The exhibition To Be Continued… Comics and visual culture in Croatia sets the so-called Ninth Art of comic strips, cartoons and graphic storytelling in its European and international context, bringing together its history, evolution, and canonical authors. The exhibition examines the way in which perceptions of comics have changed over time, the role of comics in shaping popular and mass culture, and the professional and personal networks within which comics are created and find their way to the audience.

Originally emerging in the margins of newspapers as a form of mass communication that combined text and images, comics developed a complex set of social and cultural relationships. They share territory with the publishing industry, the mass media, literature, film, painting and design on the one hand; and with newspapers, academic institutions and countercultural movements on the other. Despite their deceptively simple mission to tell a story with text and image, comics constantly wrestle with the contradictions of visual and verbal narration, while balancing commercial demands and authorial individuality, and contending with production values that range from the self-published fanzine to the glossy hard-cover album. It is in this sense that the comic strip can be understood, quite literally, as a defining example of visual culture in the modern age.

By observing comics as both a visual and a social phenomenon, the exhibition seeks to widen our view of the various ways in which both historical and more recent works can be presented and promoted. It also opens up space for a wider discussion of primarily non-commercial, so-called authorial comics (the work of graphic storytellers who work independently of industrial, serial publishing), and their role as an integral part of visual culture and cultural production in general. The exhibition thereby hopes to raise awareness of the authorial comic’s potential as an artistic, social and educational medium. Alongside their indisputable artistic and formal qualities (whether composed of drawings, collages or photographs), comics are seen primarily as an extremely convincing set of visual and verbal signs that owe their magical appeal precisely to their ability to tell a story. The exhibition also places great emphasis on artists and publications that cross media boundaries, or question traditional media practices and conventions, while at the same time understanding comics as an autonomous artistic discipline. Opening the door to possible, multiple narratives about comics in Croatia from the 1930s to the present day, the exhibition also casts an eye towards the future of comics through models of production and education, exchange, networking and international cooperation.

Exhibition concept: Jasna Jakšić, Irena Jukić Pranjić, Ivana Kancir

Curators: Jasna Jakšić, Ivana Kancir

Assistants: Matea Bakotić, Dora Peternel

Visual identity: Rafaela Dražić

Exhibition graphics: Rafaela Dražić, Nikola Križanac

Technical set-up: Višnja Igrc, Dušan Stupar, Filip Zima, Ivan Tudek, Aleksandar Milošević, Zdenko Zavalić

Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb, Institute Français

Thanks to: Dalibor Antonić, Ana i Darko Bednjanec, Koraljka Beker, Dario Cvirn, Aldo Čavić, Dora Devlić i Nevenka Devlić, Ines Hohnjec, Sarah i Zora Gotovac, Slave Lukarov, Tomislav Vuić, Veljko Krulčić, Krešimir Zimonić, Darko Kreč, Ivan Prlić, Darko Šimičić, Zdenko Zavalić, Marija Bilić, Vedran Sedić, Muzej moderne i suvremene umjetnosti Rijeka, Muzej Staroga grada, Galerija umjetnina, Moderna galerija and and all the artists.

 Authors:

Mihajlo Arsovski, Ivana Armanini, Vinko Barić  , Štef Bartolić , Niko Barun , Ivica Bednjanec , Žarko Beker , Edvin Biuković, Simon BogojeviĆ Narath, Boris Bućan, Krešimir Certić, Alem Ćurin, Radovan Domagoj Devlić, Sara Divjak, Marko Dješka, Borivoj Dovniković, Nedeljko Dragić, Magda Dulčić, Mihaela Erceg, Igor Eškinja, Ivan Fiolić, Dušan Gačić, Sonja Gašperov, Tomislav Gotovac, Ivana Guljašević Kuman, Ljubica Heidler, Igor Hofbauer, Korina Hunjak, Branka Hollingsworth, Mirko Ilić , Helena Janečić, Dunja Janković, Lea Kralj Jager, Irena Jukić Pranjić, Emil Jurcan, Tea Jurišić, Ena Jurov , Filip Kelava, Helena Klakočar Vukšić , Igor Kordej, Darko Kreč, Dario Kukić, Dinko Kumanović, Ninoslav Kunc, Darko Macan, Joško Marušić, Ivan Marušić, Dubravko Mataković, Andrija Maurović, Ivan Mišković, Ana Mušćet, Miroslav Nemeth, Walter Neugebauer, Zrinka Ostović, Boro Pavlović, Ratko Petrić, Frano Petruša, Ivana Pipal, Matija Pisačić, Ivan Prlić, Julio Radilović Jules, Vančo Rebac, Otto Reisinger, Esad Ribić, Klara Rusan, Miroslav Sekulić Struja, Robert Solanović , Damir Steinfl  , Goran Sudžuka, Ivan Svaguša, Stipan Tadić, Dalibor Talajić, Tihomir Tikulin, Milan Trenc, Ivan Tudek, Ismet Ico Voljevica, Ante Zaninović, Krešimir Zimonić, Željko Zorica, Danijel Žeželj, Miro Župa