- The two-day Conclave, scheduled on January 21-22, 2023, is lined up with a series of exciting talks and interactive sessions with celebrated graphic novelists and artists like Orijit Sen, Amruta Patil, Sarnath Banerjee, Nikhil Gulati, Pinaki De, Debkumar Mitra, and Gayatri Menon
- The event will also witness the book release of Orijit Sen’s “River of Stories”, India’s first graphic novel, as well as an exhibition of comics by artists from across the country
- Anyone can attend the event for free by registering on the website by January 21, 2023: https://art.iitgn.ac.in/comicconclave2023.html
NE EDUCATION BUREAU
GANDHINAGAR, JAN 17
With an aim to bridge the gap between academia and the world of storytelling through comics, the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in partnership with its Social Action and Policy Lab, supported by the UNICEF, is going to organise “Comics Conclave” on its campus on Saturday and Sunday, January 21-22, 2023. The two-day Conclave is lined up with a series of exciting talks and interactive sessions with celebrated graphic novelists, artists, filmmakers, and academic scholars.
Orijit Sen, Graphic novelist, artist, and designer, is going to talk about the ‘Story behind River of Stories’ and his current projects; Amruta Patil, Graphic novelist and artist, will be delivering a talk on ‘Graphic Movement’; Sarnath Banerjee, Graphic novelist, artist, and filmmaker, will engage in a dialogue on ‘Water Wars in Delhi’; Pinaki De, Comics scholar, educator, and designer, is going to discuss ‘The Sketchbook of Satyajit Ray and a Missed Encounter with Comics’; Nikhil Gulati, Graphic novelist, will give a talk on ‘Time Travel through Comics: Exploring India’s Past’; Debkumar Mitra, Founder and editor of Longform Collective, educator and painter, will deliver a talk on ‘Longform Story: the Long and Short of It’; and Gayatri Menon, Design educator, researcher, and artist, will discuss ‘Traditional Indian Storytelling’.
They will be joined by academic scholars and faculty members of the discipline of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and Cognitive Science at IITGN, including Dr T S Kumbar, Prof Jaison Manjaly, Prof Nishaant Choksi, Prof Leslee Lazar, Prof Arka Chattopadhyay, Prof Deepak Singhania, Prof Madhumita Sengupta, Prof Argha Manna, Prof Ambika Aiyadurai, and Avani Varia.
The event will also witness the book release of Orijit Sen’s “River of Stories” (25th anniversary edition), India’s first graphic novel, on January 21 morning, as well as an exhibition of comics by artists from across the country from 4 to 8 pm on both days.
Anyone can attend the event for free by registering on the website by January 21, 2023: https://art.iitgn.ac.in/comicconclave2023.html
Sharing the idea behind this unique Conclave, Prof Argha Manna, Artist-in-Residence, and Prof Jaison Manjaly, Head of HSS discipline, IITGN, who are also co-organisers of the Conclave, said, “Alternative comics have become one of the favourite tools to express and narrate memories, socio-political issues, gender issues, environment, history, and many other subject matters that come under the umbrella of academic research. Along with being an entertaining medium, comics have been emerging as a pedagogical tool for critical thinking as well. We believe that the Comics Conclave by IITGN will be able to create a space in which academicians and comics artists/graphic novelists can exchange thoughts, engage in dialogues, and synthesise hybrid knowledge.”
