegation. It was a lovely opportunity to slow down and spend time together.

Finally, on Saturday, we hosted a Quebec-themed evening to present our exhibition Confluence: Worlds of Contemporary Quebec Comics. There were speeches, followed by Ungava gin cocktails and a menu created by a caterer featuring Quebec-inspired flavours that we wanted to showcase. The evening ended with cartoonist — and occasional DJ — Jimmy Beaulieu playing an incredible Quebec music playlist. Before long, it had turned into a dance party right next to our exhibition!

What are the similarities and differences between comics culture in Quebec and Switzerland?

The core of the comics industry mainly comes from France and Belgium. One similarity between Quebec and Switzerland is that both are French-speaking comics communities that can sometimes get overshadowed by the vast amount of French and Belgian productions. Each of us tries, in our own way, to highlight our specific identities, but both communities are fighting for visibility and space within that larger ecosystem.

I also feel that, both in Quebec and in Switzerland, comics are often published by smaller publishing houses. As a result, these projects tend to receive less funding than French or Belgian productions.

What inspired you about the BDFIL Festival that could eventually be integrated into MCAF?

Accessibility is clearly a major concern for BDFIL. It’s something we also care about at MCAF, but they approach it on additional levels. One thing I found especially interesting was their use of simplified language to summarize exhibition panels. We thought it was a great idea to allow visitors to access simplified texts that help them understand the exhibitions, while also giving people a quick overview of the information when moving through the space more rapidly. We’ll definitely be reflecting on how something similar could potentially be integrated in the future.

Horizons, La relève médiatique en tournée des festivals

This article was written by Félix-Antoine Turgeon, a journalist in the program Horizons, La relève médiatique en tournée des festivals, an initiative of the Regroupement des festivals régionaux artistiques indépendants (REFRAIN), in collaboration with the École supérieure en Art et technologie des médias at Cégep de Jonquière. This project gives emerging media professionals the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of festivals and the arts in all their forms.