Phantasmagoric collages. A very dark poem about small puking children. An interpretation of how couples have evolved. And a hair found in a library book.
Those are but a few of the playfully smart themes that are considered in Femicomix, an exhibit of works by the (largely) Balkan-based artists collective Komikaze, currently on display at the Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
Works by 17 artists from ten countries are included in the exhibit under the Komikaze umbrella, a loosely-knit organization whose mission is to spotlight and support women artists in the contemporary comics scene.
Since its formation in 2002, Komikaze has grown into a network of 240 artists from 45 countries, has released 37 online editions, more than a dozen print issues, organized nearly 200 exhibits and conducted more than 40 workshops. A video of Beđomatik, their most recent, here in Ljubljana, is here.
This exhibit is in conjunction with the 21st City of Women International Arts Festival hosted annually in Ljubljana, and serves as a pleasant —and important— reminder that comics are of interest to female artists, too. That small, fertile and growing scene is the one Komikaze hopes to foster and encourage. Spend some time with their sizable online archive and you’ll see how far they’ve already come.
Through 19 October. Don’t forget to bring your daughters, granddaughters, and nieces.
[Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] [City of Women Festival’s exhibit intro]
A small selection:
Below, Waitin’ For Chip, by Nina Bunjevac (Canada)
What’s new in Zagreb by Ena Jurov (Croatia)
Two pieces from Hair by Ivana Pipal (Croatia)
Couples by Petra Varl (Slovenia)
Small Children by Anna Ehrlemark (Sweden)
Romance by Amandine Meyer (France) 
Above, the line-up and below, a wider view of the exhibit in the second floor lobby of the Kino Siska theater.
Authors/Artists: Nina Bunjevac (1980) Canada; Amandine Meyer/France; Amanda Baeza/Portugal; Bojana Bogavac (1986)/ Monte Negro; Ivana Pipal (1990)/Croatia; Petra Brnardić (1978), Croatia; Petra Balekić (1989)/ Croatia; Ena Jurov (1988)/ Croatia; Dunja Janković (1981)/ Croatia; Lina Rica (1981)/ Croatia; Nele Broenner (1980)/ Germany; Neja Tomšič/ Slovenia; Petra Varl/ Slovenia; Katie Woznicki (1984) USA/Serbia; Agneizska Piksa/ Poland; Anna Ehrlemark (1981) Sweden; Ivana Armanini/ Croatia
All photos with a Samsung Galaxy 4; my apologies to the artists for any technical deficiencies that may have caused.
