An Eternity in Tangiers

"This book is an exemplary illustration of the complex reasons why young Africans leave their countries, the strong motivation they need to survive the threat of violence encountered on the path to the imaginary Eldorado, and the deep wounds that journey can cause, when failure is not the only result." --Alpha Blondy "For the first time the [Venice] Biennale also included comics. The North African artists Eyoum Ngangue and Faustin Titi created original drawings for a comic book about displacement, depicting a young African boy's failed crossing from Tangiers to Europe in search of a brighter future." --The New York Times "Titi and Ngangue address with wit confrontational and provocative aspects of everyday life in Africa, often softening through the watery evanescence of ink wash the potential blow of their imagery in otherwise highly detailed drawings. An Eternity to Tangiers positions itself within the tradition of the band dessinee subverting it from within. It gives voice and dignity to an overlooked narrative, the tragic experience of displacement lived by African people who flee their home countries to escape economic, political, or social ordeals. Fanciful and realist at once, it tells the story of a young African boy, Gawa, who leaves home, the imaginary Gnasville, seeking a better future, a journey of hope and disillusionment marked by the failed crossing from Tangiers to Europe. Speaking of Africa from the African point of view, this work counterpoints the exoticized images and the stereotyping gaze of much of the band dessinee exemplified by Herge's Tintin in the Congo." --"Think with the Senses, Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense," Catalogue La Biennale di Venezia 52. International Art Exhibition, Marsilio 2007