TCAF 2011 – Festival Wrap-Up and 2012 Announcement!

Posted: June 8, 2011 at 7:22 pm, by chris

Hi everyone!

My name is Christopher Butcher, and I’m the co-founder and Festival Director for The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF). As you might know, TCAF is a festival dedicated to celebrating comics and graphic novels and their creators, with a specific focus on all of the great comics that Canada has to offer.

About a month ago now, I had the extreme pleasure of presiding over the sixth Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and our third annual outing (TCAF was biennial for the first 3 events). It was held at Toronto Reference Library and presented in coordination with our partners at Toronto Public Library, and I’m pleased to report that TCAF 2011 was both the best and the best-attended TCAF ever! The excitement—and the Twitter trending—started in earnest earlier than ever and then built to a fever-pitch by the May 7-8 weekend. I’ve personally never seen people so excited for a comics event our size before, and as the Festival Director and as a fan of comics, that was a great feeling.

In keeping with tradition, I’m sending out this informal note talking about TCAF 2011 and announcing our plans for 2012… read on!

Another Record Year!

First and foremost, we’d like to thank our partner and presenting sponsor Toronto Public Library for their support, promotion, and hosting of TCAF 2011. TCAF took place across three floors of Toronto Public Library’s flagship location, Toronto Reference Library, and also incorporated their lovely new programming and event space The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon. It was our largest overall floorplan and personally I feel as though it was our best use of the library space yet—despite some hurdles in the form of ongoing library renovations. TCAF 2011 expanded to feature over 300 artists, illustrators, authors, and publishers, 4 tracks of comics-related programming including readings, interviews, and symposiums, two art installations, and a host of satellite events. This all allowed us another fantastic increase in attendance year-over-year – a record high of 15,000 TCAF-specific attendees visited the Festival spaces over the 3 day period, a 25% increase over 2010!

As I mentioned, TCAF 2011 was our third annual show, and our third year partnering with TPL, and it was clearly another successful partnership. TCAF at Toronto Reference Library reinforces the core ideals of the Festival: that it’s a free event, that it’s about the books, and that it is open to everyone—not just the comics initiated. While I think all involved agreed that the library was more than a little crowded at times on Saturday afternoon, it never stopped having a great, friendly vibe and an amazing energy. Those are the reasons that we partner with Toronto Public Library, and those are the reasons that we’re going to be working together again in 2012.

Thanks For The Support!

There’s no TCAF without great creators and works of art to celebrate, and so we’d like to thank all of the cartoonists, publishers, writers, artists, and other agencies that took the time to exhibit and present at TCAF 2011. This was our most diverse and international fest yet, with creators from 12 different countries around the world presenting a variety of idiosyncratic worldviews through the comics medium. Our special thanks go to Featured Guests David Boswell, Chester Brown, Darwyn Cooke, Ludovic Debeurme, Brecht Events, Usamaru Furuya, Lorenzo Mattotti, Mawil, Natsume Ono, John Porcellino, Jillian Tamaki, Adrian Tomine, Chris Ware, and last-minute guest Pendleton Ward for appearing at the show, participating in panels and workshops, and their general support of the festival.

Thanks must also go to our various cultural agency partners with whose support having such a fantastic lineup of international cartoonists was made possible: The Goethe-Institut, VIZ Media, LLC, The Flemist Literature Fund, The Consulate General of France in Toronto, The Itstituto Italiano di Cultura, and The Japan Foundation.

Finally, a hearty thanks to our Media Sponsor Eye Weekly (now The Grid), Kids Sponsor Owlkids, and local sponsor Midoco Art & Office Supplies.

About The 2011 Festival

TCAF 2011 saw us building on past successes by undertaking new and successful initiatives in every facet of the event, listening to exhibitor and attendee feedback, and worked with Toronto Public Library to try and improve the experience of everyone coming to the Festival. TCAF 2011 featured wider aisles and better overall traffic flow, a dedicated and much larger signing area, and were able to maintain the overall number of exhibitors. TCAF 2011 also featured additional programming spaces to try and accommodate the public’s hunger for comics programming and discussion, and it reorganized the exhibitor spaces into just two large locations, so that everyone felt a connected part of the overall proceedings.

