Wednesday April 17: 4:00 P.M. A presentation of the exhibit Francophone Comics: Evolving Understandings of the Global French-Language Bande Dessinée in the Memorial Library’s main lobby*
Wednesday April 17: 4:30 P.M. Public Lecture by Michelle Bumatay on Black Bandes Dessinées. Memorial Library 126*
Lecture Abstract: His Majesty, Emperor Papa Mfumu’eto 1st, a self-proclaimed very famous nobody, has many monikers. In addition to being a painter, this Kinshasa-based artist, known for his unique personal and artistic style, created, manufactured, and locally distributed his own comics zine across two decades. Taking a closer look at his work, this talk presents key factors informing the production of Black bandes dessinées (Black comics in French) including questions of sociohistorical context, materiality, audience(s), language(s), and accessibility.
Speaker Bio: Michelle Bumatay, PhD is an Assistant Professor of French at Florida State University specializing in African Francophone literature and visual culture. Her current book project, Black Bandes Dessinées, explores the diversity of comics in French by Black artists and authors. She is also the organizer of the Winthrop-King Institute’s Global Africas series.
*Events are in English, free, and open to the public
Accompanying Events
Thursday April 18: 12:00 P.M. A Brown Bag Conversation with Prof. Michelle Bumatay. Bring your lunch and come discuss research, the job market, academic event planning, publishing, and more. Van Hise 711**
Thursday April 18: 1:30 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. Office Hours with Prof. Bumatay. Van Hise 618A**
**Events are destined for UW graduate students.
Organizer: Peter Russella (russella@wisc.edu)