Call for submissions – CBA vol 64: Kolaż

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 64: Kolaż
Main editor: Kinga Dukaj
Deadline: May 12

Kolaż (Polish for collage) is an art where you weave existing images into new narratives. Dive deep into various techniques and tech. We want your unlimited comic fusions!

***Disclaimer***
Copyrighted material:
Be mindful of the images you use to create your collage. In general, using copyrighted images in your collage without permission could potentially constitute copyright infringement.e
AI:
If you use AI art it has to be clearly stated that it is AI, what AI platform it is made at and what words and/or base images you used to create the comic. We want to discourage the use of AI and you will not receive any payment for AI- images.
***

Explore the art of collage with us in blends of found images with drawings and digital manipulations, dissections and reassemblies, insertions and rearrangements. Share your stories, your subversions and discoveries of meaning through combinations and reinterpretations. Create new comics or cut up your old ones, make new life out of previous stories.

Be inspired by pioneers like Mary Shelley’s Victor F, Hannah Höch, Romare Bearden, Dave McKean and many more, whose unique approaches reshape artistic boundaries.

Join us to celebrate this remarkable art form in CBA vol 64: Kolaż (polish for Collage) where innovation and imagination breathe life into fragments, woven through the magic of artistic amalgamation.

Is collage your passion and you want to write an article about it? Great! A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.

Also don’t miss our other current call for submissions: CBA vol 65: THE BOX


—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (wetransfer usually works fine, for example).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose. It’s part of our marketing and it usually takes place in a physical exhibition space, although these days we’re more likely to make a digital exhibition online at the Hybriden website.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.
Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus of the financial support we receive for CBA amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2025)…

Feel free to share this call for submissions and/or the Facebook event to any comics creator you think would be interested!

Subscribe and get 4 back-issues!

Postal fees are unfortunately going up a tad in Sweden next year and we will raise our subscription prices a bit to accommodate to the capitalist, privatized and misanthropic system that is PostNord.

So, to counteract that in our own way, we offer you a great deal!
Subscribe, renew or give a subscription as a gift and get 4 extra back-issues, for a total of 8 issues!

Before you checkout, make sure to peruse among our publications of CBA vol, and make your choice in the “Additional  information – Order Notes” in the cart and we’ll send them to you for free!

Note: CBA vol 1, 2 and 4 are out of stock and will not be reprinted.
This offer does not apply to our book-vol: 23, 25, 27, 29, 31 or 33.

This offer is also ongoing over at our shop, Hybriden, if you’re interested in checking out our other stuff as well!

 

Call for Submissions – CBA vol 54|55: WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW?

We’re looking for comic contributions and articles exploring the theme:

CBA vol 54|55: WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW?
Main Editor: Kinga Dukaj
DEADLINE: Sep 1 Oct 31

Have you ever just had to stop what you’re doing and go “wait, is this a dream?”
When the unknown starts bleeding into reality and you are forced to question your sanity, if just a little bit.
You know the sort of thing that happens in dreams that makes you sure it’s just a dream? How do you cope when it happens in the waking world?

In this theme we’ll explore the dreamy and the bizarre, the uncanny in the mundane, the creepy in the dark corners of everyday life. Magical realism with a twisted flair, comics that invoke a mystical, surreal, dreamlike state of mind, with a tinge of discomfort… Think of the movies by Lynch, for example…

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
-Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
-Format: 20x26cm
-Color: Color / Black and white
-Language: English
-File format: .TIF
-Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK
-Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
-Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this: (https://cbkcomics.com/bleed-explained/) to make sure you know what we mean.
-Within this space, there are no limits.
-Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (wetransfer usually works fine, for example).
-Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start.
Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Include a short presentation text about yourself, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).
Your presentation text should be approximately 500-700 characters in length. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.
Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

What we are looking for is comics which rely on artistic ambitions and a will to experiment rather than what has been done a thousand times before. We want to expand the boundaries of what is possible to achieve in the comics medium. We are looking for the same thing in texts; articles, essays, exploratory texts, etc.
Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although this year we have more financing so we might be able to pay something for once). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.
Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume. We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2023)…

CBA vol 40 – Call for submissions: Comics & Texts

CBA vol 40 – Worst Case Scenario
(Guidelines for text pieces and comics for this issue at the bottom of this description)

What’s the worst that could happen? And if that happens, what’s the worst that could happen? And if that happens, what’s the worst that could happen? And so on…

There’s a psychiatric method in cognitive behavioral therapy called “The Downward Arrow Technique” where you begin by writing down the answers to this repeated question and we thought it’d be the perfect theme for our upcoming CBA vol 40. Especially since this is an election year in Sweden. Especially since war and famine and climate change and personal disasters are on the horizon. So how bad can it get?

