A petition calls for the cancellation of the retrospective of the designer of “Polina”, accused of trivializing the pedocrime in his works and his words.
by Frédéric Potet
Will there be an exhibition by Bastien Vivès at the International Comic Strip (FIBD) festival in Angoulême? A lively controversy has swelled on social networks since the demonstration announced, at the end of November, that it had given carte blanche to the French author to present a retrospective of his work during his next edition, from January 26 to 29. “Apology of incest”, “trivialization of child pornography”, “culture of rape” … A wave of indignation is currently on the Internet, where two petitions require the deprogramming of the exhibition, provided for in the paper museum.
In question: not the hanging as such, of which we do not know much, but part of the published work of the 38-year-old designer, one of the most gifted blessed and the More prolific of its generation (the taste of chlorine, polina, lastman, etc.). He shouts at the “conspiracy”, to the “machination”, as he has entrusted to the world. FIBD management does not intend to give in to pressure and maintains the event.
The case is a continuation of a controversy that appeared in 2018 after the release of Petit Paul (Glénat), the first volume of a new collection of pornographic comics, led by the former Katsuni porn actress. Vivès reported the misadventures of a 10 -year -old boy with a disproportionate penis, who triggered the women around her lubricate thoughts. An online petition had then requested the prohibition of the work, in the name of article 227-23 of the penal code according to which the pornographic representations of minors are prohibited in France. Two of the main networks of bookstores in France, Cultura and Gibert Joseph, had removed the album from their stores.
The invitation made to Bastien Vivès by Angoulême rekindled the energy of his detractors. These now mention other of his books, such as mental discharge (Les Sharins Marteaux, 2018), in which a man is “invited” to have sex with the children of a couple of which he is the friend . Less than two months from the fiftieth edition of the largest European comic strip festival, the virality of the attacks against the designer gave birth to a real “vivègate”. “We are scandalized, outraged that we publish it, outraged that the red carpet is unfolded, outraged that it is invited to express themselves in art schools and, finally, outraged that it is exposed to International comic book festival at the start of 2023 “, denounce, on Instagram, the accounts Je.suis.u.sorcière and CESTQUECTTEINSULT .
You have 66.29% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.