Exhibitions

April 24
4 pm > 6 pm

PARADE OF MICRONATIONS

In the streets of Strasbourg
departure: Graffateria / arrival: Place du Château

Forty micronations, created by as many illustrators, will parade through the streets of Strasbourg to kick off the 14th edition of the festival.
This year, five new artists – Carla Aouad, Garance Coquart-Pocztar + Tanguy Chêne, Adrià Fruitos, Salomé Garraud, and María Ramos Bravo – have imagined their own micronations, enriching the original collection from 2020, conceived for the tenth anniversary of Central Vapeur. The parade through urban space will take you on a tour of different exhibitions at the festival: Habiter les clairières by Nastassia B. (Graffateria), La Mer à boire by Blutch (Cinéma le Cosmos), Le Lendemain by Tom Vaillant (La Bouquinette), C comme caché by Julia Fréchette (Librairie Gutenberg), Le Lierre et l’araignée by Grégoire Carlé (Librairie Le Tigre), L’Orage, l’étoile et la brume by Salomé Garraud (Librairie L’OiseauRare), and La Grande Coïncidence by Editions 2024 (terrasse du Palais Rohan ). The Micronations Parade will end at Place du Château for the opening of the Rencontres de illustration.

24 Avril > 19 May
(Thu – Sun) 2 pm – 7 pm

Dialogue of drawings 14
Violaine Leroy + Raphaelle Macaron

Menuiserie Coop — 4 rue de la coopérative
tram d : Starcoop

Meeting  > 3 May at 6 pm
Opening > 3 May at 7 pm

War has become an integral part of the dialogue between the Lebanese illustrator and the Strasbourg-based artist. Intimate or dreamlike, in colour or black and white, it is expressed or shouted out in twenty drawings created between October 2023 and March 2024.
The totemic exhibition Central Vapeur brings together its 2023 Lebanese resident, Raphaelle Macaron, and one of its founding figures, Violaine Leroy, around their family memories. For Raphaelle Macaron, it spans several generations and is marked by political instability in Lebanon, wars with Israel and Syria, the Civil War and the Nakba. In Violaine Leroy’s story, the role of the conflict is more limited to family anecdotes, what remains of old photographs and a combination of information, history and fiction. War was already on their minds with Ukraine, but with the Israeli bombing of Gaza and Lebanon on 7 October 2023, war became an integral part of the Dialogue.
Like the artists experience of it, whether lived or vicarious, the drawings contrast, perhaps with the common thread of a little girl’s view of the events. For Raphaelle Macaron, it’s the intimate that takes centre stage: the colour of her mother’s dressing gown, a television on, an isolated light in a blacked-out city – her memories of war are rooted in everyday life. Violaine Leroy, for her part, delivers a danse macabre in black and white, a horrific fairy tale where abstraction rubs shoulders with cartoon and the very realistic images of an apocalypse that we see on our screens every day.

A catalogue of the Dialogue, with a print run of 200 copies, is available during the exhibition and at the festival fair.

Violaine Leroy

Born in 1981, illustrator Violaine Leroy lives and works in Strasbourg. She creates images, scripts, comic strips and exhibitions for her evolving collective, Les Rhubarbus. She is also vice-president of the Central Vapeur association (Raphaelle Macaron chose her for this dialogue) and has long been committed to the rights of artists and authors. Published by l’École des loisirs and Gallimard for illustration, and by La Pastèque for comics, she also works as a micro-publisher and is involved in many cross-disciplinary projects with other artists (dance, photography, etc.).

Raphaelle Macaron

Born in 1990, Raphaelle Macaron has lived and worked in Paris since leaving Beirut. Her work as an illustrator can be found in the French and international press, as well as in projects with associations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International. Inspired by music and a record collector for many years, she regularly collaborates with labels and musicians. She has also worked with luxury brands on advertising campaigns. After Les Terrestres (2020, Éditions du Faubourg), she is working on her second graphic novel and is still a member of the Samandal comics collective.

