Born in Chad and living in France for almost 20 years, Adjim Danngar publishes “Djarabane” with Delcourt editions in the Mirages collection. Volume 1 of a series that takes us in the footsteps of Kandji, a young child who dreams of becoming a painter in the difficult political context of Chad in the 80s.
Until now comic book aficionados knew him for his press cartoons, his illustrations for tales or his character of Mamie Denis, a granny-looking grandmother escaped from a retirement home. And here he is giving us a much more personal story, which brings this Chadian who has been exiled for almost 20 years back to the country where he grew up.
Chad in the 1980s, under Hissène Habré, supported by the French army in the war against Libya. His hero, Kandji, is 7 years old, his head full of questions and dreams and in particular an image: that of a monkey, the one that appears on the painting hung in his parents’ living room. A certainty too: one day, he will be a painter. Becoming an artist is what the author has become. Cartoon artist.
Adjim Danngar is at the same time the screenwriter, the designer and – perhaps a little, perhaps a lot – the main character of this story in several volumes: “ Djarabane “. Volume 1 is titled At the little market of lost illusions “. It has just been released in the Mirages collection from Delcourt editions.
At the end of the show Marjorie Bertin will present the fourth edition of FARaway » Arts Festival in Reims. This year, FARaway offers a focus on West Africa. From Burkina-Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria or Mali, artists take you to meet their creativity, their territories and their artistic cultures.