Creating Heroines travelled to the lake city of Pokhara on December as part of Nepal Literature Festival 2018. The British Council organized a networking event, a workshop, a talk programme and an exhibition of works created during the Creating Heroines Regional Workshop that was held earlier this year.
Workshop
A three-day workshop titled “Graphic Novel Your Life” was held in Barahi Hotel, Lakeside, between 19 and 21 December where facilitator Dr Nicola Streeten worked with 23 participants to introduce them to some key stages in developing a graphic novel.
Post the workshop, eight women participants create 6-page-long comics shorts which has been compiled into a comic book anthology.
Talk Programme
Creating Heroines workshop facilitator Dr Streeten conversed with Kathmandu-based artist/writer Kanchan Burathoki about her work as a graphic novelist, and the use of the media to tell stories and talk about issues. The talk was held in Nepal Literature Festival, Pokhara, on 22 December, and covered the history of women-created comics in the UK and in Nepal as well as works by contemporary comics artists and illustrators were discussed. The talk was attended by 70 people.
Creating Heroines Exhibition
The works creating during the regional Creating Heroines workshop, held in February 2018, was exhibited between 22 and 25 December at the Nepal Literature Festival. Along with works of Creating Heroines artists, the comics created during the 3-day workshop was also exhibited. Visitors at the festival also spent time at the exhibition space filling up the Create Your Own Heroine activity sheet, illustrating and sharing imaginary as well as real-life heroines.
Exhibiting Artists
- Samya Arif (Pakistan). Illustrator, designer
- Isuri Merenchi Hewage (Sri Lanka). Illustrator, children's and comic book artist.
- Promina Shrestha (Nepal). Researcher, educator & illustrator.
- Shraddha Shrestha (Nepal). Illustrator, designer, street artist.
- Dr Nicola Streeten (UK). Illustrator, graphic novelist, comics scholar.
- Bandana Tulachan (Nepal). Illustrator and children's book artist
