Edition 2015
Books — Made in UAE

​As part of the „Books – Made in UAE“ initiative, the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region organised a workshop for Emirati comic artists, thus continuing their efforts to support the growth of an Emirati teen literature scene.

The 5-day workshop was conducted by German comic artist and illustrator Sascha Hommer. He had invited participants to think up stories which dealt with their personal life experience. In the group and in one-to-one sessions the young artists worked closely with Sascha Hommer on the visualisation of their story, on their personal drawing style and on drawing techniques and exchanged ideas with each other.

A meeting with Dubai-based comic artists Khaled Bin Hamad and Saeed Arjumand who shared their experience on the local comic art scene, was interesting both for Sascha Hommer and the participants.
At the end of the workshop the creative results were presented during a session in the Illustrators’ Corner at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2015 and very positively received by the audience.

Salama Nasib, an experienced graphic designer from Dubai, sums up: „The workshop was definitely a must-attend event for comic lovers. It was an excellent opportunity to get started on writing a story and illustrating characters, and creating a final short comic story within such a short period of time. Through the help of Sascha and the useful lectures we were having it was a great schedule and work flow overall.“

„I have learned a lot about comics“, Ayesha Bader, an interior designer based in Abu Dhabi, points out. „In the beginning I was not sure how far I would go with my project but Sascha Hommer was patient enough to teach us his knowledge and was welcoming for any questions that we had in mind!“
  Arwa Al Amoodi, a student at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, explains: „I enjoyed the idea of Sascha having one-on-one meetings with each artist, that way we were able to be more focused. His advices on typography and placement of text in a comic were very helpful. I think it would be a great idea if we had a second workshop like that.“

And Sara Al Romaithi says: „I have met great people in the workshop and gained valuable knowledge. Thank you for providing this great experience!“