Festival de la Bande Dessinée de Bassillac et Auberoche

So, while the Lakes International Comic Art Festival was buzzing online over the weekend, we were off to France for a festival that was taking place (almost) as normal. The organisers in Périgord had decided to go ahead with the 31st Festival de la Bande Dessinée de Bassillac et Auberoche, though as they anticipated the footfall was greatly reduced. We were there to promote Louise Michel la Vierge Rouge, the French edition of The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia, alongside an exhibition in advance of the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune.

On Saturday afternoon we did a presentation, after which we went to view the Il y a 150 ans exhibition in the Archives départmentales de la Dordogne. The rest of the time was pretty much taken up with ‘dédicaces’ at our table  –  shifting every copy, which felt good –  and sitting at table in the agreeable company of the organisers and other guests, while eating course after course of local produce (it’s a tough job, but someone etc…).

Here are some pics from the weekend. First, the hall:

And the exhibition. It was in two parts: 1. 24 informative panels put together by Les Amies et Amis de la Commune de Paris and 2. artwork from Jacques Tardis’ Le cri du peuple, from the Communardes! trilogy illustrated by Xavier Fourquemin, Anthony Jean and Lucy Mazel and from our Louise Michel la vierge rouge:

In addition, there were two fragments of history, or rather of the Vendôme column, destroyed by the Communards in May 1871 and on loan from Périgord Museum. Here’s one:
And now we’re home and self-isolating. Thanks to Matthieu Druillole and all the other organisers for making us feel so welcome. Behind the mask, I’m smiling…