Exhibition « Graphic Novel »
From 3 November 2018 to 6 January 2019
The American author and cartoonist Will Eisner (1917-2005) is generally credited with coining the term graphic novel. By placing the term on the cover of his 1978 book A Contract with God with the hope of seeing the tome shelved in the literature section of nonspecialized bookstores, he introduced a category that stood apart from comics and would quickly catch on.
The French term roman graphique, a literal translation of the American expression, has been applied since the 1980s in the French-speaking world to works and collections of comics that depart from the usual production standards, where the archetype is the hardback album printed in color that contains from 48 to 62 pages and sticks to the logic of serial publication with recurring heroes and heroines. While the outlines of this definition remain fairly imprecise, it is the nonconformity to a certain norm that the roman graphique has taken over in the publishing landscape. Uncommon formats and layouts, condensed pagination, literary ambitions, and independent, loose narratives are the features that are most commonly shared.
Writers enjoy a creative freedom then which the publication of numerous graphic novel collections has both welcomed and helped to sustain and develop, whether it’s alternative publishers or the traditional publishers of graphic novels, or especially publishing houses known to focus on literature.
Since Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese: the Ballade of the Salt Sea, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan, Joe Sacco’s Palestine, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, the art of the graphic novel has won over a new readership in the past few decades and assumed a legitimacy in culture. The themes have grown more diverse to the point of opening up to nonfiction now. The term currently covers biographical and autobiographical stories, personal or intimist fiction, adaptations from literature, reportage, essays, wordless imaginary geographies, and other experimental fields.
Featuring original plates, rare editions and nearly two hundred freely accessible titles Roman graphique explores the roots, history, and development of this full-fledged literary form, from the 1960s right up to the work being done today.
Guest curator: Thierry Groensteen,
in collaboration with the Jan Michalski Foundation
General Opening
Friday 2 November 2018 at 6:30 pm
Free admission
From 3 November 2018 to 6 January 2019
Opening hours Tuesday to Friday, 2pm – 6pm ǀ Saturday and Sunday, 9am – 6pm
Admission CHF 5.- (full price) ǀ CHF 3.- (students, groups, retirees, unemployed, persons with disabilities) ǀ Free to visitors under 18 and residents of Montricher
Free admission every first Sunday of the month.
All areas of the Jan Michalski Foundation that are open to the general public are completely accessible to people with disabilities and limited mobility.
Gallery
Programme autour de l’exposition
Visites commentées
Samedi 3 novembre à 14h30, par Thierry Groensteen, commissaire d’exposition
Dimanche 18 novembre à 14h30, par Thierry Groensteen, commissaire d’exposition
Samedi 8 décembre à 14h30, par la Fondation Jan Michalski
Offert avec le billet d’entrée | Sans réservation
Moments famille
Mercredi 28 novembre de 14h à 16h
Mercredi 5 décembre de 14h à 16h
Une découverte ludique du roman graphique, suivie d’un atelier de création d’une bande dessinée pas comme les autres, à partager en famille !
Enfants dès 7 ans, accompagnés d’un adulte
Offert | Sur réservation à mediation@fondation-janmichalski.ch, en précisant la date choisie
Table ronde des éditeurs “La révolution du roman graphique”
Samedi 17 novembre à 18h30
Trois éditeurs, qui furent novateurs dans le domaine, décryptent la révolution du roman graphique, ou comment la bande dessinée s’est réinventée.
Avec :
Benoît Chevallier, co-fondateur des éditions genevoises Atrabile
Thierry Groensteen, historien et théoricien de la bande dessinée, fondateur des éditions de l’An 2
Benoît Peeters, écrivain, scénariste, spécialiste de la bande dessinée, directeur des éditions Les Impressions nouvelles
Entrée libre | Sur réservation à tableronde@fondation-janmichalski.ch
Projection cinébédé “Watchmen”
Dimanche 18 novembre à 17h30
Projection du film Watchmen : les gardiens (Zack Snyder, 2009), adapté du roman graphique d’Alan Moore et Dave Gibbons, commenté par Alain Boillat, professeur à la Section d’histoire et esthétique du cinéma de l’Université de Lausanne.
Durée du film: 2h45
Entrée CHF 10.- | Sur réservation à cinema@fondation-janmichalski.ch
