From Romania, the latest project of the Hardcomics crew.
Who is George? What does he look like? We have no idea. And so we brought together 20 of our favorite Romanian illustrators and comic artists to tell us more about this illusive personage. The result is The Book of George…
For more info, check out The Site of George for a multi-media infographic 3D stereoscopic presentation.
Press release
Aooleu (which in Romanian means, roughly, “Oh my gosh!”) is a monthly hand-drawn newspaper showcasing the work of young cartoonists, designers and illustrators from Romania. Romania?!? Exactly. The comics scene in Romania isn’t well known, or particularly developed, but there’s a whole pool of talent out there waiting to be discovered. This is what Aooleu aims to do: open up a platform for young artists and promote them abroad. __Aooleu is produced by Hardcomics, Romania’s first (and only) independent comics publishers, with seven publications under their belt to date. Aooleu is distributed all over America and Europe in more than 26 locations__. Thanks to generous support from the Romanian Cultural Institute, it’s sent out to all these places entirely for free. Come along, pick up a few free copies of Aooleu, issues 1-3, and enjoy the, erm, “highly collectable” and “limited edition” Hard Comics back catalogue.
The programme: Friday 8th August Aooleu presentation 19:30
Three members of the Aooleu team, plus two Romanian artists, will be putting in an appearance at Das Edelweiss, 1-3 Gorlitzerstr, Berlin. They’ll be talking about the scene in Romania, presenting Aooleu, plus explaining a bit about Hardcomics and the story behind it. The team will also be DJing in their own inimitable manner and doing a spot of hi-impact synchronized breakdancing (erm, maybe not).
Saturday 9th August Aooleu workshop 16:00
After the fun and excitement of Friday night, the Aooleu team will be doing a comics workshop. If you fancy getting some of your work in Aooleu, turn up and pen your own submission. The team will also be using their hard-nosed journalistic skills to pen their reports on the Berlin trip. Get scribbling... And for more / less please visit www.aooleu.ro
AOOLEU is generously funded by the Romanian Cultural Institute’s CANTEMIR PROJECT programme 2008.
Greetings!
Two important-ish things:
1) Aooleu Issue Two is out! Check our website for places you can pick up a copy for the costly sum of zero Lei.
2) We's gonna be doin' a lil' launch party to celebrate this momentous occasion, on SATURDAY 5th JULY at the Cinema de Vara - some kind people have been busy doing to place up, and it's a great pleasure to be the first people to do an event there since the big clean-up. Come along and share a glass of beer / lemonade / flirt wildly / simulate rudey acts with the authors themselves. In issue two you'll find such luminaries as: Matei Branea, Ada & Cristi Neagoe, Ciprian Udrescu, Catalin Matei, Saint, Omar, Ciubi, Jean Lorin Sterian, Saddo, Bruni, Maria Guta, Iulian Fratila, Vlad Nanca, Tommi, and Sorina Vasilescu. We give dem props!
Love!
Aooleu Cru
P.S. come at 17 00 hours... ...and make sure you're not followed. Stop.
aooleu.ro for more less informations.
location: Cinema de Vara
GO TIGERS!
THE WORKSHOP IS\HAS GONE BUT...
AOOLEU NUMBER TWO DEADLINE IS 14/06 AKA ONE WEEK FROM NOW.
FOR THOSE WHO STILL DIDNT GET THIER COPY HERE IS A TEMP PDF:
http://www.aooleu.ro/aooleu1.pdf
A5 OR A4 OR A3 COLOR OR BW 300 DPI AND MAKE A NEWS
mailto: crew@aooleu.ro
ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALESSANDRO BARONCIANI, GIANLUCA COSTANTINI, MARINO NERI E SQUAZ ONLY AT
BUCHAREST, LIBRERIA CÃRTURESTI, STR. ARTHUR VERONA, 13
5 MAGGIO – 26 MAGGIO 2008
Don’t miss the opportunity to visit Libreria Carturesti, in the very heart of the town. There – from the underground comic Italian culture - you can check the first exhibition of ever in Romania of four brand new artists. The event is curated by Elettra Stamboulis and it is sponsored by Italian Institute of Culture of Bucharest.
But you can get even more: Squaz and Costantini do a workshop open to the public the 12nd and 13rd of May at the Universitatea Naţională de Arte (Str. G-ral Budisteanu, n. 19).
WHO JOINS THE WORKSHOP WITH A COPY OF THIS POST WINS PERONI BEER. linEa PAYS FOR YOU.
Five years ago we used to say that selling comics in Romania was like trying to sell ice-cream to Inuits. Four years later we can proudly state that it now resembles selling pork in Palestine.
Hardcomics began 6 years ago in the city we call Bucharest. The birthchild of Serbian graphic designer Milos Jovanovic and Romanian animator Matei Branea, later on to be joined by Street artist Andy Sinboy. The meeting of these comic fans spawned Romania’s first independent (and back then only) comic book publication. The first issue called "Aaarghh" was made by Romanian painter and illustrator Roman Tolici, a bizarre, neurotic and abstract compilation of sex, violence, love and beauty. The second issue was by our own Matei Branea and his lovably chainsmoking character Omulan. This issue was mute and looked at man’s relationship with a God which is enforced on him, as well as how to get extremely high and party.
For the third issue we captured a million pigeons and tied messages to their neck, telling people that we were going to publish a compilation of Romanian comics, professional or amateur, if it made us chuckle or think it was going in. After a few months we were proud to present a compilation comic book featuring different styles from 28 artists. At the time there was no other means of publishing physical comic books in Romania.
Comic book culture in Romania is still next to zero. You can barely find a couple of international comics in two specialized bookshops in Bucharest. Nonetheless we are sticking to our horses, providing a platform for anyone who enjoys frames and speech bubbles as a form of communication, interaction, entertainment or masturbation.
Since we began, we have grown from a small company of three people to a massive corporation with one boss, two exhausted employees and a horny cat. Our first issues were self financed, but we were fortunate to have made a statement and produced some quality books which have gotten noticed by cultural institutions such as the Romanian Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) which sponsored the print for the compilation 'Hardcomics 6 - The Anthology'.
Now, is time of the new issue: Hardcomics #7: First sexual experience.
Order your copy: crew@hardcomics.ro
Hardcomics #7 €9.99
We hire marco.riciputi[at]gmail.com
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