The Czech Republic will be the main guest country at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF), which will be held from 15 – 17 October 2021 in the English town of Kendal. The presentation of Czech comics at the festival is conducted under the auspices of the Czech Literary Centre, a section of the Moravian Library, in cooperation with other partners.

Five Czech comics artists will feature at the festival. Štěpánka Jislová and Kateřina Čupová have been in Kendal since mid-September as part of a month-long artist’s residency. Prior to the festival they will be joined by Lucie Lomová, Marek Rubec, Václav Šlajch, and the comics historian and theoretician Pavel Kořínek (Institute of Czech Literature), with whom the Czech Literary Centre cooperated in organizing the project.

The festival programme includes several events involving the Czech artists. For example, Lucie Lomová will appear alongside three international artists at a live-draw event. Štěpánka Jislová and Kateřina Čupová will discuss the new comics they have been working on during their month-long residency in Kendal.

One of the key parts of the programme will be An Extravaganza of Comic Art from the Czech Republic. This will feature the project coordinator Jan Zikmund from the Czech Literary Centre, Pavel Kořínek, and most importantly, all five Czech artists will present their work. The subsequent discussion will be led by the British journalist, editor, and comics expert Paul Gravett.

Part of the Czech presentation at the Lakes Festival also includes the presentation of a new comics exhibition by the project partner, the Czech Centres, entitled Here and Now – Contemporary Czech Comics. Co-curator Pavel Kořínek has organized a guided tour of the exhibition for visitors.

The Czech Republic’s guest appearance, which was postponed from last year because of the pandemic, is the result of long-term cooperation between the Czech Literary Centre and the festival organizers. Further information on the project can be found in a brochure published specially for the Czech involvement at the festival. It can be found HERE.