Deadline: APRIL 15
Main editor: Kinga Dukaj
Color scheme: Black and white

Editors note: The goal in the Downward Arrow Technique is to explore your core beliefs and work through them, and is often used for anxiety, phobias and other disruptive thought patterns. This method is very practical, simple and effective in helping the person get to the root of their negative thoughts and unhealthy beliefs about themselves. However, this is not the goal in CBA vol 40. We just want to know the worst.

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20x26cm
Color: Black and white
Language: English
Format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi grayscale
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean: https://cbkcomics.com/bleed-explained/
Within this space, there are no limits.

Please send us high-resolution files from the start.
Also include a short presentation text about yourself, with one URL (if you have a website).
Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!

Unfortunately we cannot offer you any payment for participating. If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can offer at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

—TEXT GUIDELINES—
We’re looking for texts that touch upon this subject, preferably articles, essays and exploratory texts. We’re not looking for short stories in this issue.

—COMICS GUIDELINES—
Think of a scenario where you imagine the absolute worst thing that could happen.
When you have that in mind, ask: if that happens, whats the worst that could happen?
When you have that answer continue asking it about 3 more times until you’ve got a clear story.
Use this as a script for your comic.

We’ look forward to seeing your submissions!
//CBK CREW

You can also attend the Facebook event here!

Christmas Sale!

We’re having a Christmas sale in the shop until Dec 31st.

Use coupon code: xmas2017 and get 20% off on all books in the shop!

Happy Holidays!

BLEED: Exhibition & Release

bleedevent

BLEED: Art exhibition by Tusen Serier
& Release party for CBA vol 35 by CBK

Opening: November 18, 17-22 @ Hybriden (Claesgatan 8, Malmö)
The exhibition will remain until November 28.

Join us as we dive into a red world. Tonight we’ll explore just what it means to BLEED. What does blood mean to you? Are you afraid of it? Do you worship it? Or is it just the color that attracts you?

At Hybriden you will see artists draw blood and see their visual interpretations of the theme.

It will indeed be a red experience. We will overwhelm your senses! Not just by the artwork itself, but the music will be tailored for this night. The wine will be blessed and prepared. Amongst all of this we will have a blood fountain.

The exhibition is accompanied by CBA vol 35: BLEED that includes a wide array of comics on the same theme.

Participating artist in the exhibition are:
Vladica Čulić
Merima Dizdarević
Kinga Dukaj
Mattias Elftorp
Bekim Gaši
Aida Ghardagian
Susanne Johansson
Vuk Palibrk
Stefan Petrini
Gonzalo Rodriguez
Henrik Rogowski
Rakel Stammer
among others…

Music by Markus Samnell (better known as Feberdröm)

Welcome!

See also:
Tusen Serier
Facebook event

This exhibition is a cooperation between Tusen Serier and CBK, with support from Malmö Kulturstöd.

Releaseparty: When the last story is told

whenthelastevent

“When the last story is told, its absence rings with colour: Shapes & structure linger”–
Like the clap of thunder when the air rushes to fill the vacuum from a supersonic plane, Haverholm poses the question: When the last story is told, what fills the space it leaves?

Explore that space together with us at our releaseparty for this enigmatic new work by Allan Haverholm!

Friday, May 22, 17-21 @ Tusen Serier.
Claesgatan 8, Malmö.

Facebook event.

wtlstcvr_800When the last story is told
In the latest book by visual artist Allan Haverholm, narrative gives way to another order of meaning. Although the pages are divided into comic book grids there is nothing to constitute a traditional story, or even pictures in a sense that one would expect. The only text in the book, quoted above, frames the 60 pages of minimalist colour compositions alternatingly obscured with bold strokes of white paint and abstract, black textures.

The book questions one of the basic elements of our culture: storytelling and its underlying structures. Its very title suggests a potential end of narrative, but also that something else may fill the gap, a still-fluid substance or undefined fictional construct forming after this universal aphasia. Like a message from an alien mind, When the last story is told is loaded with meaning encoded in an undecipherable language.