18 April > 22 May

Karen Keyrouz & Nour Hifaoui
Poster trail: “Ça va être long”

Quai des Bateliers

Meet Karen Keyrouz and Nour hifaoui at the round table discussion called “Live from Berouth” at the Salon des indépendants

The lebanese group gave carte blanche to 2 of their members for two parallel series called “Titties too” by Nour Hifaoui and “Quelques danses pour combattre la migraine”* by Karen Keyrouz.
Twenty poster-sized illustrations, displayed on ten billboards along Quai des Bateliers. The two illustrators engage in a dialogue through their black and white work, focusing on the themes of solitude and the relationship between private and public. The exhibition blends the worlds of two authors from the Samandal collective: Nour Hifaoui with “Titties Too” and Karen Keyrouz with “A Few Dances to Combat Migraines.” These two friends, as one of the displayed panels suggests, each present ten panels from their respective projects. The two parallel sequences create a new narrative that explores the theme of solitude and the attempt to overcome it. Through recurring scenes of search and weariness, the public space exhibition opens a path to intimacy.

* Quelques danses pour combattre la migraine  is part of the exhibition “Manifestations; and The Voyage” curated by Hussein Nakhal Waraq – Tabaan!2024 (Beirut), realized as part of a residency at the Maison des Auteurs (Angoulême).

Nour Hifaoui

Nour Hifaoui is a Palestinian comic strip artist and illustrator from Lebanon, currently based in Paris. Her work explores issues of identity and society. Her first fanzine Titties was published by Samandal in 2022 and adapted into Italian by D Editore and FortePresse in 2023.

Karen Keyrouz

A Lebanese author currently based in France, Karen Keyrouz is just as much a comic artist as she is a contemporary illustrator. Her drawings are taken from Quelques danses pour combattre la migraine, an experimental autobiographical comic strip that looks at a love affair that is coming to an end in Lebanon, a country in decline.

24 april > 19 May
(Thu – Sun) 2 pm – 7 pm

Jesus Cisneros
La Nature de la mémoire

Menuiserie Coop — 4 rue de la coopérative
tram d : Starcoop

Opening > 3 May at 7 pm

Following his autumn residency in Strasbourg, the Spanish illustrator is back with large-scale works in which colour vies with deep black.
In the offering, as it has manifested itself in various cultures, including the historical context of the Mediterranean, fruit, plants and seeds arranged in ceramics and various objects come together to form a unity. The act of offering involves physical and aesthetic activity on a tangible support. The ritualised perimeter becomes a space of transition and communication between the visible and invisible worlds.
This exhibition draws a parallel between this expression of ancestral spirituality passed down through generations within a community and the artistic practice of drawing and painting. In this way, the paper medium also becomes a territory for exploration and contact between the known (the observed, the memory) and the unknown (the intuitive and the imagined). This exchange takes shape and reality only through the physical and aesthetic action of drawing and colour.

10 May from 8 pm

Raphaelle Macaron
 

Where is my friend house ?

Cinéma Le Cosmos (Window display) – 3 rue des Francs-Bourgeois
tram a · d : Langstross

A poster, a book and a meeting around films chosen by the Lebanese illustrator who has worked with the Kiarostami Foundation. 

8 pm: Screening of the film Where is My Friend’s House? by Abbas Kiarostami (1987 – running time: 1hr 19mins) An emblematic film by the Iranian master, in which a schoolboy is obliged to take his school notebook back to his classmate in a neighbouring village.
9.35 pm: Meeting with the author to discuss the book Where is the friend’s house? In 2022, Raphaelle Macaron adapts the film of the same name into a book combining illustration and comics for the American publisher Even/Odd, under the aegis of the Kiarostami Foundation. The book (in English) will be on sale at the event, along with the film poster reinterpreted by Raphaelle Macaron and displayed in the Cosmos window. 

