Exhibition

Comics and the Shoah. The image in the service of memory

27 January 2024 – 10 March 2024
Castel Sismondo (Ala di Isotta)

An unprecedented historical event, the Shoah occupies a prominent place in contemporary collective memory. Comics and graphic novels have also tackled the subject, not without caution, mistakes and hesitations, sometimes with brilliance.
Since when, and how, have comic book and graphic novel authors taken up the subject?
How did censorship intervene on some publications during the Second World War?
How are testimonies transmitted?
How do stories develop according to the political, social and aesthetic references of our time, while certain forms of anti-Semitism persist?

The exhibition attempts to answer these questions by analysing various works published from the 1930s to the present day in different countries, in particular the United States, Japan, France, Belgium and Italy.
Among the many works on display are some cult favourites such as Captain America and Mickey Mouse, the fascist magazine il Balilla, the History of the 3 Adolfs by the Japanese Osamu Tezuka, the adventures of the Belgian bellboy Spirou, the disruptive Maus by Art Spiegelman, but also various lesser-known publications, often produced together with the last witnesses.

Entrance is free, for groups of more than 10 people and for classes booking is compulsory, with a guided tour organised by the Istituto per la storia della Resistenza e dell’Età contemporanea della provincia di Rimini.

Scientific curators: Didier Pasamonik and Joël Kotek
Curatorship: Marie-Edith Agostini
Coordination: Caroline François
Italian version edited by Laura Fontana and Bruna Lo Biundo