Plog - the Puttbill_Blog

Exhibition at the "Archives Départementales" of Angoulême

Felix Pestemer's graphic novel 'The Dust of the Ancestors' will debut in France and Germany just in time for Europe's largest annual comics festival, the Angoulême International Comics Festival (26 – 29 Jan. 2012). In acknowledgement of the publication of 'The Dust of the Ancestors', the city archive of Angoulême is hosting an exhibition featuring the original large-format drawings, the storyboard sketches, and a documentation of the extensive source materials.

Graphic Novel 'Der Staub der Ahnen' stacked

The exhibition will be open every day from 26 January to 2 February from 9 AM to 5 PM. The opening reception is on 26 January at 5:30 PM. Up until 29 January, on alternating days Felix Pestemer will be present to sign copies of his book at the "Espace Nouveau Monde" (the stand of Actes Sud/Editions de L´An 2, located between Hôtel de Ville and the theater) and at the exhibition itself in the city archives. (For exact dates and locations, see below.)

Excerpted from the pre-publication announcement of Editions de l´An 2: "The new publication of the month is Felix Pestemer's spectacular book The Dust of the Ancestors, which is devoted to the rituals and traditions of the Mexican Day of the Dead. (Available at bookstores as of 25 January 2012.) More than 40 original drawings from the book as well as a variety of related working documents will be on exhibition on the ground floor of the Archives Départementales of Angoulême for the duration of the festival. The city archive is located on 24 Avenue Gambetta, 150 meters in the direction of the town center from the Angoulême Train Station."

Link to the exhibition (French)
Brief description of 'La Poussière des aïeux' (French)
Reading excerpt 'Der Staub der Ahnen' ('The Dust of the Ancestors')

Exhibition: 27 Jan. – 2 Feb. 2012, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Opening Reception: 26 Jan. 2012, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Archives Départementales
24 Avenue Gambetta
16000 Angoulême / France
Tel.: +34/54595/4323

 

Exhibition at the Archives Départementales 'The Dust of the Ancestors'

Book signing dates:

Espace Nouveau Monde

Thu., 26 Jan., 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Fri., 27 Jan., 11:00 AM – 12.30 PM, 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Sat., 28 Jan., 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Son., 29 Jan., 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Archives Départementales

Thu., 26 Jan., 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM,
Fri., 27 Jan., 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Sat., 28 Jan., 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Son., 29 Jan., 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Death by Peyote – A First Look at 'The Dust of the Ancestors'

All those who think they ever had a bad trip should prepare themselves for the spectacular finale of 'The Dust of the Ancestors'. For what? Well, that really depends on ...

'The Dust of the Ancestors' is a graphic novel in the truest sense of the word: here, the images tell the story and the comparatively scant text "illustrates" the pictures. That this results in a variety of possible readings and interpretations of the events is a desired side effect – as is the reading speed and the reading order. Whether José Guadalupe Reyes experiences a horror trip or a crass film is a matter of opinion. All the same: those who submerge themselves in the exuberant details of the drawings reap the most rewards from this book!

Felix Pestemer
'Der Staub der Ahnen' ('The Dust of the Ancestors'), Avant Verlag - ISBN 978-3-939080-61-9
'La Poussière des Aïeux', Actes Sud / Editions de l´An2 - ISBN 978-2330001520
88 Pages / 23,5 x 31,5 cm

 

Reading excerpt - Death of J. G. Reyes - P. 69-73

Der Staub der Ahnen - Reyes 69 - Leseprobe
Der Staub der Ahnen - Reyes 70 - Leseprobe
Der Staub der Ahnen - Reyes 71 - Leseprobe
Der Staub der Ahnen - Reyes 72 - Leseprobe
Der Staub der Ahnen - Reyes 73 - Leseprobe
 

'Retired Cherub (with care nurses)'

New from the series 'Life After Apocalypse'.

'Retired Cherub (with care nurses)'
'Retired Cherub (with care nurses)'

Infolink:
- 'Life After Apocalypse'

'The Dust of the Ancestors': Living with memory – or living in the past?

The graphic novel 'Der Staub der Ahnen' (The Dust of the Ancestors) will be published in January 2012 by the Berlin publishing house Avant and at the same time in France by Actes Sud / Editions de l’An2 under the title 'La Poussière des Aïeux'.

'The Dust of the Ancestors' – graphic novel, 23,5 x 31,5 cm, 90 pages, Avant Verlag, ISBN 978-3-939080-61-9
'The Dust of the Ancestors' – graphic novel, 23,5 x 31,5 cm, 90 pages, Avant Verlag, ISBN 978-3-939080-61-9

After 20 years absence, museum guard Eusebio returns to his old home town in the Mexican backcountry, his mind set on finally making peace with the Rojas family. None of his old friends from that family are alive anymore. Only for this one day, the Day of the Dead, they come back from the Great Beyond to celebrate with the living. But ghosts of the past are reawakened by news of the tragic death of little Benito Rojas and these ghosts will soon force Eusebio to run away again. He tries to convey comfort to Benito’s mother through a letter: Eusebio is firmly convinced that the dead continue to exist and that they will only crumble into dust if they fade into oblivion.

Created in homage to the Mexican muralists, ‘The Dust of the Ancestors’ is a work in which the (hi)story is told mainly through the illustrations. Almost in passing, the book also offers insight into the rituals and traditions on the ‘Day of the Dead’ and introduces the reader to a culture that does not treat death as a taboo but rather assigns it a proper place in everyday life. This is a culture that celebrates death and makes skeletons dance. (from the covertext)

'The Dust of the Ancestors' is based on the illustrated book 'Polvo' (limited edition, 2010), which has been expanded and now contains many more detailed illustrations as well as a revised version of the narrative. Apart from the Mexican festivities on the ‘Day of the Dead’ and a visit to the Great Beyond that is cheerful and macabre at the same time, the new book also offers flashbacks to some of Mexico’s bygone eras, as for instance the 1930s of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera or the age of the Mexican Revolution. Eventually, an intoxication created by peyote leads readers back to the times of the Aztecs – and from there on directly into Purgatory.

Info links:
- Reading excerpt 'The Dust of the Ancestors'
- Reading excerpt 'Polvo - Day of the Dead'

"Poète maudit" Charles Baudelaire. An Homage on the 144th Anniversary of His Death

August 31st marks the 144th anniversary of Charles Baudelaire’s death. Jitter – Magazin für Bildkultur celebrates the poet of "The Flowers of Evil", the eminent art critic, and the theorist of modernity with an homage.

August 26 – September 9, 2011
Exhibition–Lecture–Performance–Reading
Gallery erstererster, Pappelallee 69, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg

With works by:
David von Bassewitz, Ib Jorn, Dieter Jüdt, Birgit Lang,
lorem ipsum collective, Judith Mall, Falk Nordmann,
Felix Pestemer, C.Pom, Richard Rabensaat, Andreas Rauth

Info link:
- All Puttbill Calendar Sheets

'Mephisto's Hymn to Beauty' (Illustration for Klaus Mann‘s 'Mephisto': Klaus Mann on the opium pipe; Mephisto is reciting Baudelaire while Pincess Tebab begins the prologue)
'Mephisto's Hymn to Beauty' (Illustration for Klaus Mann‘s 'Mephisto': Klaus Mann on the opium pipe; Mephisto is reciting Baudelaire while Pincess Tebab begins the prologue)