Romania’s Longest Comic Strip to Debut at Bookfest 2024

On Saturday, June 1, 2024, from 11:00 a.m., the longest comic strip in Romania, inspired by Romanian literature, will be produced at Romexpo.

The event is organized by the European School of Comics / the Center for Education and Training through Comics, an institution under the auspices of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, as part of this year’s edition of the Bookfest International Book Fair.

Children and young people from the capital (7-18 years old) who love reading and drawing are expected at the event, equipped with a black marker and colorful cards.

The 50-meter-long strip of paper needed to make the longest comic strip in Romania will be made available to the participants by the organizers. The artistic project coordinator is the author and comics teacher Mihai Ionuț Grăjdanu, the professional at the helm of the European School of Comics / Center for Education and Training through Comics.

Launched in November of 2023 under the auspices of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, at the museum’s headquarters in Nicolae Crețulescu Street 8, the Center represents an innovative approach that is being launched for the first time in Romania.

The Center for Education and Training through Comics includes the concept of the “European School of Comics” with materials for learning, teaching and assessment through comics, as well as a research laboratory that aims to study the role, impact and evolution of the use comics in education.

Mihai Ionuț Grăjdanu is an author and teacher of comics. In the last 14 years, he has started three publishing projects: “Legendele Dacilor”, “Didactic Comics – Romanian literature in comics”, “BD Historia – moments from the history of Romania in comics”, in addition to creating and publishing a BD manual, novels graphics, magazines and comic books. He initiated and promoted in Romania a teaching method in schools (B.D.A.S.), developed the concept of museography through comics (the Cosmic Museum and the Animated Museum within the Bucharest Municipal Museum), organized a series of comic book salons and exhibitions in different cities in the country.

Under the auspices of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, in partnership with the Olympic Academy, it invented the “Comics Olympics”, a unique approach at the world level, a competition dedicated to school and high school students, an event held under the patronage of the National Commission of Romania for UNESCO. Organizes the CNR UNESCO comics camp and the “Europa Excelsior” camp in Luxembourg, Belgium and France. Represents Romania at various international exhibitions and conferences.