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SĀBRS
Festival, Āgenskalns Tirgus, Rīga, 05.-06.07.2025
Kuš! is part of SĀBRS Zine and Small Press Festival! Come, meet kuš! editor David Schilter, who will bring along the newest kuš! publications!
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Helsinki Comic Festival - Zine Fest
Festival, KAAPELITEHDAS, Helsinki, Finland, 20.-21.09.2025
Kuš! is part of Helsinki Zine Fest! Come, meet kuš! editor David Schilter, who will bring along the newest kuš! publications!
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Past Events
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Artist Talk - Henna Räsänen aka HX
Presentation, Bolderāja, Avotu iela 29, Riga, 11.06.2025, 19:00
Our artist-in-residence Henna Räsänen aka HX will present their work varying from some older comics to the graphic novel in-the-making, as well as read from their latest publication “To Touch Water with Splintered Skin” - A 80s noir style horror comic and a graphic adaptation of Cyan X’s short story “I am the room without a door”, that thematizes codependent lesbian love between the main protagonist and the Finnish mythological creature Näkki.
Henna Räsänen aka HX is a Finnish, Berlin-based non-binary and queer comic artist. Their work explores subcultures and queer communities, social norms and the looming climate catastrophe through offbeat, prickly humor. In their ink drawings dark and troubled waltzes with hope, urban topographies sink into forestation as punk rock blasts through the landscape. HX has curated numerous comic projects and exhibitions such as Comic Invasion Berlin’s International Focus programme in 2024 and the Hope Punk! comic hunt. They also teach comic workshops that center on norm critical practices and the attempt to find hope in the middle of the current political climate. In the kuš! residency they are working with the last part of their long awaited "Weltuntergang" graphic novel. Set in Berlin after an extreme climate catastrophe, the story explores community and group dynamics, and the challenges of survival from queer perspectives.
Please stay after the talk for a live concert by Waterflower!
Free entry
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Ingrīda Pičukāne - Femina Explorarum
Book Release, Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia, Marijas iela 13 k-3 (Berga Bazārs), Riga, 27.05.2025, 18:00
Join the launch of Ingrīda Pičukāne's new comic book Feminae Explorarum!
Feminae Explorarum is a selection of comics, often set in vibrant forest worlds, inhabited by women engaged in quiet, personal acts of exploration. Blending myth and realism, the stories embrace states like menstruation, drunkenness, and solitude as meaningful experiences rather than trivialities. The forests are neither untouched nor idealized—they are tangled spaces of nature and human debris, magical and reflective. Ingrīda Pičukāne challenges expectations of femininity, offering a richly subjective and feminist perspective on what it means to truly observe and exist.
Ingrīda Pičukāne graduated from Janis Rozentāls Art School, Art Academy of Latvia (Visual Communication Department) and Estonian Academy of Art (Animation Department). She has been active in the field of comics for over 15 years and is a regular contributor to the Baltic comics magazine kuš!. In 2016, the artist released her first comic book, Three Sisters, which received positive reviews from comic critics around the world. In 2023, the comic book Zaļais Ceļojums (Green Journey) was published, created in collaboration with artist Vivianna Maria Stanislavska. This year, Pičukāne's third book, Feminae Explorarum, was published, and this launch event is dedicated to its release.
Support: SCCF, VV Foundation, Arctic Paper, Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia
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Time Capsules from a Parallel Reality
Workshop Exhibition, Goethe Institut Riga, Marijas iela 13 k-1, Riga, 23.04.2025 - 30.05.2025In Malwine Stauss' comic workshop at the Goethe-Institut Riga in February, we explored parallel realities. We reflected on our post-Soviet heritage and considered what we want to take from it into our visions of the future. What resources—both material and immaterial—does this heritage offer?
Objects, smells, feelings, materials, dreams, and stories were collected and connected to one another to create new perspectives on our pasts and futures. The medium of comics and visual storytelling provided us with the space to do so.