Allan Haverholm (b.1976)
Since his 2006 book debut (the 300 pages Sortmund, hailed as Denmark’s first graphic novel), Allan Haverholm has stubbornly explored the comics medium for new approaches to the art form, changing effortlessly between a wide range of expressions to fit each new project. Persistent themes in his work include language and music, and their application in comics form.
When the last story is told is Haverholm’s eighth book as a single author; he has illustrated some fifty books, published several collaborations with likeminded artists, and appeared in more anthologies than he cares to think of or even count. His art has been exhibited internationally.
www.haverholm.com
www.twitter.com/haverholm

 

 

THE STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL COMICS FESTIVAL 2015

SIS_2015_BRED_TRYCK_300dpi_press

C’est Bon Kultur will attend this years International Comics Festival in Stockholm, May 9th–10th.
The Stockholm International Comics Festival [SIS] will take place for the seventeenth time in May 2015 (plus pre-events earlier in the week) organized by Serieteket and friends.

Meet us this weekend! Our table is located in Hörsalsfoajén, table F8. Adjacent to Tusen Serier, Wormgod and Ritualen.

We’ll have a great stash of CBA vol 28, Allan Haverholm’s hot-off-the-press When the last story is told. And everything else that we’ve made so far. Our book fair prices are super cheap, so don’t miss out!

Open call for submissions for C’est Bon Anthology: Signs and Science

gallileo_moon_drawingsheader

Signs of science? The science of signs? Or neither, or both.
Deadline: 1 September 2014
How about the sleep depriving thought of eternity when you turn off the lights at night. Of the ever reaching deepness of space, black holes and the creation of photons in the core of the sun.How about when you get lost in thought, staring at your thumb, thinking about how the cells in your skin work and work and work, divide and fall off. The molecules they are made of. The vanishing weight of the atoms.

How did the insects develop wings? What is the purpose of the flick-flack of the Rechenbergi spider, the tiny squeak of the desert rain frog, the Higgs boson? And what is dark energy anyway? The history of the natural sciences is filled with wonder, with horror and gore, with idealism and the search for truth, but above all curiosity.

C’est Bon invites you to send in your work for our upcoming issue, Signs and Science! Best suited are comics about 4–22 pages. The format is 200×260 mm (7.9×10.2 in), full colour, in English or wordless. Within this space, there are no limits. We accept low-res files for consideration and will ask you for high-res files if your submission is accepted.

Unfortunately we can’t offer you any payment for participating. If we publish your submission you will receive 5 free copies of the issue and we will promote you and your work on our website, on social forums, in press releases etc. That’s all we can offer at this date. Hopefully you will find being in C’est Bon Anthology an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Send your submissions via the form at http://cestbonkultur.com/?page_id=242 or to info@cestbonkultur.com

Exhibition: Sequential Investigations at STPLN in Malmö

SeqInv_web-header

This thursday we premiere the exhibition “Sequential Investigations: the New Comics” in Sweden!

Sequential Investigations is an exhibition of original art, prints, and wall projections showcasing some of the finest experimental artists working on the periphery of the comics form, pushing and probing the potential of sequential storytelling.

How to talk about comics in terms that don’t ignore or even exclude one aspect or other? Most people with the slightest interest in the form know that genre trappings or age divisions don’t make any sense at this point. 30 years ago people proclaimed that comics had “grown up”, but that term seems to be moot now that comics for all and any ages have gained general acceptance.

The father of modern manga, Osamu Tezuka, is quoted as saying that comics “should be like air”. Depending on your interpretation, that prediction may have come true, as sequential narrative has become a natural form of expression, both for traditional comics artists trying to break into a steadily narrowing mainstream, and for artists from other fields who test the comics grammar in new, often unexpected contexts.

That is probably the common denominator between the artists presented in this exhibition: that they use the form as naturally as breathing. Their work doesn’t relate to comics as they were, but as they have always been at their core, that is, a set of syntaxes that anyone can use to communicate their own personal message. These are no “grown-up” comics, or even a “new” kind of comics as the exhibition title could be construed; rather, they are distinct, artistic visions that are also very clearly recognizable as comics. Within the sequential framework the exhibitors probe and explore the possibilities of comics and, as it were, chart the unmapped areas in the process.