TCAF 2011 saw an expansion of the Owlkids Kids area and programming into a dedicated space that lasted the full two days of the Festival, and was wonderfully busy! It saw a fantastic installation of German underground and alternative comics art courtesy of The Goethe-Institut, and a live-art demonstration and installation on Saturday and Sunday courtesy of Toronto art-collective Trio Magnus (Clayton Hanmer, Aaron Leighton, and Steve Wilson). 2011 also saw the return of a revamped small-press and indy-publishing area curated by Toronto collective Wowee Zonk. Dubbed “The Small Press Schooner”, this area boasted more than 30 international artists displaying non- and nominally-narrative artworks across both days, and was a cutting edge adjunct to the regular exhibition space. We’d like to thank Wowee Zonk members Chris Kuzma, Patrick Kyle, and Ginette LaPalme for their organizational support.

We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You…

Speaking of folks who worked hard to make TCAF 2011 a success, we’d like to thank some of the organizations and individuals who helped make this year’s Festival a success:

- Sponsors Toronto Public Library, VIZ Media LLC., Eye Weekly, The Goethe-Institut, Owlkids, The French Consulate in Toronto, The Flemish Literature Fund, The Italian Cultural Institute in Toronto, The Japan Foundation, and Midoco Art & Office Supplies.

- Venue partners Toronto Reference Library; The Bram & Bluma Appel Salon (with special thanks to Beth Kawecki); Goodhandy’s Bar & Nightclub and Todd Klink and Mandy Goodhandy; Pop Sandbox and The National Film Board; The Pilot Tavern; Crews & Tango; Pauper’s Pub; Art Gallery of Ontario’s Jackman Hall; Clinton’s Tavern.

- TCAF 2011 poster artist Jillian Tamaki for her amazing image!

- The staff of Toronto public Library and Toronto Reference Library for all of their work, particularly Ab Velasco for his efforts on our behalf.

- Our many programming hosts and moderators, including Deb Aoki, Ed Chavez, Robin McConnell, Phil Rynda, Dustin Harbin, Bart Beaty, Tom Spurgeon, Anne Koyama, Andy Brown, Greg Means, Chris Hannay, Zan Christiensen, Eva Volin, Caitlin McGurk, Calista Brill, R. Sikoryak, Robin Brenner, Box Brown, Bill Kartalopoulos, and Zak Sally.

- The hosts and staff of the 2011 Doug Wright Awards for throwing a great event again this year.

- The staff of The Beguiling for again coming through on their weekend off.

- Chip Zdarsky for all of his efforts on behalf of TCAF, including but not limited to his production and design of the Festival Guide this year.

- Nadine Lessio for the TCAF web-design, and Shane Bennett for technical assistance.

- Corey Mintz for his spectacular restaurant guide!

- All of the authors and publishers who chose to debut projects at TCAF 2011.

- Peggy Burns from Drawn & Quarterly, Holly Post from Topatoco, Leigh Walton from Top Shelf Productions, and Anne Koyama from Koyama Press, for going above-and-beyond the call of duty in organizing tons of artists guests from around the world to visit Toronto this year.

- My personal thanks go to our amazing organizational team, Miles, Peter, Gina, Kate, Nathalie, Andrew, Scott, Parrish, and Krystle. Another amazing year guys and gals!

- Likewise, our day-of site coordinators did a bang-up job making the show a success. Thanks to Sean Rogers, Sally Sparrow, Amanda Sanecki, Greg Baker, Stacy King, and Jonathan Valley.

- And as always, our biggest thanks go to our amazing team of volunteers. Again this year, our volunteers were just the best—efficient, helpful, and wonderfully positive about the whole event. Our volunteers receive the highest praise from our exhibitors and from the public, and it is truly deserved. Thank you again this year for all of your hard work, and I hope we can count on you again for 2012!

TCAF 2012

So the big news that everyone wants to know is where and when? We’ve answered the where part—TCAF 2012 will be continue to occur at Toronto Reference Library and The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon—and now it comes down to when. After much discussion internally and with TPL staff, we’ve decided that TCAF 2012 will occur on Saturday May 5 and Sunday May 6, 2012. Exhibitor Applications for 2012 will open on Monday, August 1^st at www.TorontoComics.com.

As you may be aware, this year’s TCAF overlapped with the comics-industry-wide event Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), a celebration of all the things great about comics and the direct market of comic book specialty stores. We felt and continue to feel that TCAF is a natural fit with an international celebration of comics and comics culture, and 2012 will continue to see TCAF and FCBD sharing a weekend. While we did explore other dates for TCAF 2012 that didn’t overlap with FCBD, between bookings at Toronto Reference Library, National Holidays, and the massive Anime North event that happens just outside of Toronto, we found that May 5^th and 6^th were really the only suitable dates.