The workshop included both collaborative and individual work, experimenting with drawings, words, objects, and narratives. Here, the international participants—Alberta Ziemele, Betija Jakaite, Cengiz Ergüleç, Dagnis Stikāns, Ella-Mai Matsina, Ieva Raudsepa, Karīna Volbeta, Ksenija Tarasova, Lauma Lejēja, Mariya Glinska, Mārtiņš Zutis, Sofia Estella Donga, Viktorija Semjonova, Viktorija Valdmane, and Zlata Novykova—share their results.
Opening 23.04.2025, 18:00
The exhibition is organised by Goethe Institut Riga in cooperation with kuš! comics
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Green-Eyed Elvis
Exhibition, Kalnciema galerija, Kalnciema iela 35, Riga, 30.04. - 24.05.2025 (Opening 30.04, 19:00)
Proud to present the exhibition 'Green Eyed Elvis - Steve Vanoni and American Outsider Art.' The show includes works by Steve Vanoni and pieces from his collection by the American outsider artists Howard Finster, William Thomas Thompson, Anne Grgich, Mose Tolliver, Purvis Young, Thornton Dial Sr., William Haddad, John Ezell, and John Ratto. Co-curated by Ieva Nagliņa.
Opening reception with the presence of the artist Steve Vanoni on 30th April, 19:00 - FB event
Picture: Excerpt from Steve Vanoni's painting 'Green-Eyed Elvis'
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Pictoric - Safe Place
Exhibition, National Library of Latvia, 4th floor, Riga, 13.02 – 18.05.2025
Ten Ukrainian artists created comics about what a “safe place” means to them today. Some who continue to live in Ukraine despite the war as well as others who have found refuge abroad but return regularly to visit family. For those trapped in war zones, a safe place is a place to hide from bombs, a windowless basement, a wall that separates you from the destruction outside. But in times of war, safety often comes from the presence of loved ones, from the bonds between family, friends, or simply between those who share the same uncertainty. Even in the darkest moments, humans find ways to create new safe places. These can be in the shared resilience of a community, in the mutual support of neighbors, or in small acts of kindness.
On the 15th of February there also will be a zine workshop with Oleg Gryshchenko and Olena Staranchuk.
Artists: Anna Andreeva, Anna Ivanenko, Oleg Gryshchenko, Mari Kinovych, Veronika Kotyk, Jenya Polosina, Anna Sarvira, Olena Staranchuk, Yuliia Tveritina, Iliia Uhnivenko.
Opening reception with the presence of the artists Oleg Gryshchenko and Olena Staranchuk, and musical surprise by Yuriy Natsvlishvili on the 13th of February, 5pm
Curator: Anna Sarvira, PictoricExhibition Design: Liene Pavlovska, Oskars Pavlovskis
Photos: Līga Spunde
Support: The exhibition is part of Baba Jaga Europe, a project by Industrie Fluviali, Rome, FRAME Prague Comics Festival, and kuš! Co-Funded by the European Union.
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Artist Talk - Ruei Yi Fang
Presentation, SĀBRS Work Room, Meža iela 4, Riga, 14.05.2025, 19:00
Get to know our artist-in-residence Ruei Yi Fang. She'll introduce her work and read from her comics at SĀBRS Work Room!
Ruei Yi Fang is a comic artist from Taiwan. She received her Master’s degree in Fine Art in the UK in 2017. A comic residency in Angoulême, France opened her eyes to the power of visual storytelling, and she has been creating comics ever since. She co-founded the Taiwanese comic anthology Bo-ING Comix, which showcases diverse local talents. Her work is especially appreciated for its raw artistic quality and childlike style. Recently, she has also drawn inspiration from literature, poetry, and animals, exploring questions of human nature through her art.Free entry
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Fair Enough Art Book Fair
Art Book Fair, ETDM, Lai 17, Tallinn, Estonia, 10.-11.05.2025, 11:00-17:00
Tere! Kuš! will be attending the second edition of Fair Enough at Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design in Tallinn! We'll be there presenting and selling our comics, don't miss!
