Graphic Journalism and Geopolitics: Mannocchi and Costantini’s Libya at the Resistenze in Cirenaica Festival
Friday, September 12, 6:00 PM – Casa di Quartiere Scipione dal Ferro, Via Sante Vincenzi 50, Bologna
As part of the Resistenze in Cirenaica Festival, on Friday, September 12 there will be a public event dedicated to Libya (Mondadori), the graphic novel by Francesca Mannocchi and Gianluca Costantini that tells the recent history of a country too often reduced to breaking news or a backdrop for conflict.
The presentation will feature Gianluca Costantini (illustrator and co-author), Andrea Sestante, and Nadia Abdelhamid, who will discuss the book and the historical-political context that inspired it. The event will be an opportunity to explore not only the creative process behind the graphic novel but also the geopolitical dynamics that have made Libya a crucial crossroads of migration and conflict in the Mediterranean.
Libya weaves together journalism and illustration to offer a complex narrative: from the hopes sparked by the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, through the civil wars, up to the present day, when the country remains divided between armed factions, international interests, and human tragedy. Francesca Mannocchi, a journalist specializing in the Middle East and North Africa, provides the journalistic framework, while Costantini transforms the stories into powerful images capable of conveying both urgency and emotional impact.
The choice to present the book at the Resistenze in Cirenaica Festival is no coincidence: the festival was created to explore memories of resistance and Italian colonialism, and Libya thus becomes an opportunity to reflect on Italy’s historical responsibilities in North Africa and the persistence of certain power dynamics.
