Open to Columbia students only RSVP HERE
Joseph Kai will be reading excerpts and showing images from his debut graphic novel, L'Intranquille (Casterman, 2021), which has just come out in English as Restless (Street Noise, 2023). The album is set in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 years after the end of the civil war, and a few months before the disastrous explosion of August 2020. Samar, a young queer comic book artist and avatar of Kai himself, wanders between anguished dreams, childhood memories, romantic experiences, and the underground scene of Beirut. Through an otherworldly palette, Kai examines the life of a queer man in Beirut, who struggles in his day-to-day life and fears for his safety, but finds community and activism through comics.
Event in English with Q&A in English and French.
Joseph Kai is a queer artist from Beirut, Lebanon and a graduate of the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (2010). He has published several works with the Lebanese comics collective of BD Samandal ("Salamader" in Arabic). Joseph has participated in numerous festivals and exhibitions in Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Angouleme and Paris. He is currently living and working in Paris. This is his debut graphic novel.