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Ukmukfukk Zinefeszt
Zinefest, Gólya, Budapest, Hungary, 26.-27.04.2025
Very excited to visit Ukmukfukk Zinefeszt in Budapest! kuš! will have a big table full of tiny comic books. We'll also be representing Baba Jaga Europe and bring the publication of this special project. Don't miss!
Support: Baba Jaga Europe is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
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Talk at Klingspor Museum
Talk, Klingspor Museum, Offenbach, Germany, 11.04.2025, 19:00
Kuš! editor David Schilter will have a talk about exhibiting comics at the comic exhibition at Klingspor Museum, the Museum for Modern International Book Art, Typography and Calligraphy!
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Fumetto Small Press Heaven
Small Press Market, Fumetto Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland, 05.-06.04.2025
Grüezi wohl, it's Fumetto time! kuš! will have a table at the first weekend at the International Comics Arts Festival Fumetto in Lucerne. kuš! will be represented by it's editor David Schilter and by Banana King König Lü.Q. We'll also be representing Baba Jaga Europe and bring the publication of this special project!
Support: Baba Jaga Europe is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
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Comics Sans Frontières
Conference, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 20.-23.03.2025
Kuš! is proud to publish a special issue and take part in Comics Sans Frontières: Border Defiance in Graphic Narratives at RICE University, invited by Christopher Sperandio. Kuš! editor David Schilter will be part of the Panel 'Comics and Publishers Roundtable,' and Latvian artist Līga Spunde will participate in the panel 'WEIRD SCIENCE! Comics and Engineering' and also hold an artists talk.
Support: Latvian Literature
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Pictoric - Yellow and Blue
Exhibition, Āgenskalns tirgus, 2nd floor, Riga, 13.02 – 30.04.2025 (Opening 21:00)
EXHIBITION PROLONGED UNTIL 30 April 2025!
The Yellow & Blue project is a vibrant and multifaceted attempt to showcase fragments of contemporary Ukraine and its history through the eyes of Ukrainian illustrators invited by Pictoric. The exhibition also serves as an invitation for viewers to explore Ukraine and look beyond the depicted fragments. This series of the Yellow & Blue exhibition reflects the overarching and delicate balance between fragility and resistance, which resonates deeply in the context of Ukraine’s ongoing war for sovereignty and identity.
Curators: Oleg Gryshchenko, Anna Sarvira, Olena Staranchuk (Pictoric)
Artists: Anna Andreeva, Daria Filippova, Maria Foya, Anna Gavryliuk, Anna Ivanenko, Oleg Gryshchenko, Jenya Polosina, Anna Sarvira, Natalia Shulga, Olena Staranchuk, Olga Shtonda, Yuliia Tveritina, Iliia Uhnivenko, Tania Yakunova, Zhenya Oliynyk.
Opening reception with the presence of the artists Oleg Gryshchenko and Olena Staranchuk on the 13th of February, 9pm
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Welcome to Casa Baba
Exhibition, Kalnciema galerija, Kalnciema iela 35, Riga, 13.02. - 28.02.2025 (Opening 19:00)
Casa Baba's 2024 residency program fostered vibrant cross-cultural exchange. Czech artist Jindřich Janíček spent a month in Rome, Italian artist Giulia Cellino traveled to Riga, and Latvian artist Jurijs Tatarkins enjoyed a residency in Prague. This exhibition showcases the comics they created during their time abroad.
