Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Helsinki, london

The Helsinki Comics Festival Comes To London At The End Of November

The 38th Helsinki Comics Festival comes to London in a one-day event on the 25th of November. Get ready for a Finiish invasion!

I always like to highlight things to do in London if you like comics, but this one is pretty special. The first Helsinki Comics Festival in London, at the end of this month. I mean, it's the 38th Helsinki Comics Festival from the Finnish Society but the first that decided to take a trip. It brings Finnish artists to London in a one-day event organised in collaboration with Space Station Sixty-Five project space, The Feminist Library and Comica Festival on the 25th of November. Which, yes, does mean they'll be competing with the return of Doctor Who…

So, the actual Helsinki Comics Festival was held for the 38th time at Korjaamo Culture Factory, Helsinki on the 16th and 17th of September. Finland's most international comics event gathers up to 25,000 visitors every year and the themes of the 2023 Helsinki Comics Festival were travelling and German-language comics. The themes were reflected in the programme and the presence of several invited guests.

With one of the themes of this year's festival being travelling, so the festival itself decided to take a trip to London as #HCFGoesLondon. And not to Berlin. The event at Space Station Sixty-Five project space near Vauxhall will take place on Saturday, the 25th of November from 11 am to 7 pm (when Doctor Who starts) and admission is free.

Prominent artists from both the Finnish and British comics fields as invited guests, including Kimmo Lust, who won the 2023 Comics-Finlandia award is this year's festival artist, as well as Johanna "roju" Rojola, Janne Parviainen, and Max Sarin. They will be joined on stage by Emilia McKenzie, Gareth Brookes, John Allison, Sabba Khan and Rachael House.

Kimmo Lust will be joined in conversation with Emilia McKenzie to discuss memory, love, grief, and trauma. McKenzie, also herself half Finnish, has recently published a book about the loss of a friend, But You Have Friends. Johanna "roju" Rojola is a curator working in the field of comics. They are one of the founding members of the Kutikuti contemporary comics collective, the Femicomix Finland network and the feminist and anti-racist studio Poimu. Roju will be discussing zines and feminist comics with Rachael House of Space Station Sixty-Five, also an artist and zine maker specialising in queer and feminist zines.  Janne Parviainen has, in his recent work, explored different ways of creating: light art, re-interpreting classic artworks, as well as traditional comics. The conversation between Parviainen and Gareth Brookes, a comics creator known for his novel approach to materials, is bound to be an interesting one.  John Allison and Max Sarin are the Eisner award-winning co-creators of Giant Days and The Great British Bump-Off, appearing for the first time together in London. Sabba Khan is the award-winning author of The Roles We Play, a graphic novel that examines diasporic identities and post-colonial legacy in the UK.

Paul Gravett from Comica Festival will also be interviewing and being interviewed, as well as presenting his most recent book on Tove Jansson – another Finn!

Several comics publishers and organisations will be presenting their activities and sharing what all creators want to know – how to best approach them with an idea for a book, exhibition or collaboration. Breakdown Press, Gosh! Comics, LDComics and The Feminist Library are some of the organisations taking the stage.

The Space Station Sixty-Five space will host over two  comics creators who will sign books and sell books and merchandise. The event is located at Space Station Sixty-Five, Building One 373 Kennington Rd, London SE11 4PS. Nearby stations inckude Kennington and Vauxhall.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!