10.15 pm: Screening of two films by Jocelyne Saab.
Beyrouth jamais plus (1976, 35 minutes) and Beyrouth, ma ville (1982, 52 minutes)

Ticket sales > €8 / €5 (concessions)
Reduced admission on presentation of your Central Vapeur membership card

23 april > 15 may
8 am – 10 pm

Editions 2024 

La Grande Coincidence

Terrasse du Palais Rohan — 2 place du château
tram a · d : Porte de l’Hôpital

Birthday party at Garage Coop > Saturday, May 27, 7 pm
Registration required

An open-air exhibition to retrace the short but already rich history of Éditions 2024, spearhead of the comics scene in Strasbourg and the Grand Est region.
21 May 2048, 8.24 pm.
After the long winter of the Great Collapse, civilisation has regained some of its colour. Everywhere in the ground, old objects are being unearthed, and the archaeologists dispatched to the site are gradually succeeding in tracing the history of this mysterious sect, Editions 2024.
Books, prints, luminous tablets, large illustrated wooden boards, raspberry doughnuts – there’s one theory that seems to make sense of all this jumble. 
Called ‘La Grande Coïncidence’, the theory is that by reaching the fateful year 2024, the publishing house has brought about its own death and dragged humanity into a vast cycle of collapse, combining comet explosions, the disappearance of the pay-as-you-go pension system and the obsolescence of the founders of the house.
The exhibition that follows traces the history of Editions 2024, describing their customs and rituals and explaining what concepts such as ‘comics’, ‘publishing’, ‘authors’ and even ‘bibliodiversity’ meant to them.

23 April > 12 May
[mon -  fri] 8 am − 11 pm
[sat -  sun] 10 am − 7 pm

Tom Gauld
La revanche des bibliothécaires

Studium — 2 rue Blaise Pascal
(and other library on the campus) – University of Strasbourg
tram c · e · f : Observatoire

Opening > 7 may at 6 pm

Tom Gauld is a minimalist cartoonist, an Edward Gorey-loving Scotsman and the muse of independent comics. He takes a humorous approach to the university libraries on the Strasbourg campus, starting with the Studium.
Under the haughty eye of an impassive cat, the author hesitates, trying – in vain – to escape the throes of creation and find his way to success! Meanwhile, the publisher is hard at work on new concepts: practical poetry; beach conspiracy theories; classic summaries for readers in a hurry! As for the bookseller, he’s holding his own between the avalanche of boxes and the impossible demands of his infernal alter-ego: the reader.
And the librarians? They push their trolleys along quietly, the only ones who know that they dominate this little world in the shadows, as it bustles about in vain. Using abstruse diagrams, absurd schemes and hilarious strips, Tom Gauld paints a portrait of the small world of books, with humour, finesse and intelligence!
Every Sunday, Tom Gauld illuminates the literary section of the prestigious British newspaper The Guardian with his humour.
This spring, his sharp eye is at the heart of the University of Strasbourg. His quirky installations are spread throughout the Studium, creating a dialogue between his work and all the collections in the flagship of the campus libraries!

23 April > 19 May

Blutch
La Mer à boire

Cinéma Le Cosmos — 3 rue des Francs-Bourgeois
tram a · d : Langstross

17 May special evening from 6.30 pm: meeting-finissage & screening with Blutch & Mathieu Amalric

Blutch, an international comics icon as well as a native of Strasbourg, is back at the festival with this exhibition co-produced with Scam and Editions 2024.
The Prix du récit dessiné honours works written and illustrated exclusively by the same author. For its 7th edition, the Scam has rewarded Blutch, winner in 2023 for La Mer à boire. In this album, a couple seek each other out, give themselves to each other and form a couple. Blutch celebrates the amorous encounter, without ceasing to explore the unknown territories of comics. Sketchbooks, sketches, colouring: discover what goes on behind the scenes of this fast-paced romance. From Hollywood to Cinecitta, cinema bathes the work of the author, who in return takes over one of the oldest cinemas in Europe.


