While a new generation of comics artists is emerging in the region whose work appears in a growing number of publications in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria among other Arab countries, this panel will address the need to institutionalize this profession by providing education and training in illustration and graphic story telling in the region. The panel will raise questions pertaining to education, research, business and career opportunities for comics artists in the region.
Comics art is a medium that has been used not only to record history but also as a testimonial of personal memory and against silence and abuse. It is a fertile ground yet to be explored, it opens up opportunity for literary visualizing the lived realities of people in general as well as marginalized communities.
This panel can be considered a starting point for discussions and debates on future comics studies in the Arab region.