By Gemma Brosnan
A SELECTION of the world’s most compelling graphic novelists and comic artists are to collaborate with experimental youth initiative Ctrl.Alt.Shift, to create a limited edition comic book, ‘Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption’, which aims to highlight corruption as both the cause of poverty and a barrier to overcoming it.
Comprising original work from leading comic artists, satirists and creative figures from around the world including USA, South Africa, India, Sweden, Serbia and the UK, the book will engage and challenge the issues of social injustice in a bid to politicise a new generation of activists through the medium of popular comic culture.
Since 2008, Ctrl.Alt.Shift has been working to politicise a new generation of activists for social justice using creativity, photography, film, stories, illustrations and music. Previous activity has included a dance partnership HIV + Stigma at Sadlers Wells and Gender + Power, a photographic commission with VICE Magazine.
Katrin Owusu, Head of Youth Marketing and Innovations at Ctrl.Alt.Shift explains: “Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption uses youth cultures fascination with the medium of comics to unite artists and activists from all over the world, giving them a platform upon which to make a stand against corruption. This is what Ctrl.Alt.Shift as a movement is all about; it’s tapping into those channels which really engage young people and using them to empower and politicize a new generation; it’s about giving people the tools to fight injustice in its many and varying guises.”
V V Brown, Dan Goldman, Aleksandar Zograf, Bryan Talbot, Pat Mills, Asia Alfasi and Dylan Horrocks are a few of the high profile individuals who will create original bespoke comic strips inspired by stories of corruption. The finished comic will be 96 pages long and made up of more than 20 unique illustrated with all profits from the 5,000 copies going to Ctrl.Alt.Shift to fund projects that expose corruption and hold the culprits accountable.
‘Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption’ will launch this November as part of the annual COMICA festival and an exhibition of the same name will be held at the Lazarides Gallery, Soho, from 6 – 30tH November.
The exhibition will take a retrospective look at how comics have been employed throughout history to debate and highlight political issues and will include content from previously unseen archives as well as highlights from the limited edition comic.
Comic artist and journalist Joe Sacco, who achieved international fame in 1996 with his award-winning book Palestine, and his graphic novel on the Bosnian War, Safe Area Goražde, talks about his time in Palestine, his artistic influences, tips on how to draw, as well as his thoughts on the Ctrl.Alt.Shift comic book and why comic books are useful for making politic commentary.
Click here for Joe Sacco interview: http://www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk/video/ctrlaltshift-unmasks-corruption-joe-sacco-interview
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