Oxford Bookstore organizes a great evening around graphic illustration
Kolkata, May 7 (UNI) Oxford Bookstore in association with the French Embassy / French Institute in India and Alliance Française du Bengale organized a candid conversation around graphic illustrations with French author and cartoonist Julien Berjeaut in conversation with award-winning graphic designer and illustrator, Pinaki De. The literary and artistic evening began with the opening speech by Nicolas Facino, Director of the Alliance Française du Bengale, who spoke of the spectacular relationship that has been forged between the emblematic Oxford Bookstore and the French Embassy / French Institute in India and the Alliance Française du Bengale over the years through various cultural and literary associations. Julien Berjeaut, better known as Jul, is one of France’s most famous cartoonists. After years of teaching Sinology, he turned to the media as an editorial cartoonist for major French newspapers and TV shows. His series of graphic novels “Silex and the City” and “50 Shades of Greeks” are bestselling books, and have been adapted into a daily animated show for the Franco-German television channel Arte. Combining philosophy and cartoons, his “Planet of the Sages” has been translated into 12 languages around the world. Since 2013, he has been the official scriptwriter of the heritage comic book series “Lucky Luke”, created by René Goscinny. His work has been the subject of various exhibitions, including the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Liberty Statue Museum in New York and the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels. Jul was in a spontaneous and free conversation with award-winning graphic designer and illustrator, Pinaki De. De works regularly for renowned publishers and has designed nearly 500 book covers to date. He is a winner of “Publishing Next” award in 2017 and 2019 and his book cover design for “Kalkatta” by Kunal Basu won the prestigious Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize at Jaipur Literature Festival 2017. Pinaki is one of the publishers of the prestigious annual magazine “Longform”. At the iconic Oxford Bookstore, Pinaki De led the conversation with Berjeaut as he discussed various nuances of graphic design that captivated audiences. The speakers spoke about editorial cartoons, the importance of technology in cartoons and analyzed the cultures and influence of cartoons. and comics in India vis-à-vis France. Speaking on the occasion, Julien Berjeaut said: “After attending multiple conferences at various venues in Calcutta such as the iconic Oxford Bookstore, the Alliance Française du Bengale, I am extremely happy to finally discover that despite the immense differences between India and France regarding the status and popularity of graphic art, comics, there are a number of similar works as well.Of course, in France, comics as a form of literature is important. Most families have a comic book collection at home, regardless of the popular class, intellectuals and literature lovers. Not only children, but also people of all ages enjoy reading comics there. Whereas in India what I notice is that this particular form of literature is mainly available for children. However, I believe that people in India are more and more interested in discovering this vast territory of comic literature not only through the editorial cartoon published in newspapers, but also as a creation of form. This industry has huge potential for growth in the near future in India with proper promotional strategies and given that the barrier between children and adults is removed with regards to readership. UNI SJC KK