Animate Europe

Animate Europe on Tour – Exhibition highlights (so far)

The Award Ceremony of our third “Animate Europe” comic competition is getting closer – we’re already very excited to announce the winner at the event on 11. July (sign up for the event here). In the meantime, we wanted to share with you some of the highlights of our Animate Europe exhibitions we have had in the past– while we are looking forward to many more to come! Since our first comic exhibition started its tour in late 2013, around 50.000 people at various occasions explored and discussed the individual stories and characters of our Animate Europe comics. Through our comics, we aim to provide people with the opportunity to perceive and discuss Europe from a completely different angle, showing them, what binds us together as Europeans and also, what challenges might lie ahead of us. We feel very honoured that we’ve had a chance to present our comic exhibition at numerous events. On purpose, we are seeking to show our comics at a large variety of contexts: be it events at European institutions, at comic festivals, at events linked to our partner organisations and parties, our own events in Brussels, Germany and beyond – but also at very local events, such as in town halls, universities or schools. Here is our selection of exhibition highlights (in no particular order): 1) The Leipzig Book Fair, Germany We felt very honoured and excited to be invited to the Leipzig Book Fair in 2014 to present our comics. 2) The Comic Salon Erlangen, Germany Also in 2014, we were part of the most prestigious comic festival in Germany, the Comic Salon Erlangen, presenting our comics to German and international comic fans and experts. 3) European Youth Event, Strasbourg/ France An event, initiated and organized by the European Parliament, that brings together young Europeans, discussing with them and fostering active citizenship, we were excited to get our comics in front of the eyes of especially so many young Europeans.               4) European Conference at Havard University, USA Looking at and exploring Europe from the other side of the Atlantic and promoting dialogue and exchange: that is what we tried to achieve with our exhibition at Havard University, organized in cooperation with our office in Washington, DC. 5) NGO Market, Prague, Czech Republic Reaching out specifically to representatives of civil society, our Prague office presented their work, including our Animate Europe Comics, at the NGO Market in Prague.             6) Open Day at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels/ Belgium Celebrating Europe Day, many of the European Institutions open their doors to welcome guests and interested citizens to explore how the EU works from the inside. We exhibited our comics at the event of the Committee of the Regions in 2016. [caption id="attachment_14798" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Copyright: CoR[/caption] 7) World Forum for Democracy, Strasbourg/ France Promoting human rights and the importance of democracy through innovative means and project, a more than inspiring event. In 2016, the event evolved around the relationship between education and democracy – a topic, our Animate Europe comics fit right in with, of course!                 8) Open Days, German Embassy, Prague/ Czech Republic Presenting our comics on the occasion of the Open Days of the German Embassy in Prague, was a special honour for us – we’re a German foundation after all.     9) Thought Bubble Comic Festival, Leeds, United Kingdom Making its way through the canal, we took the chance to present our comic exhibition at the well-known Thought Bubble comic festival, in Leeds. As a part of the festival, we showcased our exhibition for several weeks at Leeds Town Hall 10) Europa Punkt, Bonn/ Germany As one representation of the European Commission in Germany, we were excited to organize several events at the Europa Punkt via our regional office in North-Rhine Westphalia, including a comic workshop for students, led by former Animate Europe finalists!