Sabbioneta… a tale of magic and dream

Is comics an art form? Undoubtedly yes, an art that has marked the history of the twentieth century. Comics as art, as drawing and storytelling with its own specificity and weight, the French arrived before us Italians in Europe. Our journey was a little more difficult but then, also under the pressure of our cousins from beyond the Alps, we too learned how much comics can say and give. How much has a role and a function that places it on the same level as other forms of communication.

Yesterday morning, in the ancient theater of Sabbioneta, the comic was presented Sabbioneta… between magic and dream of Giancarlo Malagutti, in the presence of the author, of Renzo Margonari who edited the preface and the councilor for culture of the municipality of Sabbioneta Martina Bongiovanni and unfortunately very few others.

It was Renzo Margonari, painter, engraver, sculptor, historic ceramist and art critic, former director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Verona, who introduced comics. “It may seem strange for a retired art history professor to present a comic. But the comic goes through the whole history of the twentieth century ”. The history of comics is an important story. The critic recalled the very first post-war period when the kids waited for the jeeps of the American soldiers and as soon as the soldiers left, they searched the cars in search of comic books. Then again he spoke of the masterpieces, of Little Nemo, of the difficulties of comics in the twenty years, of the fact that they were considered superfluous, useless, a forbidden luxury, of France in which the culture of comics becomes strong and grows together with the awareness of the importance of the language of comics. And again of artists like Camichini, Picasso, Lanfranco Frigeri or characters like Oreste del Buono, or even Umberto Eco who deal with comics.

In short, an excursus into a story defined by Margonari himself – complex – that reaches up to the present day. Days in which there is no longer any doubt about the importance of comics as an art. After a very interesting journey, we arrived at the work of Malagutti. Malagutti has been in the world of comics for almost fifty years. He has designed stories for Intrepido, Monello, Albo TV. Inked Sergio Zaniboni’s pencils for Diabolik. In 1981 he made comic versions of Japanese cartoons on behalf of IF (Princess Sapphire, the Tiger man, Bia). Then again he writes an adventure by Martin Mystère, he writes stories for Lupo Alberto, Cattivik.

The story of the goose, of the young Anna and of Sabbioneta was born almost by chance. Anna was one of the characters in another Malagutti opera. He was only a minor character. With Sabbioneta, however, she becomes the co-star of the tables.

A work that tells of a teenage girl’s dream and a goose trying to explain what’s around her. “A goose advances through a fog that could be either realistic or metaphorical or even symbolic. A wise goose who pretends to be a tour guide in Sabbioneta, illustrating its beauties “.

It is not a work specifically designed for children, although it is also suitable for them. It is a text that invites you to know Sabbioneta, its peculiarities, its rich history. And with this intention Sabbioneta was born… between magic and dream that will also be translated into English and French.

A text that enriches the panorama of the works dedicated to the City of the Gonzagas, using a new communication channel. A channel loved by young people. The work is located in some Sabbionetan commercial activities and deserves attention. It is an interesting path between dream and reality. A passage that will arouse interest among lovers of the genre and – we believe – even in those unfamiliar with comics.

“Sabbioneta has very high artistic potential that must be exploited – concluded the speakers. Sabbioneta is not an appendix of Mantua but a city with its own sensitivity, its own history, its artists who deserve to be valued ”.

N.C.

courtesy by italy24news