Climate Comics at the Qatar UK Festival 2023
LICAF and The British Council worked in partnership at the Qatar UK Festival 2023 to introduce climate comics and creative concepts, on a theme of Sustainability and Communities, to youngsters and families in Qatar.
LICAF Art Educator, Hester Harrington, and Tunisian artist, Noha Habaieb, ran climate comic workshops for the Family Day at the British Council, as part of the 8th Qatar UK Festival, and Expo 2023 in Doha.
The Qatar UK Festival ran between 20 and 26 November 2023 under the theme of Sustainability and Communities. With a focus on promoting peace and social inclusion for diverse communities, the festival also endorses the devolved nations and supports diversity.
“I would like to thank the Lakes International Comic Art Festival and particularly Julie Tait, LICAF Director, Hester Harrington, LICAF Art Educator and Noha Habaieb, a Tunisian artist, for the great partnership that made this year’s Festival another great success. I was amazed by the engagement of the children and their families in the comic art workshops. Their reflections on the learnings shown how important it is to involve children in topics that tackle global challenges such as climate change. Qatar UK Festival is a great example of how you can use arts and culture as a vehicle to create lasting connections between people and organisations and also to raise awareness on topics like sustainability and communities.”
- Dr Waseem Kotoub, Country Director, British Council Qatar
Addressing sustainability at the Qatar UK Festival 2023
Alongside the climate comic workshops addressing sustainability, the festival in 2023 also included a socially engaged installation project promoting textile recycling and the power of reinvention, showcasing artistic sustainable fashion and engaging the youth, women, girls and different communities and schools in Qatar.
The climate comics workshops were a partnership between The Lakes International Comic Art Festival (based in the UK) and the British Council.
“Speaking to young people about their ideas on the themes ‘Sustainability and Communities’ and seeing their reflections on nature and the planet was uplifting. Youth demonstrates the ability to get straight to the crux of an issue – both in terms of understanding a new creative process, but also how to sum up and verbalise what is most important about issues facing our environment, locally and globally.”
- Hester Harrington, LICAF Art Educator
Images of artworks from the climate comics workshop
LICAF & British Council Sustainability and Communities Learning Resources
Comics come be about anything! In simple terms, a comic displays information to the viewer by combining images together with words, usually in panels.
We are setting youngsters the challenge to create a climate comic, using only four panels.
What does sustainability and community mean to you?
These resources will help you explore the themes of sustainability and community, we hope you enjoy using these topics to inspire your own climate comic creations!
The topics can be interpreted in whichever way you would like. Think about what you have recently been studying in school and what these terms mean to you personally to help you with ideas.
Be creative and enjoy!
Download the Four Panel Comic Challenge guide and prompt worksheets, in Arabic or English, to help you design your comic. You can use any art materials and creative techniques.
“It has been an absolute pleasure working in partnership with the British Council Qatar. Spending time with the young people and their families during the climate comics workshops at the Qatar UK Festival was truly inspiring! Here at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival we wholeheartedly believe in the power of comic art creativity to help communicate important messages in response to the climate crisis. We believe comics have the potential to help raise awareness of threats to our planet and achieve positive change, through local community projects and through regional and international partnerships.”
- Julie Tait, LICAF Festival Director
Get Inspired!
Story of a Bee by Noha Habaieb
Seen from the perspective of a bee, this comic is a bee's eye view showing the destructive and devastating impact of human actions on these vital pollinators.
Check out the video from the Qatar UK Festival 2023!
Images from the climate comics workshop at the Qatar UK Festival 2023
FROM INK TO ACTION IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN The Lakes International Comic Art Festival and the British Council Qatar
SPECIAL THANKS TO LICAF Art Educator - Hester Harrington, Tunisian artist - Noah Habaieb and a huge thank you to all the young artists who joined the workshops... it was a superb session!
