Off to Cali, Colombia

Yes, you read that right… Cali, Colombia, South America. 😯

I am one of the main guest speakers at the 15 Sal??n Internacional de Historietas y Caricaturas Calicomix 2009 (15th Annual International Exhibition of Cartoons and Caricatures Calicomix 2009) taking place in Cali, Colombia from June 8th through June 30th. I’ll be participating in several activities along with cartoonists, illustrators and caricaturists from all around the world including Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Colombia. Here’s a little rundown of the portions of the event I will be a part of:

Tuesday, June 9th-

• 9:00 am @ Salon Madera, Centro Cultural de Cali- FORO INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIETA & HUMOR (International Forum of Comics and Humor)- Presentations by several artists and a panel discussion of comics, illustration and humor with:
  • Claudia Contrera– Director of the Comic Festival in Valparaiso (Chile)
  • Tom Richmond– MAD Magazine Illustrator (United States)
  • Arturo Kemchs– President of the Mexican Association of Cartoons
  • Gil Mauritius– Director of the Comic Club de Guayaquil (Ecuador)
  • Joni Benjumea– Comics (Colombia)
  • Nelson Zuluaga– Sample Comic- Pereira Risaralda
  • Perucho Mejia pdh.- Moderator (Colombia) Calicomix Foundation
• 3:00 pm- Cartoonists Live Drawing Jam @ Centro Cultural Comfenalco (I’ll be doing live caricatures)
• 7:00 pm- Opening Reception @ Centro Cultural Comfenalco

Wednesday, June 10th-

• 9:00 am @ Salon Madera, Centro Cultural de Cali- FORO INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIETA & HUMOR (International Forum of Comics and Humor)- Further panel discussion and presentations by the remaining artists.
• 3:00 pm- Cartoonists Live Drawing Jam @ Developmental Library (I’ll be doing live caricatures again)
• 7:00 pm- Opening Reception @ Developmental Library

Thursday, June 11th-

• 4:00 pm @ Centro Colombo Americano- Demonstration: Tom Richmond (USA)- I’ll be doing a demo of an illustration job from start to finish (approx. 2 hours)
• 7:00 pm @ Centro Cultural Colombo Americano- The MAD Art of Tom Richmond exhibit- Opening Reception for the exhibition

That last will be an exhibit of my artwork at the Centro Cultural Colombo Americano gallery, which will hang for several weeks (I think). Most of it will be prints of my full color MAD and other illustration jobs (by their request as opposed to originals, and some as large as 2 x 3 meters) but I will bring a couple of originals with me for the show, leaving one for their permanent collection from visiting artists.

I’ve got Friday the 12th free to enjoy the city with some of the other speakers and some guides from the Centro Cultural Colombo Americano. It should be a fun adventure. I will try and do some posting when I am there, but who knows what things like internet connections will be like? Certainly I will post a full account when I get back if I cannot do so when there.

In the meantime there will be the usual hub-bub and clap-trap on The MAD Blog, including a new “old” caricature demo video tomorrow and a “Sketch o’the Week” on Wednesday.