Armenia VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of “Mobile TeleSystems” OJSC, announces upon the initiative of the Association for the Promotion of Bande Dessinee in Armenia the “Fireworks of Comics” Festival will be held on May 6th, 7th, and 8th. The festival is aimed at the development of comic book art in Armenia. The program of the festival includes comic book art master classes by world known artists, as well as exhibitions and film screenings. Guests of the festival include Jean Mardikian, the chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Bande Dessinee in Armenia, founder of the Angouleme International Festival of Bande Dessinee, Laurent Melikian, scriptwriter, critic, and journalist, coordinator of the association’s events, French BD artist Dominique Bertail, as well as Lebanese artist Joumana Medlej. The festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia and VivaCell-MTS’ general sponsorship. The Association for the Promotion of Bande Dessinee in Armenia was founded in 2007 in the French town of Angouleme. The comic art has its special place in the world and is often called the ninth art. It is still a novelty in Armenia, although there are magazines, publishing visual stories. The association has so far organized two festivals and a master class attended by eleven artists. During the master class the participants have created their stories later available on exhibition at the Union of Artists of Armenia and the Naregatsi Arts Institute. The competition held in the frame of the festival included more than 50 painters. More than a thousand comic books were donated to the Children’s Library after Khnko Aper.

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