HIGHLIGHTS
Lucca is known throughout the world as a city of Art, History and Culture. Since 1966, however, Lucca has become truly a landmark in the Comics world, confirming itself, year after year, as the most important and exciting event on Images Communication. A long and honourable story that has turned Lucca into one of the world's capitals of comics, thanks to the enthusiasm and skill of international experts, publishers, authors, critics and fans. A position it has achieved also thanks to its ability to identify the best, most exciting signs of things to come, first with the addition of Illustration to Comics and Animation Cinema, then, in 1993, a new important section, Lucca Games, dedicated to role-playing, table games, simulation, and to the fantastic imaginary (both in illustration and in literature), which share with the comics the base topics. Soon after, this was joined by Lucca Junior, for children and, finally, a vast multimedia section, conceived to explore the complex weaving of languages the new technologies are creating within the world of cartooning and images communication.
The notes from Music & Comics, the area entirely devoted to the fusion of music and cartoons are a perfect companion to this kaleidoscopic group, together with the Cosplay, a dash of lively and throbbing colour roaming the street of the Tuscan town: the unique and unrepeatable cosplayers creativity features the festival with exceptional enthusiasm, thanks also to the continuous evolution in the costumes realization and in the panto portrayal of the characters. It is moreover of utterly importance the attention to all the aspects of the youngsters culture and to the reference imaginary, through a constant interaction with them and a call for their protagonism, in order to educate to, and promote, the Italian creativity, especially for what concerns hope-to-be comics authors and amateur game designers, through workshops, meeting with authors and contests aiming to open a career path.
All of this is organised and presented in order to exalt communication and artistic talents of the newcomers, for whom Lucca Comics & Games is an effective means of national and international promotion. Since 2006, after a series of editions held in the city Exhibitions Area, the event moved back to town, not only with the themed exhibitions, but also with the trade show, making the two souls of the event - the cultural and the commercial one - live together in a man sized and inspiring setting.
And the success of this new format is constantly growing, thanks to the perfect blending of the highly contemporary elements of Comics and Games with the unforgettable setting provided by Lucca, truly an architectural, cultural and artistic pearl. Lucca Comics & Games can nowadays boast over 400 exhibitors, coming from all over the world, spread over 20,000 square meters of exhibition area, themed exhibitions set up in the wonderful palaces of the Historical Centre (Palazzo Ducale, Real Collegio, Complesso dell'Auditorium di San Romano), conferences and public debates, countless presentations of new publishing releases, meetings with the tens of authors attending every year the event, more than three hundred accredited journalists and a growing number of visitors (topping this years 140,000 people): such are at present the figures of Lucca Comics & Games, which made it the fundamental appointment for cartoonists, games authors, publishers, experts and fans.
Lucca Comics is the culminating point of a story lasting over forty years. It's the crowning moment for Italian comics' stardom, together with a good deal of international artists.
Lucca Comics encompasses every nuance of the Comics world: events, meetings with publishers, premieres, round tables, showcases, live performances, theme areas (like the Japan Palace, entirely devoted to art and culture from the land of the Rising Sun), a spotlight for animation world (Lucca Animation) and a sales surface of more than 10000 sqm.
Lucca Comics is also exhibitions, to represent world's main Comics streams: from Japan to USA, passing through the French bande dessinée and the South American authors, with a special space for Italian authors and new national trends.
For this 2010 edition, the five galleries are dedicated to artists like Massimiliano Frezzato, Ausonia, Gary Frank, the new and brisk Lebanon comics, together with an anthological exhibition on the underground American comics.
The festival acts also as an important meeting point for the advertisement of the self publishing realities, that find their natural placement in the Self Area, as well as being a realm for the promotion of debuting authors, with the Lucca Project Contest for publishing projects, and the Editors meetings, where the artists have the occasion to deal with a professional environment and get comments and advice on their portfolio, or even find collaboration opportunities with the major publishing firms.
LUCCA COMICS & GAMES 2012
From 1 november to4 november
Lucca Games –Lucca Games is the foremost Italian Show dedicated to Games (role games, board games, collectable card games and video-games) and Fantasy Imagery. Set up in 1993, in the course of just a few years the exhibition has proved to be an inspired idea: a policy decision that has succeeded in highlighting the close links between the world of games and the world of cartooning, bringing together new and old trends in culture and entertainment, from the traditional comic to computer graphics, fantasy sagas to simulated battles, illustration to board games, and narrative to game design.
Over the years, Lucca Games has become the most important games exhibition in Italy and is one of the most important internationally. Why? Because it was conceived as something more than an ordinary games fair, seeking to unite the spirit and enjoyment that enlivens such events with the atmosphere of a great festival, a space for games and the imagination where visitors can play the part of the hero or meet a famous author or have the opportunity to preview and try out the next big releases.
Acting as guides on this trip through the games medium are the cleverest game writers in Italy and the most successful publishers who come to the fair each year and mingle with young people from fandoms and clubs. Demonstration tables where everyone can try out the games under the guidance of expert animators; meetings and competitions; seminars on genre fiction; exhibitions of work by great fantasy illustrators and a Performance Area for Live Painting; a Meeting Room for quizzing artists, game designer and writers.
Lucca Junior –The space Lucca Comics & Games dedicates to the youngest ones: a world where illustrated books, comics, cartoons and games live side by side and are on a kid's scale.
Lucca Junior hosts in a single pavilion several activity areas, with a dense schedule of events and educational as well as recreational meetings, dedicated to children from 3 to 11 years old. Besides the exhibition booths, mostly for publishers of kids' books and games, Lucca Junior hosts the following interactive areas: a Laboratory Area, a Meeting Area, a Theatre area, a Playing Area and an Exhibition Area within which, during the festivals, meetings with authors and illustrators for kids will take place, together with games demos, handicraft laboratories, computer comics training courses, theatre shows, meeting for the professionals dealing with children and much more.
Moreover, every year Lucca Junior endorses a theme, that will be Sport in 2010, and enriches its program not only with activities in the pavilion, but also with contests, exhibitions dedicated to notable names in kids illustration world and projects specifically conceived for schools.
Music & Comics –Music & Comics is Lucca Comics & Games sector devoted to the contamination between Comics, Animation and Music in all its possible forms. On the stage, overlooking the City Walls, every year a complete and variegated playbill of artists provide an exhaustive panoramic on this relation, ranging from the cartoons cover-bands to the very interpreter of the most famous cartoon tunes. Time after time, in fact, singers of the likes of Cristina D'Avena, I Cavalieri del Re and the Superobots were in the spotlight.
Moreover, Music & Comics propose a highly original mix between Comics and Theatre, combining these two realities in not-to-be-missed performances, where ink lines merge with music and acting.
Lucca Cosplay is the natural companion to this sector, and co-protagonist as well: the contest devoted to the Cosplay universe is a gigantic parade of colors, fun and free creativity.
MORE INFO
Segreteria organizzativa:
Via della Cavallerizza, 11
55100 Lucca
tel. +39 (0) 583 48 522
tel. +39 (0) 583 46 22 00
fax +39 (0) 583 91 203
EMAIL:
info@luccacomicsandgames.com
WEB:
www.luccacomicsandgames.com
