…the insider’s guide to the croatian capital! /komikaze predstavljene u londonskom vodiću kroz zagreb!
* http://timeoutcroatia.com/toc/check-out-komikaze/
* dostupno na svim kioscima tiska, profilu i algoritmu
1. What was your earliest experience of strip? Was it a childhood obsession or did you discover it later?
Visual and literary art always interested me but their symbiotic copulation happened 15 years ago through the rare fanzines (discovered by accident) and net surfing.
2. What were your first steps in art? Did you study art?. And what attracted you to the idea of drawing strips rather than another field of art? (Do you do other forms of art when you are not drawing strips?)
I studied art for 9 years (high school and Academy). Authorial comic was the way to connect main interests – visual and literary and rebuilt my art in some more spontaneous and lively style.
3. How did Komikaze start?
During the first 4 years of work on my comic book “Gloria Scott” (which was published by AGM in 2005 and brought me all 500 eu! :P) a community for feedback and comic exchange didn’t exist so I started Komikaze network as a long-wanted social sculpture.
4. Is Zagreb a good place to be an alternative strip magazine publisher?
Yes, because the scene is new and has lots of fresh energy. No, because of the same reason there is no comic culture nor audience nor market for it. The question of audience is solved by the internet. The question of market is taken care of by our donors (Ministry Of Culture Croatia, City Office for Education, Culture and Sport-Zagreb). This isn’t a long-term solution, but it is the only one that exists at the moment. There are some tendencies for improving the situation
5. Komikaze includes a lot of strips from the ex-Yu region. Do these countries have a shared tradition of strip or are these connections relatively new?
Yugoslavian decay brought the market breakdown and a big creativity delay. Komikaze program mapped regional comic points, individuals and collectives. Lots of workshops and united projects made this network very strong and interactive.
6. Are there any festivals in Croatia which promote comic strip art? Are there any workshops which bring comic strip authors together?
There are 2 comic festivals (“MaFest” and “Crtani romani show”) but their programs are generally oriented to mainstream comics, big publishers and comic shops so there is no space for independent authors, zines and new tendencies. People that come here try to find superheroes and expect realistic funny adventure as a comic aesthetic. Usually they are shocked when they see our stuff. Low comic culture is a Croatian standard. We are happy to go on some bigger french and Italian festivals where we can refill our batteries and recover the power of the great new comic vision. Internet community is extremely important for little countries like ours so all komikaze activities and production can be followed through the www.komikaze.hr portal and facebook.
7. It seems to me that Komikaze is like an alternative international family. Certain favourite authors (Wostok, Kapreles, Ehrlemmark) appear in more than one edition. Do you meet each other at festivals and events? How do you maintain contact?
Festivals, workshops and exhibitions in all regions of Europe are our meeting points. All of us have very strong virtual life and live in parallel comic world, ofcourse….
8. Is there a close relationship between street artists and strip artists? How did Komikaze start collaborating with people like Puma/Filjio, and Oko?
6 years ago Filjio put 10 of his comics in my home inbox (every page was in a plastic bag, vacuumed like fresh meat), unnamed and untitled. It was fantastic, completely amazing works from Zagrebian author which nobody has seen! One month later we finally met and I discovered that all our lives we lived so near and had so similar aesthetic! In the same time he became very active in street art, he built that scene and gave the street identity to our little town.
Oko was his girlfriend, she worked from his shadow so I think that her real time will come soon. 9. Are there any artists connected with Komikaze who have gone on to be successful in other artistic fields?
This kind of comics imply researching in continuity so people which work in this field are generally directed to multimedia and experimental playing on the borders. All of those people work with more or less success in a different artistic fields like: design, music, street art, photography , film, posters and vj-ing.
10. How often is Komikaze published and where can people buy it?
Every 4 months komikaze zine is published on the internet (www.komikaze.hr) and the years selection goes to print. Komikaze#10 will be published in September – You are invited!
