Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Bethlehem, palestine

A Bethlehem Training Camp For Palestinian And British Comics Creators

A Bethlehem training camp for Palestinian and British comic book creators, opens for ten days in July 2025

The Qusasat Comics & Digital Production Training Camp is taking place in Bethlehem in July. A ten-day intensive training camp, it intends to bring together young artists from Palestine and the UK to explore the art of comics and visual storytelling. This is the first camp of its kind in Palestine, and is designed to support emerging voices and creative talent using an innovative, multidisciplinary approach. They promise that through hands-on workshops in comics techniques, drawing, animation, and digital production, participants will develop their own original comics. The program includes individual and group training in comic art and storytelling; digital production and creative software sessions; guest talks and panel discussions with Palestinian and British artists; and cultural tours and local artistic activities. Representing the British comics community will be Mollie Ray, whose debut graphic novel, Giant, was published last year, by Faber and Faber.

Following the camp, participants will continue to receive mentorship to further develop their projects, with the goal of showcasing their work at LICAF in the UK and launching it digitally.

The initiative is a partnership between Power Group (Bethlehem) and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF), supported by the British Council and Amos Trust. It builds on a creative exchange that began with a fellowship in the UK and is now expanding into this pilot training program. "We're delighted to be part of this internationally supported project, commented LICAF Festival Director Julie Tait. "We are hoping this will lead to further collaborations, involving and investing in young comic talent across the world, as we have done in many other parts of the globe over the past few years.

Power Group is a youth-led cultural initiative based in Bethlehem, established in 2012. It works at the intersection of visual arts, media, and community engagement, using creativity as a tool for self-expression and social change.

"At Power, we're always exploring new creative tools to help young people tell their stories, and comics, combined with digital media, open up exciting new possibilities," says Sliman Mukarker, co-founder of Power Group. "Our partnership with LICAF is long-term, and we see 'Qusasat' as the beginning of what we hope will become an annual training program that supports a new generation of storytellers in Palestine."

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