Friday 26 / April / 2024
Muscat: Omani talent in comics and animation was featured at the sixth edition of the Middle East Film and Comic Con held this past weekend.
The convention, which ran on April 6 to 8 (Thursday to Saturday) in United Arab Emirates’ Dubai, saw over 200,000 fans from around the region flocking to celebrate their favourite films, animation and comics. In addition to people in costume, Comic Con also featured world renowned artists, as well as Oman’s own local talent at the “Artist Alley.”
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For Zainab Al Lawati, who uses the name Taiga Blush for her published work and online presence, this was her third appearance at Comic Con. She was the first Omani participant in the convention in 2015. “There are so many talented Omani artists, who have been encouraged by seeing others display their artistic work, and our numbers have been slowly increasing over the years,” Al Lawati said.
Al Lawati has published a tutorial book on how to draw anime characters, which she published in the United Arab Emirates, and she also brought copies of her new short novel for this year’s convention. “This kind of convention brings great visibility for local talent, because usually people only get access to you online, so this gives you space to interact with people who know you and want to buy your work,” she added.
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“My future goal is to actually publish manga (Japanese-style comic), but I’d rather work on that after I gain some visibility and have better means of publishing my work,” Al Lawati explained.
Another Omani artist, Fatima Al Lawati, who goes by the name F.Jay for her art work and handle online, said it was her dream to participate in a Comic Con since 2012. “This is my finally my first year here, and it’s been such a great experience. People are shocked to know I’m an Omani artist with my own manga books. I think Omanis need encouragement, and support to realise that they’re able to participate in these experiences and display their best works,” Fatima said.
Her husband, Redha Al Lawati, commented, “There needs to be heavier support for artists in Oman, from all sectors. There are so many people, who are passionate in art, music, films, manga, and can do much more if they had the means to explore their passions.”
Nof Al Zadjali, another artist, was also a newcomer at Comic Con. The manga artist expressed that there was a lot to learn from her first experience.
“There are so many people, who come here, and participating artists really bring out their best for this chance to be visible to the audience,” she said.
“I’ve brought my first manga book, called ‘Living Dreams,’ which is about a boy who can merge into other people’s dreams and rescue lost dreams,” Al Zadjali explained.
Al Zadjali has worked with her husband, Dawood Al Kiyumi, on an animation that they displayed on their table. Al Kiyumi is part of a film production company, Ki-Bros Production, in Oman.
“It actually feels like there’s a lot of support for artists in the region. We’re participating with Qumra, the project by Ahmed Al Shugairi, on producing something as well,” Al Kiyumi said.
For Alia Al Shueli, this was her second participation in the Comic Con, and she’s been improving her work on her digital media over the years.
“I’ve actually participated in an animation workshop by the Cartoon Network Academy here in Dubai, which helped me a lot with figuring out what my focus in art should be. I started learning how to illustrate in digital media, and I feel like every year I do better at learning about art, but also about what people want to see and experience,” she said.
Al Shueli also explained that many artists had been encouraged by Oman’s first IGN convention held last year.
“So many artists felt encouraged by that convention because it gave them a local space to participate, but also gave a voice to Omanis who showed their support and encouragement for people in art and comics,” she said.
“I hope that more artists participate in these things in the future, and there is more support and space for us in Oman,” she added.
