The summer session of the Historical Comics Workshop in Tobolsk has drawn to a close

12 july 2023

The attendees of the six-month-long class had been taught using a unique training methodology developed by Alexey Kapninsky, the project's artistic director and co-supervisor. The course taught the students to process literary texts, create graphic layouts, and to start developing characters for their comics. The project is being implemented as part of Siberian Seasons, a cultural program that has received support from SIBUR's social investment program, the Formula for Good Deeds.

Alexey Kapninsky, artistic director and co-supervisor of the project:

You can look far back in history, and then convert certain historical events into a series of images. Thanks to the pictures, you can look into the very heart of those event. In the case of Tobolsk, it is not only about the history of its past, but also about the history of its future. And I think it will be a beautiful history. And we will adorn it in our comic book with interesting stories and short novels. I think that, going forward, by working together with local writers, artists and creative people, we are going to be able to build a pictorial world, the value and the sound of Tobolsk.

As part of their classes at the Historical Comics Workshop, budding comics artists attended talks by stars of the artistic and literary worlds, traveled to various master classes and hands-on workshops. Askold Akishin, the progenitor of Russian horror and the luminary of Russian comics shared his secrets of success and memories of his school days with the students.

Askold Akishin, comics artist:

One of the class assignments I was once given was to copy a drawing by some famous artist and I picked Repin. Of course, I worked with a pencil, not with paint, but the process was quite involved. But what I gained was invaluable experience.

Askold Akishin demonstrated several of his works to the students and spoke in detail about how he had created each of them.

Mikhail Vizel, script writer, comics translator, editor-in-chief of the GodLiteratury.RF portal:

I find it very important to preserve and pass on the history of each city. Tobolsk is a historical city, and when I came here, I realized that there is a tremendous number of stories here that can be beautifully retold in the form of artwork. Our aim is to infuse life into these stories. Since I am not an artist, but a writer, my principal task was to help the students develop the scripts of the stories they will be drawing.

At the moment, the students are taking their vacations so that they can rest and refuel. But come September the students and their teachers will resume their work of creating stories, bringing characters to life while beginning to put together their book’s layout.

It should be noted that the main objective of the Historical Comics Workshop was to come up with an original comic book about more than four centuries of history of Tobolsk and the adjacent lands. It is expected that this effort will help unleash the potential of budding artists, that includes both students and teachers of the workshop. The Workshop’s attendees will be working on the same footing with the stars of the national comics realm. As an example, one of the chapters of the pictorial novel about Tobolsk will be created by Askold Akishin. In total, the book will be made up of about ten short novels.

Elena Belskaya, ZapSibNeftekhim’s Director of Government Relations and Socio-Economic Projects:

Dozens of books, scientific articles, publications, and media reports have been written about the history of Tobolsk, its residents, and its modern life. On many an occasion, Russian filmmakers have picked our city as a setting for their movies. The genre of a comic book is somewhat new and, in a sense, experimental for our city with half-a-millennia-long history, and yet, it is quite relevant in the context of modern culture. SIBUR is not only actively involved in furthering the development of Tobolsk, but also in capturing and recording its history and life through relevant genres.

Young talented artists have been working on the comics book under the guidance and with direct involvement of Alexey Kapninsky and Mikhail Vizel, as well as with the participation of guest artists and craftsmen.

The historical comic book is expected to come out some time early next year. The results of the work of the Historical Comics Workshop will be presented at the September 2023 Book Festival.

The Historical Comics Workshop is a laboratory project of Siberian Seasons in Tobolsk. It is being implemented on the premises and with the active assistance of Tobolsk Multidisciplinary Technical College’s A.A. Alyabyev Department of Arts and Culture and its Department of Design, Architecture and Decorative and Applied Crafts, and with the involvement of Tobolsk’s A.A. Alyabyev Children's School of Fine Arts, as well as the local Children's School of Arts Art-Perspectiva.