23 April > 19 May

Tom Vaillant
Le Lendemain

Librairie La Bouquinette, window exhibition — 28 rue des Juifs
tram b · c · e · f : République

Meeting > 11 May at 3 pm

An exhibition in the window of Strasbourg’s children’s bookshop for the new album by this young illustrator, who has already made a name for himself with his previous Pop-up volcanoes.
Cold chocolate, a heat wave and a troublesome ice prisoner: that’s the rule of three in Le Lendemain, written and illustrated by Tom Vaillant and published by Thierry Magnier. In this polar and solar adventure, the temperature rises as the hero grows, adapts, learns and ages. It’s the story of a life turned upside down by dramatic climate change, which echoes current ecological issues.

25 April > 10 May

Julia Fréchette
C comme caché

Librairie Gutenberg, window exhibition — 10 place Saint Étienne
Tram c · e · f : Gallia

Meeting > April 27 at 5:30 pm

The Gutenberg bookshop welcomes the illustrator’s work for an exhibition devoted to her first album.
Christmas in April with C comme Caché! published in November 2023 by Les Fourmis Rouges. It’s a chance to (re)discover this wacky, playful winter primer and the original illustrations. The album’s graphic universe will be played out in a 3-D game of Hunt and Seek in an immersive, colourful setting set up in the bookshop window… It’s a gift! Merry Christmas!

24 April > 31 May
[Tue – Sat] 10h−19h

Grégoire Carlé
Le lierre et l’Araignée

Librairie Le Tigre — 36 quai des bateliers
tram c · e · f : Gallia

Meeting + Opening > 26 April at 6 pm

Exhibition of original colour plates from Grégoire Carlé’s comic strip, published by Dupuis, about an Alsatian resistance network.
From his conversations with his grandfather, the author – who lives in Illkirch and trained at HEAR in 2000 – has produced a comic strip that is already making its mark on the landscape of Alsace and beyond in the history of the Resistance. Le Lierre et l’Araignée tells the story of the struggle of a Resistance network in the Strasbourg region against annexation and the Nazi regime. Through the figure of his grandfather, Grégoire Carlé offers a pictorial account in which nature plays a predominant role and to which the sometimes ominous allegories lend a singular tone.

24 April > 12 May
[Tue– sat) 10 am − 1 pm / 2 pm − 7 pm

Salomé Garraud
L’orage,l’étoile et la brume

Librairie-galerie L’Oiseau rare — 23 quai des bateliers
tram c · e · f : Gallia

Opening > 26 April at 6 pm

A dreamlike stroll in coloured pencil through an idealised and fantasised nature.
Salomé Garraud, who graduated from HEAR in 2021, is developing a visual universe made up of dreamlike, enigmatic images, most of which are created in coloured pencil. The representation of an idealised and fantasised nature takes on great importance. This exhibition presents a selection of works in which plants, the sea and, above all, the sky are depicted in stormy, starry or misty hues, mingling with the characters depicted to evoke the passing of time, solitude or a gentle melancholy

24 April > 19 May
[Mon – Tue] 7 am − 10 am
[Wed – Sat] 7 am − 11 pm
[Sun] 7 am − 3 pm

Nastassia B.
Habiter les clairières

Graffateria — 8 petite rue de la course
tram A · D : Gare Centrale

finishing > 15 May at 6 pm (+ Concert by Hicks & Figuri at 8 pm)

A series of illustrations by a Russian-speaking artist from Strasbourg of Ukrainian origin, who is looking for ways to slow down in an increasingly fast-paced world.
Nastassia B. is a self-taught illustrator born on the banks of the Danube. This exhibition showcases her drawings based on her favourite subject: the practice of doing nothing. As a child, she was often criticised for being dreamy, slow and lazy. Today, she intends to defend idleness and daydreaming. Nastassia B.’s images immerse us in a world in slow motion, in inner clearings where idleness becomes an act of resistance against the productivist values that impose themselves at the heart of our lives.

