Comics and identity take over the Book Fever, at the National Library

In 2015, the comics arising from family stories, intended to capture the attention of people who had doubts about their origin, were captured in a book and since that publication went to press, two men and a woman managed to restore their identity, which allowed, in those cases, to close a circle of search and uncertainty.

One of these stories addresses the case of Marcela Solsona Sítora, the restored granddaughter 129, mother of two daughters, who lives in Madrid, and who was searched for 40 years by the family of her father, Carlos Solsona, and her brothers Marcos and Martín. , since his mother Norma Síntora – who gave birth in captivity – is still missing. The artist who was in charge of giving graphic form to that story is Pablo de Bella. “This happy event allowed me to verify that the images of a visual narrative could have transformative effects and change the course of a life if they are in the right time and place,” says the cartoonist, whose comic came to Marcela when the young woman was passing through the search path about the details of his birth.

Marcela found out that she was adopted at the age of 20 and because of the doubts that arose about her true origin, she entered the Abuelas website and saw a photo of a woman who caught her attention because of the resemblance she had to her. From the surname Solsona Sítora she arrived at the comic strip with a dreamlike atmosphere and gray tones, with a monocopy texture, worked by De Bella.

In that comic his brother Marcos plays hide and seek with a blank figure that represents his wanted sister. With that brother, Marcela was reunited in 2019, after confirming her identity and was able to build a very solid bond, which is witnessed in the second part of the comic, where the white silhouette is completed with the face and name of Marcela.

The other stories bring together the cases of Martín, grandson 118, son of Stella Maris Montesano and Jorge Oscar Ogando, who has two daughters and is dedicated to the sale of electronics and computer products in the United States. His story was recreated by cartoonist Rodrigo Suárez.

The third case represented in a comic by the cartoonist Matías Trillo, addresses the story of Maximiliano, grandson 121, son of Ana María Lanzillotto and Domingo Menna. Maximiliano is married and father of two children. He is a homeopathic doctor and lives in Buenos Aires.

Other graphic stories will come to the fair from the Instituto Venadense Memoria, Verdad y Justicia de Venado Tuerto, in the south of the province of Santa Fe, where the community pays tribute to the 27 people who disappeared during the dictatorship: 12 from Venado Tuerto, 6 from Villa Cañás, 4 from Elortondo, 4 from Rufino and 1 from Teodolina, Jorge Paralich, a member of that human rights organization, told Télam.

In the case of Venado Tuerto, the comic strip “Hugs” tells the story of Carolina Guallane, a recovered granddaughter who was born on December 13, 1975 with the name Paula Cortassa Zapata – daughter of Blanca Zapata and Enrique Cortassa – and the search is still underway for the brother who must have been born in February 1977. His story was brought to cartoons by Manuel Fernández, in drawing, Paralich, in script, and musicalization by Gabriel Zarich.

The comic “Mana y Cacho” with drawings by Santiago Blanco and script by José Briceño, is dedicated to the son or daughter of María Laura González and Ricardo Machado, who must have been born between November and December 1976. Another of the comics is dedicated to Sergio Rúa, based on the collaboration of Adolfo Bayúgar, from Tres Arroyos, who published a comic book about war veterans from the Malvinas, and provided his experience for these creations and composed a song with his son.

Likewise, audiovisuals will be shown and attendees will be invited to participate in the 30 Thousand Handkerchiefs for Memory campaign, with the delivery of 15 mosaic handkerchiefs, and ribbons with the inscription “30 Thousand”, in reference to the number of missing persons during the civil-military dictatorship.

Among the publishers present at the fair, visitors will be able to access the publications of the Aguará publishing collective, dedicated to comics for the promotion of human rights with stories from the Argentine coast. One of the recently published books is “Madre Clarita”, about the activist and mother of Plaza de Mayo, Clara Paulina Atelman de Fink, with a script by Pablo Russo and illustrations by Catalina De Sanctis Ovando, printed by the Library of Congress of the Nation .

One of the members of the publishing house is Sabrina Gullino Valenzuela Negro, from Entre Rios, daughter of Edgar Tulio Valenzuela and Raquel Carolina Ángela Negro, who disappeared during the dictatorship. Raquel was pregnant with twins at the time of her arrest and the pregnancy came to term, giving birth to Sabrina and a child whom Sabrina has not yet met. That is why in dialogue with Télam the young illustrator says “I am a granddaughter” and “it is important that you clarify that Melli is alive and that we are looking for him.” Part of Sabrina’s story was part of Comics for Grandmothers’ Identity and will soon be published in Aguará.

Among the titles of that publishing house, visitors will also be able to find “From the root”, about the history of the Chaco agrarian leagues; “Don’t fumigate my school”; “I am Elena”, about sexual exploitation and trafficking; “Genesis”, about gender identity; “We all knew the story of Franco Casco,” the young man from Buenos Aires who was found dead in the Paraná River, in front of Rosario, a case for which 18 police officers were prosecuted.

At this fair, there will also be the experience of the Secondary Education Center, CENS 456, of Berazategui, which reproduced in murals an illustration that Dante Ginevra made for the book “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, whose author is Marcelo Pulido. This publication raises strong questions that have to do with how a child becomes a murderer; how a society comes to commit genocide; how to live together during the horror and what life is like after a genocide.

The presentation of the book by the author at that institution triggered the idea of ​​working with more than fifteen Argentine comics from the 21st century that showed different characters and historical events in Argentina in the 20th century: The executions in Patagonia, the bombing of Plaza de Mayo , the Cordobazo, the last military dictatorship, the Malvinas War, teacher Facundo Vázquez tells Télam.

The experience was presented to a call for proposals from the Progresar Plan, in which they benefited from financing. “From that possibility we decided to invest in putting together a comic book at the school and going out to paint murals to bring the experience closer to the people of the neighborhood,” adds Vázquez, who points out that of all the comic books read, it was chosen to reproduce the cover on a wall. from Pulido’s book and a cartoon by Salvador Sanz that was published in Comics for Identity, which will be presented at the fair.

In turn, during the activity an installation about the missing people of Venado Tuerto made by Antonela Poliotto using chlorotypes will be exhibited.

According to the schedule, the fair will begin at 3 p.m. when the poet, translator and writer Laura Wittner and the illustrator and graphic designer Pablo Picyk present a reading and drawing activity organized by the Dailan Kifki Children’s and Youth Literature Center.

The closing will arrive at 6 p.m. and will be led by Walter “Chino” Laborde and Ranas, who come together on this occasion to give life to a particular repertoire that ranges from the most traditional tangos of the golden decades, to the adaptation of songs by Patricio Rey and his Ricota rounds in original, tango and dance versions.