| salam à la comics | October 1st, 2012 |
My trip to Jordan turned out to be was the most fulfilling possible conclusion to HABIBI book tour. It was hosted by the US Embassy in Amman; worth noting as a reminder that our government cares about the arts (and graphic novels!) and sees them as a vehicle for cultural exchange. This turned out, however, to be a difficult & chaotic time for US Embassies in the Middle East, beginning with the attacks in Libya. It was an unsettling surprise, two days after my arrival, to learn that HABIBI was on the banned books list. And it was surreal to be ferried around in an armored vehicle, past security checkpoints, to roomfuls of adorable children brimming with creative energy, while elsewhere in the region, violence was breaking out over an internet video.
 During a two week stay, I conducted graphic novel workshops to three entirely different groups, each with their own inspiring dynamics. The first were deaf children (ages 5 – 20) at The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt, Jordan. These kids were a bit baffled by the concept of comics (perhaps even drawing) on the first day of classes, but by the third day, they were churning out comics with wild abandon. The institute is a boarding school, and the theme of missing one’s family was a common one in many of their stories, but the concurrent theme was that of gratitude towards finding an extended family they could actually communicate with.  Through comics, these kids proved quite eloquent with word balloons, sound effects and visual music. My favorite exercise was a pairing up of students – boy/girl, young/old – in which one student signed a story and the other translated it into comics form on a board in front of the class.  The second batch of workshops was with inner city youth – teens and university students – at the Princess Basma Youth Resource Center Computer Clubhouse. They channeled passions for music, graffiti, writing, architecture, and even computers into comics pages, collaborating on an anthology conceived and drawn in only three days — a pretty impressive display of constructive teamwork. If only I’d been so focused at that age! The girls (above left) are refugees from Syria and amazingly prolific cartoonists. They talked of creating a graphic novel to document their experience fleeing their war-torn homeland. The world needs this book to exist!  In the final workshops (below) held at Mlabbas – a hipster t-shirt shop on Rainbow Street in Amman – we gathered professional artists with specific interest in graphic novels. It was refreshing to be around like-minded, similar-aged peers without a language barrier, and also to witness the outset of a burgeoning comics scene. Every single meal we shared was an AMAZING FEAST! The media paints a bleak outlook for the region, but there is a visceral optimism around the arts and self-expression and the medium of comics.
Finally, despite the banning, we were able to organize a bookstore signing where I met HABIBI fans from Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Iraq. These two fans (below right) had only recently left their homes in Iraq. Readers found the book’s ban quite arbitrary, and felt it corresponded with a time of public frustration towards increasing government censorship in Jordan. Many Muslim readers thanked me specifically for the reverent depiction of their faith in HABIBI.
At the Holy Land Institute in Salt, there were children who were not only deaf, but blind. They and their teachers labored so intently, against all odds, towards dialogue and understanding. Humans need communication. Art is a privilege, a great responsibility, and a necessity.
Thank you to the US Embassy and to their program that has represented music, theater, and dance for specifically requesting a graphic novelist this time around. And thank you to all my amazing new friends in Jordan for their generosity and inspiration. Keep making comics!
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In other news, thank you, Blog-readers for the birthday wishes. And thank you to those I met at the National Book Festival in Washington DC, the official end-cap to touring. Special congratulations to Mike who proposed and Becky who accepted while waiting in line for the signing. The engagement ring was embedded in a carved out copy of BLANKETS!
18 Responses to “salam à la comics”Leave a Reply |
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October 2nd, 2012 at 11:22 am
how lovely! trips like this give me hope for the future.
October 3rd, 2012 at 6:55 am
[...] Creators | Habibi creator Craig Thompson posts an account of his recent trip to Jordan, which coincided with the troubles in Libya. Disconcertingly, he learned that Habibi is banned there, but his experiences in the schools and studios he visited stand in stark contrast to what the rest of us were watching—and even what he experienced while traveling from place to place. (Craig also gives a shout-out to a couple who got engaged while waiting in line to see him at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC; the groom-to-be concealed the ring in a hollowed-out copy of Blankets.) [Craig Thompson] [...]
October 3rd, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Great, Craig! One of the most inspiring and emotional entry in this blog from my point of view. How did it feel being a teacher?
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Are you going to be travelling in Israel?
October 4th, 2012 at 6:08 am
It was a great opportunity to meet up with an inspiring artist like you are Craig
October 4th, 2012 at 10:56 am
What a great reminder of how lucky and spoiled we are, here in the U.S.
October 6th, 2012 at 5:16 am
It was really a magnificent experience, so inspiring and motivated
i’m so thankful to have this opportunity meeting such a wonderful artist , Craig Thompson . Those two days will b forever carved in my memory 
October 6th, 2012 at 6:36 am
Great post, there are a lot things that we can do to change people’s lives, yourself, and the world.
thanks fo share it!
October 8th, 2012 at 12:23 am
Craig,
I’m twenty years old living in Arkansas with my brother, working on my first graphic novel. I’ve been on it every day for a few months now, and I just need to say (even if you never actually see this) how important your comics have been to me over the years. Honestly, after reading Blankets, I decided it was worth it to start the GN. I’ve been drawing comics all my life, and now I’m out there trying to make it count. I’ve submitted some artwork to several publishers, still waiting to hear back. Anyway, Thank you. You’re my hero.
-Hayden
October 9th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Aw, Craig, this is totally awesome. I would love to see more of the kids’ comics!
October 12th, 2012 at 12:23 am
This warms my heart. Thank you.
October 13th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
You are truly doing amazing things with HABIBI. So incredible! You continue to inspire me.
And thanks for the engagement shout out! It is certainly a day I will always remember.
October 24th, 2012 at 1:12 am
This sounds like an amazing trip. What a brilliant chance for you to inspire younger generations to produce artwork, well done
(ps and the story about the proposal is very sweet!)
October 28th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Hi Craig,
The trip sounds like a blast! I have relatives in Amman and Israel and was there for the first time last year. Could you contact me about a possible collaborative project? Use my email please … I just cannot find yours!
November 4th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Well, Craig, it’s been more than one month…
What are you doing these days?
December 14th, 2012 at 12:38 am
How do I share this story? Awesome.
May 1st, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Craig, thank you for sharing this.
May 7th, 2013 at 8:53 am
Wow! Still great to look at all the adventures and endless creativity! Please continue. Was not on the website for a long time and seems I have to catch up on a lot of things.
Kind regards Mira from Belgium
My friend gave me a birthday present :me the book ‘blankets’ (in Dutch) not knowing I already had it on the Bookshelf and not rembering that I even had recommanded the book to him. Why is my birthday on a 13th ???