Reportage from New York
On the occasion of the release of my new graphic novel in the United States, I visited the Big Apple for the first time. Here's how it went and who I met...
It all began with a Chinese breakfast in the company of Ai Weiwei in Chinatown, an experience typically reserved for family. Sincerely, being part of this family is a pleasure.
For the first time, I strolled through the streets of New York, and everything I saw was mesmerizing yet strangely familiar. The kindness of the people struck me deeply.
Towards evening, Elettra and I headed to the "Salotto" studio, where I finally met one of the Italian illustrators I admire the most, Emiliano Ponzi. It was fascinating to meet him and other Italians living here in New York, including Giulia Zoavo and Vittorio Perotti.
As interviews and reviews for "Zodiac" started to surface, one that particularly struck me was the podcast "More to Come's Stargazing”, hosted by Meg Lemke and Calvin Reid for PW Comics World. You can listen to it here: Link.
And notably, the beautiful interview with Ai Weiwei on Democracy Now!
We speak with renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (@aiww) about his new graphic memoir "Zodiac" and facing censorship for his comments on Israel. After a controversial tweet about the U.S.-Israel relationship, "many of my shows have been canceled," he says.
The following day, I finally managed to arrange a meeting between two people who absolutely needed to meet: Julie Trébault, the director of the Artists at Risk Connection project, and Elettra Stamboulis. We met at Cafe Select in Soho, and it was a very engaging encounter. Through Artists at Risk, I collaborated on a joint drawing with the Chinese dissident artist Badiucao and conducted a wonderful interview, which you can listen to here: Link.
On January 23rd, we finally attended the presentation of our book, which I illustrated and Elettra co-wrote with Ai Weiwei. On the stage of The Town Hall theater, in front of 1000 people, Weiwei engaged in dialogue and discussed the book with Mira Jacob. It was a profound moment to see our book in the hands of so many people after years of hard work. The event was organized in collaboration with Pen America.
On the morning of the 24th, I have a highly significant appointment ahead. I am scheduled to present my work to the team at the CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists and, at long last, meet numerous individuals with whom I have collaborated over the years. Together, we have executed my project “Portraits of journalists in the Israel-Gaza conflict” focusing on journalists killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Later, we went to dinner at the Italian restaurant "Paola" with our American literary agents, Peter and Amy. There, we met the owner, Romolo, and spent the entire evening conversing as if we were in a Woody Allen movie.
In New York, I met Fengsuo Zhou, a Chinese human rights activist and former student leader during the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. Listed as number 5 among the most wanted by the Chinese government for his role in the movement, he was forced into exile in the United States, where he obtained American citizenship.
Zhou earned an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and later worked in the financial sector. He is the president of Humanitarian China and the co-founder of the China Human Rights Accountability Center.
In New York, it's possible to visit the 六四紀念館 June 4th Museum , a beautiful museum dedicated to the Tiananmen Square protest but also covering more recent protests in Hong Kong.
On the 27th, I had the pleasure of visiting the offices of Freedom of the Press and discussing my work in support of journalists with them. After many years, I finally had the opportunity to meet Ahmed Zidan in person, with whom I have shared numerous sketches and initiatives.
About twenty years ago, I used to leaf through the American magazine World War 3 illustrated with great admiration. I loved its artists: Seth Tobocman, Peter Kuper, Mac McGill, Nicole Schulman, Eric Drooker, Sabrina Jones...
They were the New York underground comic, the comic of struggle, the independent comic, and much more....
I had the incredible thrill of participating in the event "The World & the Neighborhood" in Brooklyn at the P.I.T. Property is theft bookstore to talk about my work, right alongside Seth Tobocman, Sudanese poet Mohammed Zenia, Elettra Stamboulis, and musicians Eric Blitz, Andrew Laties, and J Gonzalez-Blitz.
New York has enchanted me...