The yearly Small Press Award celebrates artisanal, experimental, beautiful and often hand-made publications in limited editions.

The 2025 winner of the Award (a check worth €1,500) will be announced at the Cross Comix Festival on Friday September 12.

The Cross Comix Festival will take place on Friday September 12 and Saturday September 13 in the Doelen in Rotterdam with presentations, exhibitions, performances, lectures, workshops and other activities. Since 2022, we have also been awarding the Small Press Award, in collaboration with De Stripdagen Haarlem.

Read more about the 2025 Small Press Award, the rules and regulations, and how to submit your small press publication. Deadline is June 5, 2025.

The entries for the Small Press Award will be judged by a professional jury consisting of Wasco, Mara Joustra, Tonio Van Vugt, and the joint SPA 2024 winners, Fynn Van Der Ziel en Abel Dijkstra.

The post News – Open Call: Small Press Award 2025 appeared first on crosscomix.

Update, dec 6, 2024: we have postponed the deadline by a week to give you busy comic artists some extra time.

DEADLINE to apply is: December 16, 2024. You will hear from us before the 31 of December if you are selected or not. Click HERE to apply now!

What and when

On February 8, 9 & 10, 2025 a three-day exchange will take place in Berlin. Five comic artists based in the Netherlands will travel to Berlin (Germany), and work on a collaborative comic zine together with five Berlin-based comic artists.

They will work for three days in pairs of two (one Berlin artist with one Dutch artist) at Renate Comics to create two comic spreads together per pair. The main goals of this exchange: combining different styles, learning from each other, expanding an (International) network by meeting comic artists from abroad, and having fun, of course.

In 2025 we will organize two exhibitions with the comic spreads, one in Berlin and one in Rotterdam. After the exchange we will make one publication out of all the spreads and send it to all the artists who joined us, so everyone can print, sell and distribute it by themselves!

All comic artists who are selected have the chance to bring their works to the Renate Comics shop in Berlin so they can sell it in their store.

Important information

• Participants need to be based in the Netherlands or Berlin.

• All Dutch participants will get a 200 euro expenses budget to cover their trip to Berlin. The Berlin-based artists will host one Dutch artist during this exchange.  It would be cool if the Berlin based artists can host one Dutch based artist during the exchange, but keep in mind it’s not mandatory.

• We will make sure all paired artists will get in contact with each other before the exchange, so they can get to know each other. If something feels ‘not right’ during this contact, please let us know.

• Food and drinks are not included during this exchange, so they will need to be paid for by yourself.

Questions?

Contact saskia@crosscomix.nl. Or, if you are based in Berlin, contact alea via: bibliothek@renatecomics.de

About Renate Comics

Hello, we are the Renate Comic Library!

We are the only public comic library in Germany, with more than 37.000 comics, located in Berlin.

We have been around for over 30 years, founded by enthusiastic comic artists right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, with the mission of getting people to know the magic and diversity of comics, and to support the local scene and inspire people to make their own.

Our space is managed by a self organised (and self financed) group of comic artists and enthusiasts, who run the library on a voluntary basis out of passion for the cause. In addition to our library we also offer comic courses for children and adults, organize regular get-togethers (which are the heart and anchor of the local comic scene) as well as digital ones, with important figures of the global comic scene, and collaborate tightly with different local comic festivals.

A small shop is also part of our space: it focuses on small press by local authors, with space for international artists alike: we aim big in our mission of supporting small comic artists and encouraging those who are just starting: we want to read your comics!

Several generations have grown up with the Renate; diverse as Berlin itself – it is an integral part of Berlin’s comic and cultural scene!

About Cross Comix

Cross Comix is a platform for visual storytelling, centered around a two-day festival in the heart of Rotterdam, dealing with graphic novels, comics, cartoons, animations and more. With exciting show & tell programs, exhibitions, workshops, a market where makers sell their own work, an international range of zines in the kiosk, performances and much more.

Cross Comix presents comics as a mature art form to a broad audience. Surprising and idiosyncratic cross-pollinations are made possible by linking comics to other art disciplines and current events, and supporting projects besides the festival itself.

Illustrations/visual open call by: alea Rodriguez & Saskia van Amstel
Photo’s Renate Comics: Saskia van Amstel

The post Open Call: Berlin Comic Exchange appeared first on crosscomix.