With the installation designed by Loo-Hui Phang, the 49th Angoulême Festival is offering another major exhibition dedicated to the profession of screenwriter. And not just any, probably one of the greatest of them: Rene Goscinny.
To dive into the itinerary of the author of Asterix and Petit Nicolas, the exhibition chooses the axis of the exercise of the profession, of the very invention of the profession of comic book scriptwriter, rather than that of the heart of the ideas of stories and good words of the sidekick of Uderzo or Morris. With particular focus on career choice and the sometimes harsh defense of authors’ rights.
In the wide aisles of the Angoulême Museum unfolds an imposing and often very original scenography, composed, for example, of word clouds and onomatopoeia in cut-out paper, or showcases with dynamic lighting. Highlighting his hard work of Goscinny, from his first steps as a designer (with a literary adaptation of which no one has identified the source) to the brilliant staging of Asterix, passing by Jehan Pistolet, Oumpa-Pah, Modeste and Pompon, Lucky Luke, or the Goofy Files.
At the end of the course, before a room entirely dedicated to The golden billhook, there are also some traces of the 1960s and 70s, and the wind of modernity that blew on comics. With in particular a moving letter from Gotlib to Goscinny, shortly after his departure from Pilot to found The Echo of the Savannas.
The poignant letter of friendship from Gotlib to Goscinny circa 1972, after he left Pilote to confuse L’Echo des savanes. #expoRenéGoscinny #FIBD2022 #BD pic.twitter.com/QStZm4bAdy
— Laurence Le Saux (@LaurenceLeSaux) March 16, 2022
The exhibition ends with an anthology of the author’s puns and linguistic finds, and with the representation of a fantasized workshop, summoning the abundant universe of René Goscinny. As a culmination of a rich museum journey, full of ideas in its scenographic design, and highlighting the treasures of Franco-Belgian comics.
Photos © BoDoï
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