Madeleine Pereira and Mathieu Druliolle during the opening. Charles Dartigue-Peyrou
In the 25th minute of the Euro 2024 football final, Cristiano Ronaldo was injured. There is disarray in the Portuguese square of the stands. Madeleine Pereira is sad too. An old gentleman then taps him on the shoulder and tells him not to worry: butterflies (“borboleta” in Portuguese) are lucky charms, like the one that landed on the face of the player before its release. This prediction was confirmed with the victory of Portugal.
It is this memory which motivated the title of Madeleine Pereira’s first comic strip, presented at the media library until October 31. Of Portuguese origin, she recounts her quest for the history and culture of her parents’ country. This first generation of immigrants speaks little about it, hence their motivation to learn more, through meetings and research.
A quest for identity and memory
During the opening, on Thursday October 3, she shared with delicacy and humor this quest for identity and memory with the public present, in the presence of Matthieu Druliolle, president of the Bassillac Comics Festival. His research aims to make known the history of the country of its origins, to present the overall idea of Portuguese immigration in the 1970s and its attachment to its culture.
According to the artist, his work speaks of immigration, a universal phenomenon, as well as the father-daughter relationship. Madeleine Pereira was also able to see that her work resonated with young people of her generation. It also allowed some, in addition to discovering this culture, to initiate a dialogue with their parents.
More generally, in addition to its content, the work is of high graphic quality as well as colors. For his part, Mathieu Druliolle indicated that the choice of this author by the organization of the show responded to the wish to highlight young authors with quality works as well as small publishing houses, Sarbacane in this case. .
Charles Dartigue-Peyrou
