The “CAN for Balkans” exhibition, made in Brașov, traveled to North Macedonia
Brasov – Tirana – Brussels – Leskovac: over 100,000 visitors
The special guest of the opening in Veles, the Italian ambassador to North Macedonia, the author of a book about comics heroes and superheroes as geopolitical tools
After being exhibited in a national museum (National History Museum of Albania), in the world’s most important museum dedicated to comics (Comics Art Museum Brussels), in a cultural center (Leskovac, Serbia) and in a unconventional space (Coresi Shopping Resort Brașov), the exhibition of the European project “CAN for BALKANS”, carried out by the Brașov County History Museum, arrived in the Art Salon of the Veles City Museum.
Also the hosts from Veles had the ambition to turn the opening of the exhibition into a celebration of the historical comics of national and even international level. On March 3, 2023, at the “Goce Delchev” Veles Library, the program organized by the Comic Center of Macedonia, the partner of the “CAN for Balkans – Comics Alliance Networking” project, included: a presentation on Macedonian historical comics, made by Aleksander Stevanov, the researcher from North Macedonia of the “CAN for Balkans” project; a debate with Prof. Bosko Karadzov, author of the book “Comics aesthetics”; a debate about clichés and stereotypes in comics and the presentation of the book ” Fumetti e potere: eroi e supereroi come strumento geopolitico ” by its author, Andrea Silvestri, the Italian ambassador to North Macedonia.
In the evening, at the opening ceremony of the “CAN for Balkans” exhibition at the Veles Art Salon, the project manager and curator of the exhibition, Nicolae Pepene, Aleksandra Andreeva, cultural activities coordinator (Veles City Hall), Angel Korunovski, director of the Veles City Museum and Vane Trajkov, the coordinator of the “CAN for Balkans” team in North Macedonia, spoke.
The cultural event was attended by artists, specialists from the comics world, representatives of the project partners, journalists, the winner of the Grand Prize of the international competition “CAN for Balkans”, the Romanian artist Răzvan Bronescu, as well as the Serbian artists Marjan Milanov and Srdan Todorović, the winners of the third prize, and Slavica Kupenkova, winner of the mention for North Macedonia.
The “CAN for Balkans” exhibition remains in Veles for the period 3 – 27 March 2023. Until Veles, the exhibition was also presented, according to the European project agenda, in Brașov (October 2022), Tirana (November 2022), Brussels (December 2022 – January 2023) and Leskovac (February 2023) and has already been seen by more than 100,000 visitors.
The partners of the CAN for Balkans – Comics Alliance Networking international project are: Brașov County History Museum (project leader), National Historical Museum of Albania, Comics Art Museum Brussels – Belgian Comic Strip Center, Comic Center of Macedonia (North Macedonia), Leskovac school of comics “Nikola Mitrovic Kokan” (Serbia).
Regarding the media partners of the project, after the national televisions of Albania (November 2022) and Serbia (February 2023), the national television of North Macedonia is also promoting the “CAN for Balkans” exhibition.
The “CAN for Balkans – Comics Alliance Networking” project is co-financed by the European Commission, through the Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual and Culture (EACEA) in Brussels, within the Creative Europe Funding Program, the call ”Strengthening cultural cooperation and the competitiveness of cultural industries and creative in the Western Balkans” (EACEA 39/2019).
