Comics

Coconino Fest 2026, 'rebel' edition between Paolo Fresu and Vinicio Capossela

The complete programme of the event held in Ravenna from 29 May to 2 June under the sign of Pudhomme, Luz and Schrauwen

5 May 2026

Torna a Ravenna con la sua quinta edizione il Festival del fumetto d’autore Coconino Fest

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In this world where everyone says they are right, woe betide the taste of being on the wrong side, trying to sail against the tide, feeling rebellious. This is why the fifth edition of the Coconino Fest, a festival dedicated to comics and graphic novels promoted by the Coconino Press publishing house and scheduled from 29 May to 2 June, is entitled "Rebels".

'Rebels' is a word that recalls the need to oppose, question the present and restore a fully political and cultural role to comics. Rebellion, in fact, is the thread that unites the exhibitions dedicated to international authors - from David Prudhomme to Luz, from Olivier Schrauwen to Yamamoto Miki and Miguel Vila - but also the meetings, talks and contaminations with other artistic languages.

It is a rebellion that manifests itself in the stories of women in struggle, in the narratives against censorship, in the reportages drawn from war zones, but also in the freedom to mix forms and styles, making comics dialogue with music and the theatre scene.

In this sense, it is no coincidence that the festival opens with an event that already sums up this hybrid vocation. On Friday 29 May, at 9 p.m. at the Artificerie Almagià, the Storia del nuovo cognome. L'amica geniale a fumetti, a theatrical recital by the Fanny & Alexander company based on the graphic novel by Chiara Lagani and Mara Cerri that takes its cue from Elena Ferrante's cycle of novels.

It is a preview evening that immediately makes the festival's direction clear: comics not as an isolated language, but as a crossroads of narrative, image and performance.

The heart of the programme is then concentrated at the Mar - Museo d'Arte della Città di Ravenna, where on Saturday 30 May, starting at 7 p.m., the main exhibitions will be inaugurated. A central moment that officially opens the festival, introducing the public to the visual worlds of the invited artists. Shortly afterwards, at 9 p.m., the inaugural talk L'arte chiede libertà (Art asks for freedom), conducted by Elena Stancanelli, explicitly addresses the theme of freedom of expression, while late in the evening, at 10.30 p.m., the memory of Andrea Pazienza is transformed into a performance event including a meeting, DJ set, and live painting.

The day of Sunday 31 May maintains a tight but fluid rhythm, alternating moments of in-depth analysis and entertainment. In the late afternoon, at 6 p.m., Miguel Vila talks with Paolo Bacilieri in Profondo Nordest, while at 7 p.m. the Japanese author Yamamoto Miki brings the theme of the female gaze in manga to the centre.

The evening opens up to a more performative dimension: at 9 p.m. Paolo Fresu and Paolo Parisi pay tribute to Miles Davis, interweaving music and drawing, and at 10.30 p.m. Mazen Kerbaj presents Gaza in my phone, a musical reading that stems from direct experience of the war told through images and sounds.

The programme on Monday 1 June further expands the festival spaces. In the morning, at 11 a.m., the Classense Library will inaugurate the exhibition Gaza through the screen, again dedicated to Kerbaj, in a transition from performance stage to visual installation.

In the afternoon, the Mar returns to the forefront with a sequence of encounters: at 6 p.m. Olivier Schrauwen presents his work, at 7 p.m. Zuzu dialogues with Lorenzo Biagiarelli in Essere animali, while at 9 p.m. one of the most eagerly awaited appointments sees Vinicio Capossela confronting David Prudhomme on the theme of Rebetiko, rebel music par excellence born in Greece in the early 20th century, to which the stateless Irpinian singer-songwriter has dedicated a musical project. Closing the day, at 10.30 p.m., is music again, with a DJ set by Mazen Kerbaj.

The festival concludes on Tuesday 2 June with an event that looks to the future: at 11 a.m., at the Byron and Risorgimento Museums, the works of the students of the Coconino Spring School, the new educational initiative that accompanies the public programme, are presented.

This is a significant step, because it signals the festival's desire not to limit itself to the programming of events, but also to build a place for training and transmission of skills for the new generations of authors.

In short, Coconino Fest aims to present itself as an open laboratory, capable of combining artistic research and participation, intellectual reflection and the spectacular dimension. Ravenna for five days will be a space traversed by images, sounds and stories that question the present, focusing on the theme of freedom and cultural resistance.