The 15th anniversary organization of our festival was meant to happen in April 2020, however, due to the global circumstance of the pandemic, it was meant to be delayed until September 2021, when the restrictions measures had toned down enough for the event to take place.
With a hybrid combination of outdoor and indoor venues, as well as a series of live and digital acts, CCA took place both in the Hellenic American Union and Klafthmonos Square, thus being the first athenian festival organized since the start of the pandemic, with a record breaking attendance of almost 20.000 visitors!
As always, entering the festival was free -as always-, with the number of visitors at any time defined and monitored according to the sanitary guidelines.
The Hellenic American Union hosted the Comicdom CON Athens exhibitions, as well as hosting panels, workshops, screenings and events, such as the Greek Comics Awards’ Ceremony and the Comicdom Cosplay Competition.
In Klafthmonos Square, comic stores, publishers and more than 100 comics creators (close to the total of the greek scene) reunited once more in the safety of the outdoors, with merchandise and of course, long awaited new (and older) creations and editions, while the newly founded Virtual Comics Museum (comicsmuseum.gr), the new online comics multispace, hosted since September the 1st, three online exhibitions:
In the main international exhibition “THINK BLUE, THINK SMURF”, the well known blue creatures whom generations grew with and loved through animated series, comics and movies, leaving a permanent mark in pop culture, introduced themselves again, through a series of panels narrating their amazing journey through time, comics pages and thrilling memorabilia. The exhibition took place in the Hatzikyriakos-Gkikas Gallery in the Hellenic American Union, in cooperation with IMPS, the copyright company of the Smurfs, as well as the Supported of the Belgian Consulate in Athens.
At the same time, 2 of the most beloved episodes of the classical period of the Smurfs were aired, and our little friends had the chance to take part in a special, child program featuring our favorite blue heroes, in cooperation with the new illustration festival, Illustradays, where comics creators and illustrators gave their own versions of the Smurfs, in a live sketch event.
With the Czech Republic being the Country of Honor of this year’s Festival, 2 important exhibitions were presented. The exhibition 100 YEARS OF CZECH COMICS, unveiled the rich and diverse history of czech comics, as well as their evolution through time. During the kids’ exposition, 12 WORLDS introduced its visitors to 12 child book illustrators. During the feature in the Czech Republic, the Festival welcomed the awarded comics creator and illustrator Lucie Lomová, while also airing the most successful and awarded czech animated movie of the last years, THE ODDSOCK EATERS. The feature took place in cooperation with the Czech Center in Athens.
This festival’s Honorary Greek artist was Vasilis Lolos, Eisner and Harvey Award (the highest awarded comics awards) comics’ creator. Through his individual exhibition, selected works were presented and the public had the chance to better learn his multidimensional talent.
In our virtual exhibitions that are being hosted up to this day in the Digital Comics Museum, international stars of the 9th Art, such as Milo Manara, David Lloyd and John Romita JR, “met” with distinguished Greek artists, such as Ilias Kyriazis, Mihalis Dialynas and DaNi, in the anniversary exhibition titled “15 YEARS COMICDOM CON ATHENS”, with works that were created exclusively for the Festival, during its 15 years of its impactful presence. The “RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION OF VASILIS LOLOS” presented a more detailed version of the live exhibition of the internationally recognized artist, while at the end of the exhibition “COMICS VS. CORONA”, distinguished Czech artist and illustrating professor, Václav Šlajch, created 6 COVID themed comics pages, and 3 artists, Belgian Steven Dhondt, Japanese Miki Yamamoto, as well as Greek Apostolis Ioannou, continued the story, each in their own, unique way.
Comicdom CON Athens 2021 was organized by Comicdom Press and the Hellenic American Union. The Festival took place with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Municipality of Athens.
- Date: 10, 11 & 12 Σεπτεμβρίου
- International Guests: Lucie Lomova
- Vasilis Lolos illustrated this year’s poster