We think that supporting the direct market of comic book specialty stores is an important goal, and we fully encourage everyone reading this message to visit their local comic book shop not just on Free Comic Book Day but throughout the entire year.

Picking the May 5-6 date allows TCAF to remain an annual event, it keeps us within one week of our preferred dates (Mother’s Day Weekend), and it maintains our commitment to running an amazing free, accessible, comics-oriented show in partnership with Toronto Public Library. We think May 5-6 is going to be an amazing weekend to be a comics fan in Toronto—and in North America.

In Conclusion…

So on behalf of myself and the entire staff we’d like to thank everyone who made The 2011 Toronto Comic Arts Festival such a success—attendee, exhibitor, and volunteer alike. We appreciate your support, promotion, and most of all your attendance at all of our TCAF events. We’re looking forward to an even better show 2012, and for all of the shows beyond.

Best,

Christopher Butcher, Festival Director and Co-Founder
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival

On behalf of…

Peter Birkemoe, Co-Founder

Miles Baker, Assistant Festival Director

Gina Gagliano, Programming Coordinator

Kate Dickson and Nathalie Atkinson, Media Coordinators

Scott Robins, Kids Programming Coordinator

Andrew Woodrow-Butcher, Volunteer Coordinator

Parrish Kilthei, Tech Coordinator

Krystle Tabujara, The Beguiling Liaison

REMINDER: 3 More Events Tonight!

Posted: May 9, 2011 at 3:18 pm, by chris

Just a reminder, there are three more GREAT TCAF events tonight.

May 9: Meet French bandes dessinées author Arnaud Boutle
Date: Monday, May 9th, 2011
Time: 6:30pm
Type: Presentation
Location: Pierre-Léon Gallery, 24 Spadina Road

A resident of Toronto since 2008, French bandes dessinées author Arnaud Boutle invites you to discover his most recent book, Entre les Ombres (Between the Shadows), recently published by the prestigious Éditions Glenat.

Boutle will discuss his working and writing methods, share a few technical secrets and create new strips before your eyes. His talk and presentation will be followed by a book signing session.

Arnaud Boutle is a self-taught creator. Following his fine arts studies in Rennes, he learned the techniques of bandes dessinées by himself: starting in 1995, he colored other people’s strips, contributing to a dozen books in this capacity. In 2003, he launched his career as the creator of his own works, by publishing the first volume of a trilogy based on the tale of Pinocchio, which was completed in 2007.

Free admission, in French

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May 9: An Evening at the IIC with Lorenzo Mattotti
Date: Monday, May 9, 2011
Time: 6:30pm
Type: Panel
Location: Istituto Italiano di Cultura — 496 Huron St., Toronto

The Istituto Italiano di Cultura is honored to host a talk by mesmerizing maestro Lorenzo Mattotti. The Italian artist will discuss his career in comics and beyond, including his latest graphic novel Stigmata, and his collaborations, from his animated terrors in the movie Fear(s) of the Dark to illustrating Lou Reed’s concept album The Raven.

Lorenzo Mattotti is a world-renowned cartoonist and multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, illustration, animation, and design. After studying architecture, he decided to devote himself to comics. His works have been published in the most important magazines and his books are translated all over the world. From “Il signor Spartaco”, “L’uomo alla finestra”, “Stigmate””Ligne fragile”, and many other works, up to “Fires” and “Murmur” published by Penguin Books in 1993, Mattotti’s work has evolved with a continuing coherence, though always within the eclectic tradition of those who have the courage to be innovative. For children he has illustrated “Pinocchio” by Collodi, “The Pavilion on the Links” by Stevenson and has published “Eugenio” that had the Grand Prix of Bratislava in 93. Mattotti has also worked in the fashion world, reinterpreting the models of the most famous fashion designers for “Vanity” magazine. He has carried out advertising campaigns and has illustrated the cover of such magazines as The New Yorker, Le Monde and Suddeutsche Zeitung. In 1995, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and The Frans Hals Museum in Harlem dedicated an anthology to him. He realized many important posters: Cannes 2000 – “Lire en Fête” “La Marie de Paris”. Recently he worked in the Film “Eros” of Wong Kar Way – Soderbergh et Antonioni, he creates the segments within the three episodes. In May 2011, Fantagraphics will publish Mattotti’s newest work The Raven, a collaborative effort with musician Lou Reed adapting and transforming the works of Edgar Alan Poe.

