The comic Paul Panda Farnana, une vie oubliée (Paul Panda Farnana, a forgotten life) compiles the work of 4 Congolese cartoonists: Asimba Bathy, Djemba Djeis, Yann Kumbozi and Dody Lobela. They are members of the Kinshasa based organisation BD Kin Label. Antoine Tshitungu Kongolo wrote the historical structure and the original script. They combined their talent to describe the life of an extraordinary man.
The story is based on the life of a Congolese man. At just seven years old, he was taken to Europe. He grew up in Brussels, in a family of musicians. He went on to study agriculture and specialised in tropical botanics. After his graduation, the Belgian government sent him off on a mission in his country of origin, where he discovered the reality of colonial exploitation. When the first World War broke out, he enlisted as a soldier and was taken as a prisoner of war by the Germans. The brilliant intellectual suffered a painful incarceration. His social struggle and humanist agenda made him into a legend.
The comic strip also includes a chronology, excerpts of speeches and writings by Paul Panda Farnana and a contextualisation text by André Lye Yoka.
Asimba Bathy: was born in 1956 in Watsa and grew up in Kinshasa, where he studied advertising at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 2007, he founded BD Kin Label. He coordinated several comics magazines and collective publications like Congo 50. In 2014 he published his first solowork Panique à Kinshasa (Panic in Kinshasa).
Djemba Djeis: was born in 1960 in Kinshasa and published his first drawings at 17. He is a caricaturist for Le Journal and founding member of BD Kin Label. He contributed to several collective albums and has made drawings for the Kimbanuist Church.
Yann Kumbozi: was born in 1988. He is an illustrator and member of BD Kin Label and Optimum Agence. While he was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, he published short stories as a storyboarder. In 2012 he started working for the animation film studios B3 matrix.
Dody Lobela: was born in 1974. He lives in Kisangani. He publishes in the magazine Kin Label and contributed to the collective album La bande dessinée conte l’Afrique (The story of Africa in comics). In addition, he regularly draws didactic pictures for awareness campaigns.
Antoine Tshitungu Kongolo: was born in 1957 in Lubumbashi. He is a writer, poet, researcher, novelist and essayist and has won several literary prizes, most notably the Pablo Neruda/Gabriela Mistral-Prize in 1985 and 1986. He has a PhD in comparative literature and is the author of several books that are a showcase for and should increase the renown of African literature.
Price: € 15,00
If you want to buy the comic book, send an email to: africalia@africalia.be
Available in two languages (Dutch and French)
Publisher: Africalia in partnership with BD Kin Label
Date of publication: december 2014
ISBN : 978-29-6015-670-6
Comic book format: 312 x 230 mm
Hard cover
Printed in colour
Paper 135 g / glossy paper
Number of pages: 60 pp
