BOOK PREMIERE: GRETA SAMUEL | “EMIGRATION. NOTES ON A MAN”
Bunkier Sztuki – Gallery of Contemporary Art, invites to the premiere of Greta Samuel’s exceptional comic book entitled “Emigration. Notes on a Man” („emigracJa. Notatki o człowieku”), which will take place on Saturday, July 5 at 4:00 p.m. in the exhibition space “In a Wide Frame”. Bogna Świątkowska and Artur Wabik will lead a conversation with the Author.
“Emigration. Notes on a Man” is the debut of cartoonist Greta Samuel. The book was created as a doctoral thesis and was defended with distinction in 2024 at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw. It is a social comic that touches on the topic of migration. Greta Samuel, in the form of a drawing, presents several true stories told to her by migrants living in Poland. The main part shows the fate of people who emigrated to Poland – both for political and personal reasons – as well as those who supported them at various stages of their journey. In the second part of the book, the author looks at her own migration experience.
Premiere of Greta Samuel’s comic book takes place within the context of the exhibition In a Wide Frame. Polish Comics After the Transformation which is a multi-threaded story about the transformation of comics in Poland – from grassroots initiatives responding to the need to describe changes taking place in social reality, through the development of the Internet, the blogosphere and the formation of the professional comics market, to works implementing a specific political agenda, commissioned by public institutions or social organizations.
Greta Samuel is an experienced illustrator and teacher whose main creative area is illustration, comics and drawing. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and also defended her doctorate with distinction at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw. She gained her professional experience as a Senior Illustrator in London, as well as an independent illustrator cooperating with clients from Poland and abroad, including Adobe, Amnesty International and The Skimm. She is currently represented by an international illustration agency in London. Her works have been awarded and distinguished many times, including at the 3×3 International Illustration Show in New York, as well as in national competitions such as “Komiks Wierzem w Trybie Kobiet” (Port Literacki, Wrocław) or “Książka Dobrze projekt – pierwszymy od dzieci” (Katowice). Greta Samuel’s work has been presented at exhibitions in Poland, the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Russia and Hungary.
Bogna Świątkowska is the founder and president of the board of the Bęc Zmiana Foundation (www.beczmiana.pl), with which she has implemented dozens of projects dedicated to public space, architecture and design, as well as competitions addressed to architects and designers of the young generation. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine “Notes na 6 tygodni” (www.nn6t.pl). Her practice is interdisciplinary and popularizing. The projects she creates are most often platforms combining the knowledge of experts and professionals with the approach of curious amateurs and enthusiasts.
Artur Wabik is a visual artist, curator, publicist, and pop culture researcher. In the years 2003–2012, a publisher of comics and fantasy literature. Member of the board of the Krakow Comics Association, within which he has organized the Krakow Comics Festival since 2011. In the years 2013–2016, a comics reviewer at the Book Institute in Krakow. In 2016–2017 he was the chairman of the jury of the international competition for short comics at the International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź. Since 2020, a member of the board of the Comics Museum Foundation, working to establish the Comics Museum in Kraków. Curator of the exhibitions: “Teraz Komiks!” at the National Museum in Kraków (2018); “Zainspirowani. Polski komik i jego poziom” at the Centrum Spotkania Kultur in Lublin (2024); “W Szeroki karze. Polski komiks po leczenie” at the Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art in Kraków (2025).