Women in technology, beasts and ‘general mayhem’ will be the three themes of this year’s Galway Carton Festival, set to run for six days from October 4.
The 2024 full festival programme will be launched by Deputy Mayor of Galway City, Councillor Níall McNelis, this evening (Thursday ) at 6pm in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, with a schedule of events ranging from the personal to the political, and the bitingly satiric to the playfully funny.
From Friday, October 4, Galway will host to some of the biggest names in cartooning: Dave Coverly, creator of the legendary single-panel cartoon Speed Bump; Gazan artist Malak Mattar, whose work is both affected by and a response to, the Israeli occupation; Lucie Arnoux, writer/artist of the Enola Holmes comics; European Cartoon of the Year 2023 winner Ben Jennings; The New Yorker’s Will McPhail; and leading Irish cartoonist, Dean Patterson.
The festival, now in its eighth year, will include drawing and discussion classes, workshops, exhibitions, and talks.
Festival guests
Since creating 'Speed Bump' in 1994, Dave Coverly’s celebrated gag cartoon has been syndicated in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, winning Best Panel from the National Cartoonists Society four times. At an exhibiton of his works in Galway, Coverly’s public talk is simply titled ‘How To Be A World Famous Cartoonist’.
Malak Mattar creates astonishing grayscale painting. No Words is her deeply personal response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the atrocities being inflicted upon her fellow Palestinians. The author/illustrator of the best-selling children’s book, Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story, Mattar will be in Galway from October 8 for an exhibition and book launch.
French illustrator and author Lucie Arnoux is best known as an artist on the Enola Holmes comic series, and for her autobiographical graphic novel, Je Ne Sais Quoi. She will hold a workshop, ‘The Comic Book In Practice’ and give a public interview.
Each year, Galway Cartoon Festival showcases an artist who has made a significant contribution to the art in Ireland, so 2024’s solo exhibition will feature Dean Patterson, whose work appears in Private Eye, The Phoenix, The Idler, and others.
Ben Jennings (The Guardian, The i Newspaper ) will give an unflinching dissection of contemporary Britain after 14 years of Tory government in his William Hogarth-inspired exhibition ‘Snowflake’s Progress’, including a public interview: ‘Snowflake Under The Microscope’.
Another festival interview highlight will be ‘An Englishman in The New Yorker’, with The New Yorker’s Will McPhail, winner of the Reuben Award's Cartoonist of the Year 2017 and 2018 and the British Cartoonists Association's Young Cartoonist of the Year.
An American’s view of Galway will come via Disney/Marvel/Netflix artist, Joey Mason, with the launch of his book, Quay Street Sketches, inspired by his time in the city. He will hold a residency and exhibit in Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr, throughout the festival.
A very special visitor to this year’s Festival will be Co Kerry cartoonist and illustrator Ciaraíoch (Ciara Kenny ), whose work draws on social justice, feminism, nature, Irish history and mythology.
The festival will also feature cartoons and contributions from major Irish cartoonists including Tom Mathews, Mick O’Hare (co-creator of Zig and Zag and Podge and Rodge ), Graeme Keyes, and Jim Cogan, while the Festival Image was created by Portuguese political cartoonist, Cristina Sampaio.
Exhibitions and events
The Women in Technology exhibition is a collaboration with Galway Science and Technology Festival and the Insight Centre for Data Analytics.
There will be panel discussions, including ‘Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Making Graphic Novels (But Were Afraid To Ask )’; Irish language cartooning events, including Tarraing É I nGaeilge, the annual show of cartoons in Irish in An Taibhdhearc and on Inis Oírr; and a chance for the public to draw alongside leading cartoonists in ‘Can You Speak Doodle?’.
Galway Cartoon Festival will also facilitate visits by Galway city and county schools to festival exhibitions, to inspire the next generation of cartooning talent.
All welcome to the launch. For more information see www.galwaycartoonfestival.ie
