Opinion: Why you should visit The Galway Cartoon Festival
By Joline Sundén Rönnlund
They say laughter is the best medicine, and with the Cartoon Festival in town, that medicine is within reach. Head over and check it out, it will bring a smile to your face, of that I am certain.
For the eighth year in a row, the Galway Cartoon Festival lights up the gloomy days of autumn. This year, the festival runs between 4 and 9 October with its main exhibition ‘Beasts!’, among others, in PorterShed a Dó.
An International Event
It is a festival that brings people together from all around the world with one common interest – comics, caricature, and cartoons.
In France they call it “the ninth art,” explained Lucie Arnoux, an illustrator and comic-book author from Marseille who is discovering Ireland for the first time. She recently launched her autobiographical graphic novel ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’.
“It’s a glorious way to experience the country through this,” she said with a smile, not only because she immediately was taken by the cultural and artistry jewel on the West Coast, but also because of the opportunity this festival brings to share her passion for the world of comics.
Lucie described how she finds English speaking people to see it as a very limited field, mostly for children.
“Comic books is a very new medium in the UK, and it’s the same in Ireland I think. So things like this allows people to talk about it more, makes it exist as a new language,” she said.
“Hopefully one day it will explode and people are gonna do comics everywhere, like in France which is where I’m from. To me it’s like cinema or theatre, in France we call it the ninth art.”
“The ninth art”
Looking over at the pictures on display around us she concluded, “Anything can be comics, I can’t wait for people to realise that.”
Co-founder Richard Chapman commented upon the many nationalities taking part. It grows with each year.
“Once the word got around we gets loads of pieces from everywhere.” This is one of the reasons to why there are no limitations upon a certain theme.
“People can send us whatever they like, whatever is important to where they live,” a fact that has added to the broad variety of arts displayed.
More than simply “funny”
Despite the fact that most drawings connect to one common denominator, humour, there are underlying messages and deeper meanings that strikes me the most. In the opening speech by Cllr. Níall McNelis, Deputy mayor of Galway City, he addressed it’s deeper importance in society.
“Cartoons have always been a way to react, and to cope with pain and anger,” he said.
“If you saw the papers the day after the budget, front page of the Times and of the Examiner were two cartoons, no photographs.”
This theme was something that many of the cartoonists reflected on.
One of them was Dave Coverly, an American cartoonist. 30 years ago, he premiered in the Irish Times since he got syndicated with his creation of ‘Speed Bump’. Now he has returned to Ireland to attend the festival and talk about his career.
“I really like humour that makes a joke but also says something,” he began, referring to his background as a political cartoonist.
“I want to make people aware of things and use humour to do it.”
“People don’t go to the comics page to get a political opinion, they go to the opinion page for that. The trick is making a shortcut so that people are interested in it.”
Many of his pieces from his comic strip revolves around “the stupid things we do to our planet,” as he puts it in a try to use nice language.
On the question what kind of work he enjoys the most, he goes back to his degree in Philosophy and points towards one of his pieces by the entrance, a cartoon described to be “a little bit backwards, an inverted joke.
“I like that kind of idea, that is the kind of thing I’m aiming at, I enjoy the challenge of it.”
A versatile media
In a conversation with Ben Jennings, a UK-based cartoonist whose work regularly appears in The Guardian, he explained one of the favourite aspects of his profession.
“It’s such a versatile media, one day it’s a funny caricature, other times it’s a much more serious topic, and so you then have to be appropriate in how you approach that,” he said.
“Comics can be good in the moment for entertainment, but can also work as a good way of recording moments of history in a visual way.”
Next to him sits Will McPhail, a cartoonist based in Scotland, published in The New Yorker Magazine.
Speaking of how cartooning may be used to convey a message, he mentioned one of his pieces that related to Populism in 2016.
“It was during the rebellion of expertise and I just hated it, specifically coming from a scientific background,” he said.
He then explained how funny he found it to be that as soon as he did one social commentary piece the public would interpret messages in any little sketch.
“Sometimes an avocado is just an avocado.”
How to get started?
During Sunday evening a panel discussion, ‘Speech Bubble’, took place with several of the cartoonists partaking.
Many agreed that a good way to start in the cartooning field is to imitate one of your role models.
“It has a lot to do with muscle-memory. If you can feel what it feels like to draw, you learn,” said Dave Coverly.
Will McPhail said that was exactly what he did starting out, explaining how he then eventually found his own style.
“After a while you realise, in order to be like the one you’re imitating you have to be yourself, cause that’s exactly who your role model is.”
A word from the founders
Tom Matthews, Irish poet and cartoonist, has been with the festival since it began.
“Galway is all festivals,” he said before describing how Richard Chapman in 2017 contacted him about one noticeable absence.
“There was no scene for the ninth art.”
“Now’ve we been around for seven years, still growing, we’re becoming part of the endless cycle of festivals.”
Looking back at all interesting conversations I have had, and the versatility of the art I ask Richard Chapman what he wishes visitors should take with them from the festival.
The answer comes quick and easy.
“They should have fun, the Galway Cartoon Festival is all about transmitting positive feelings.”
Visit the festival yourself
If you still have not been, it is not too late. The event runs over several days, until 9 October. To find out more, see: Events 2024.