Opening reception with the presence of the artists Jurijs Tatarkins and Giulia Cellino on the 13th of February, 7pm
Comics workshop with the artists Jurijs Tatarkins and Giulia Cellino on the 15th of February, 11:00-13:00
Support: The exhibition is part of Baba Jaga Europe a project by Industrie Fluviali, Rome, FRAME Prague Comics Festival, and kuš! Co-Funded by the European Union
Illustration: Excerpt from Jurijs Tatarkins' exhibition poster
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Pictoric Zine Workshop
Workshop, National Library of Latvia, Virtakas klase, 1st floor, Riga, 15.02.2025, 12:00-15:00
Oleg Gryshchenko and Olena Staranchuk (co-founders and curators of Pictoric) will hold a workshop on creating a zine. The theme of the workshop is “Safe Place,” as the theme of the exhibition of Ukrainian illustrators, which raises the issue of safety both at the level of society and personal sense of a place for peace and support. At the workshop, you can learn about simple and accessible dream constructions, storytelling, graphic metaphors and get acquainted with different styles of contemporary Ukrainian illustrators. All you need are pencils, markers and inspiration.
TAKE PART: Participants are invited from the age of 16 and older and they should be able to understand English or Ukrainian. Drawing skills are helpful, but not required to take part. Reserve a spot until the 12th of February at kushmens(at)gmail.com.
Support: The workshop is part of Baba Jaga Europe a project by Industrie Fluviali, Rome, FRAME Prague Comics Festival, and kuš! Co-Funded by the European Union
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Artist Talks - Pictoric, Baba Jaga Europe
Presentation, Bolderāja, Avotu iela 29, Riga, 12.02.2025, 20:00
Get to know the Ukrainian Illustrator's collective Pictoric and Baba Jaga Europe.
On the 13th of February we'll have an exhibition marathon in Pardaugava with the Safe Place (Pictoric) opening at the National library at 17:00, Welcome to Casa Baba (Tatarkins, Cellino, Janicek) opening 19:00 at Kalnciema kvartāls, and 21:00 Yellow & Blue (Pictoric) at Agenskalns tirgus.
This night before you have the opportunity to meet the people behind it and hear about their art practices. Oleg Gryshchenko and Olena Staranchuk will talk about running an art collective in Ukraine during the war, and Alessio Trabachini, Giulia Cellino and Jurijs Tatarkins will give an insight about the comics exchange project Baba Jaga Europe.
Free entry, fb event
Illustration: Oleg Gryshchenko -
Comic Workshop with Malwine Stauss
Comic Workshop with Malwine Stauss, 07-09 February 2025, Goethe-Institut Riga, Riga
In Malwine Stauss' three-day comic workshop Time Capsules from a Parallel Reality, we imagine parallel realities. We explore our post-Soviet heritage and consider what we want to take from it for our visions of the future. We reflect on the resources, both material and immaterial, that this heritage provides us. We collect objects, smells, feelings, materials, dreams, and stories and relate them to one another to create new perspectives on our pasts and our futures. The medium of comics and visual storytelling gives us the space to do this. In the workshop, we work both collaboratively and individually. We experiment with drawings, words, objects, and stories.Malwine Stauss, born in 1993 in Dresden, is a visual artist and author. She works in various fields and media, including drawing, comics, and sculpture. She has published several books and zines and is a co-founder of the SQUASH collective. Malwine lives and works in Leipzig.
Organizers: The workshop is organized by kuš! in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Riga. -
Artist Talks - etchingroom1
Presentation, Bolderāja, Avotu iela 29, Riga, 15.01.2025, 19:00
etchingroom1 will present their new mini kuš! 'A Box of Candy' and talk about their work! Great opportunity to meet our artists in residence!
etchingroom1 is an artist duo founded in 2016 by the graphic artists Kristina Yarosh and Anna Khodkova in Kyiv, Ukraine. The artists work in etching technique and create mosaics and installations. The artist use the etching technique originating from the XVI century to depict urbanist spaces and ironic reality coverage. They frequently conduct workshops and are actively organizing and participating in international exhibitions.On the 21st of January etchingroom1 will also hold a special workshop for the students of the Printmaking Department at the Latvian Art Academy.
© kuš!