Thought Bubble 2023: City Wide Art Trail Launches Ahead Of Festival
by Olly MacNamee
While we tend to focus on the comic convention that closes down the week-long festival starting next Monday 6th November, there is a whole programme of activities, events and exhibitions to attend if you live in or around Leeds. One such event is a city wide art trail which launches today:
“A large-format exhibition celebrating all of the images commissioned by the festival each year by renowned and ground-breaking artists including Becky Cloonan, Tula Lotay, Choo, Natalie Andrewson and many more; the 2023 Art Trail will be hosted across sixteen independent and much loved venues throughout the city centre.
The Art Trail aims to introduce the city to comic art whilst encouraging visitors to explore and experience the best that Leeds has to offer, with large-scale, high-quality prints installed at Miles and Co., OK Comics, The Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Kapow Coffee, Crash Records, Northern Guitars, Water Lane Boathouse, The Bookish Type, Nation of Shopkeepers, Jumbo Records, Travelling Man, Fred Aldous, North Taproom, Eat Your Greens, The Social Bar, and Outlaws Yacht Club.”
Having lived in the city of Leeds for a glorious four years of university studies, I can tell you its a beautiful city with lots of corners to explore. And this art trail will definitely get you exploring this majestic city.
As well as this art trail, here’s a rundown of what else you can do throughout the festival:
- Vice Press presents: Batman (1989) in partnership with Everyman, which sees the renowned printmakers bringing an exclusive selection of limited edition art posters and prints alongside a special screening of the film
- The official UK Launch Party of radical new comic publishing house DSTLRY who aim to create a more sustainable and equitable future for creators, and an informative and empowering talk in collaboration with Leeds Arts University’s Creative Networks series featuring the multiple Eisner Award-winning ND Stevenson and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Molly Knox Ostertag.
- Hyde Park Picture House will be hosting an all-day event in partnership with Leeds International Film Festival: “The British Book Awards Illustrator of the Year Dapo Adeola will be hosting a family-friendly comic book character draw-along and Free Comic Day makes a welcome return on November 10th when, thanks to Diamond Comics, libraries across Yorkshire will have a wide selection of all-ages graphic novels to give away.”
You can catch the whole rundown here with tickets for the comic con in Harrogate (November 11th-12th) on sale here.