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May 9: “ZOO” J-Film Screening & Discussion with Usamaru Furuya
Date: Monday, May 9th, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Type: Presentation
Location: Toronto Underground Cinema, 186 Spadina

Internationally acclaimed manga creator Usamaru Furuya will be in Toronto as a Guest of Honour of the 2011 Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 7th and 8th. But in addition to his comics work, Furuya is also a fine artist, writer, and designer, and has contributed to several popular Japanese films. One of these is ZOO, an unique collection of 5 thematically linked short films, all based upon the writing of popular Japanese horror writer “Otsuichi.” Furuya was tapped to write the screenplay adaptation, provide character designs, and storyboard one of the short films, an anime based on the poem “Sunny.”

To celebrate this facet of Furuya’s work, TCAF and the Shinsedai Film Festival will be co-presenting a screening of ZOO on Monday, May 9th at 7PM at The Toronto Underground Cinema. Usamaru Furuya will be on hand to introduce the film and, following the screening, will engage in a moderated Q&A with J-Film Pow-Wow Blog Editor and Shinsedai Film Festival coordinator Chris MaGee. A short book sale and signing will follow.

Admission to this event is $10. RSVP on Facebook.

Please Note: A last minute signing has been added for Mr. Furuya. On Monday May 9th, Mr. Furuya will be signing at World’s Biggest Bookstore, 20 Edward Street, just north of Yonge and Dundas, from 5pm-6pm.

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Thanks for making TCAF such a huge success, we’ll have more to say on that later!

- Christopher Butcher, Director, TCAF

TCAF Welcomes Sponsor MIDOCO

Posted: May 6, 2011 at 2:05 pm, by chris

TCAF would like to welcome 2011 sponsor Midoco Art & Office Supplies. Located in the Annex and the Beaches, Midoco is a full-service arts supplies store. They will also have a booth on site for all of your supplies needs, including pens, books, paper and more. They will be located on the second floor, outside the entrance to the Appel Salon.

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Fantagraphics Signing Schedule! Just added: Dave Cooper!

Posted: May 5, 2011 at 1:15 pm, by miles

The good people at Fantagraphics have given us a sneak peak at their signing schedule and announced a last-minute special guest, Dave Cooper!

David Charles Cooper’s critically-acclaimed comics have garnered multiple Harvey, Eisner and Ignatz Awards, and Cooper himself has won an award from New York’s Society of Illustrators. He will be signing at the Fantagraphics table (162-13) along with these fantastic artists.

SATURDAY, MAY 7th
11:30-12:30 pm — T Edward Bak
12:30-1:30 pm — Blake Bell
1:30-2:30 pm — Dave Cooper
2:30-3:30 pm — Zak Sally
3:30-4:30 pm — Lorenzo Mattotti

SUNDAY, MAY 8th
12:30-1:30 pm — T Edward Bak
2:30-3:30 pm — Zak Sally
3:30-4:30 pm — Lorenzo Mattotti

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— Miles Baker, Assistant Director, TCAF

Free Art-Bus Tour, Saturday May 7th

Posted: May 4, 2011 at 3:02 pm, by chris

The folks at The Gendai Gallery are hosting a manga/art exhibition, opening on Saturday May 7th. They will also be doing a panel discussion on Sunday May 8th with artists Michael Nicoll Yahgulanass and Joanne Hui (see schedule for details).

If you’d like to take a free bus tour of comics and related art spots in the city, please contact Gendai Gallery below:

Free Art Bus Tour (Manga Edition)
Saturday, May 7, 2011, 12-5pm
To reserve a seat, please contact Gendai Gallery at info@gendaigallery.org by Friday May 6.

Schedule
12:00pm Pick up at OCAD (100 McCaul Street, Toronto)
12:30pm Toronto Comic Arts Festival (Toronto Reference Library)
2:30pm Gendai Gallery, Haida Manga Reading Room & Comic Jam Studio (6 Garamond Court, Toronto)
5:00pm Drop off at OCAD

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Thanks,

- Christopher Butcher, Director, TCAF