3 > 5 May

Lisa California
Night Crawlers #2

Parking Étoile P2 Cinéma, niveau 9 — 25 avenue du Rhin
Tram c · e : Winston Churchill

Opening and performances > 2 May at 6 pm

Drawing and micro-publishing are at the root of this exhibition by the artist and her Night Crawlers series.
More than a printed object, Night Crawlers unfolds in space, opening doors between the everyday and the world of dreams, and offering a venue for artists wishing to cross its borders. The opening of each exhibition is an event during which several sound artists and performers are invited to present an original piece supporting the themes addressed by Night Crawlers.

This exhibition has received financial support from the Région Grand Est and sponsorship from Parcus.

24 April > 11 May
[Wed– Tue] 12 pm − 00 am
[Fri] 12 pm − 01 am
[sat] 3 pm − 01 am
[sun] 10 am − 10 pm

Tanguy Chêne & Garance Coquart-Pocztar
Diamant Brillant drag Show Extravaganza

Phare Citadelle — 13 rue de Nantes
tram d : Citadelle

finishing > 11 May at 7 pm (+ Drag Show at 9 pm – Free admission from €3)

Exhibition of posters created by the duo of illustrators and artists for the House of Diamonds and a closing show.
The House of Diamonds is a collective of drag artists from Strasbourg who have been putting on resolutely queer shows since 2018. Right from the start, Garance Coquart-Pocztar designed the posters for these shows and Tanguy Chêne put them in colour. Come and discover a selection of the House of Diamonds drag show posters and, on 11 May, immerse yourself in their world at a drag show specially created for the event!

24 april > 18 may
[Wed – sun] 4 pm − 11 pm

Comme des Garces n°2

L’Orée 85 — 32 impasse de l’écluse
tram a · d : étoile bourse

finishing > 18 May at 7 pm (+ release party at 8 pm – Free price)

Continue the evening after the exhibition finishes with: concerts (8pm), Drag performances (9.30pm) and a DJ set (11pm). Get ready for meetings with the illustrators, encounters of the third kind, sisterhood, dancing, partying, reading, paintings for your eyes, wild cocktails and freshly printed copies of the magazine. Free price

The second issue of the feminist magazine Comme des Garces will be held in an old lock. For its closing night, which will also mark the end of the festival: mix, concerts and drag show.
Comme des Garces is a feminist magazine with a chosen mix of graphic and literary explorations. You’ll be able to discover the original illustrations of the twenty-two authors who have taken up the theme of this 2nd issue: “The Others”. Questioning our relationship with otherness, living beings, neighbours and adelphs, “The Others” explores everything that is outside us.

Exhibiting artists: Sarah Ménard, Alexane Maillard, Inès Rousset, Anouck Constant, Maeva Szpirglas Clémentine Louette, Samya Moineaud, Clémence Sauvage, Emma Morison, Gabriel Kalnins, Anto Metzger, Julia Fréchette, Clara Hervé, Mona Granjon, Adelle Zanotti, Camille Maupas, Léah Ménard, Camille Meyer, Philippine Marquier, Léa De Block, Zoe Heselton, Chloé Faller.

until 26 May
(Tue-Sun) 11 am – 5 pm

Dominique Goblet
Abysses

Cartoonmuseum Basel — st. alban-vorstadt 28 basel / suisse

Reduced admission upon presentation of your Central Vapeur membership card!

After her Dialogue de dessins at the Central Vapeur 13 festival, the Belgian illustrator is back in the Rhineland with an exhibition of drawings, paintings and ceramics.
The exhibition at Cartoonmuseum Basel features original drawings and paintings ranging from landscapes to portraits, complemented by ceramic works and inviting visitors to explore the vast graphic cosmos created by the artist, who was awarded the Grand Prix Töpffer in 2020. The exhibition includes the illustrations produced for Dialogue de dessins 13, but excludes those by Nygel Panasco.