On the Sunday just passed, February 4th, the second edition of StraGulp took place at the Cortile del Maglio in Turin, an event coordinated by Doctor Manuela Macrì and the Artistic Director Fabio Valerio.
The event demonstrated how much excitement there is around pop culture, so much so that the Courtyard became for one day the center of artists, writers, cartoonists and associations who entertained the many visitors with meetings, signing copies, demonstrations who were thus involved in this immense vortex of art, which brought together enthusiasts or simply curious people of all ages.
Anyone who showed up at the Maglio was immediately welcomed by the market exhibition, full of comics of all genres from comics to manga, from Bonelli to amateur ones… from the latest releases to historical or vintage titles, as talking clouds are the theme of the event , from which all other topics unfold.
The event was followed 360° throughout the day by Radio GRP with Gino Latino and Mercury Comics who, in the person of Piero, was a precious support for the presenter of the Jubei conferences of Mondo Japan.
Elia Bellussi, President of Mupin, the Information Technology Museum, took turns on the conference stage and presented the epic clash between Commodore 64 and Spectrum with the victory of…. Then Ilaria Cremaschini introduced herself and, through the Lewis Carroll Society of Italy, illustrated the figure of Alice and all the characters that revolve around this character.
The speech by Vito from the Wonderland Association was very pleasant, with whom we talked about science fiction in society, its evolution and curiosities about the Association, before moving on to Caterina Franciosi and her Literary Lounge with the presence of the writer Marco Rubboli with “Blood-Stained Silk”, a captivating and curious book in which the Roman Empire never collapsed and the Black Praetorians owe arcane magic in the Year 1000.
The demonstration of Japanese swords from the Hyoho Taisha-ryu school was very engaging, before arriving at a moment of twinning with the Saviano fair in the province of Naples “Anime in Fiera” managed by Maurizio Nataloni and Domenico Alfieri (Handdesigner), which took place in the presence of the dubbing director Luca Ghignone, who told curiosities, anecdotes and behind the scenes of the dubbing panorama.
When the historian of anime and manga, Enzo Tripodina, started talking about the theme songs of the 70s and 80s cartoons, the audience crowded in and between questions and memories the conference was so pleasant that the time available was completely exceeded, to reach the meeting with various comics authors: Marco Ventura, Samanta Scuri, Vittorio Pavesio and Lorenzo Balocco, the latter author of the creation of the godmother, Sortisia, of the event. A round table which was a touching moment, we talked about comics in such a simple way, with enthusiasm between art and culture, fun and pleasure of picking up a comic book in our hands that the time flew by as we reached the end of the day.
A special Sunday, also thanks to all those who worked behind the scenes from the sound engineer Luca, to the photographer Martina Puglisi, from the videos of Andrea Bonvissuto, to all the friends and those who had the opportunity to get to know such as Francesco from Miraggi Edizioni, Denis from Mondo Spettacolo, Gianluca from Meganerd, the designer Diego Ruboni…
What to say… we look forward to seeing you again at the next edition in June!