Petaling StreetToday the Conference opened with the usual speeches and dedications.
An entertaining addition was a theatre troupe that was employed to break down formal barriers by doing short skits interpreting conference events. Mixed reactions from the participants.
Most arresting for me is the short intro by Monash's South African visitor, who talked about some of the terminology used in the reconciliation effort there. There's been plenty of talk about this in Cambodia, but is anybody really focusing on this exclusively? Already we have Cambodian deminers going to Sudan, there could be more than just technical interchange between these two very different worlds.
As the clock hit 7:30 I ducked out of the conference intro party to meet comix compatriot Justin Hall. He suggested we meet in downtown Kuala Lumpur at a Starbucks; just as a landmark, not to eat. Malaysia is a riot of architecture - local, international, colonial, new, old - but don't let that deter you; go for the food!
We hit a local eatery and proceeded to chow down, interspersing comics updates with gulps of tandoori and daal.
Justin’s over 6 feet and rumor has it that he’s the inspiration for the wave of “Malaysian Bigfoot” sightings. But he’s really known for ‘True Travel Tales’, which won him a Xeric grant and may eventually be collected into a book size anthology. Cool!
Justin’s here in part to document Thaipusam, Malaysia's important Hindu celebration, which takes place every year by the caves outside of Kuala Lumpur. Apparently there’s some pretty extreme behaviour at these gatherings – piercings, trances, etc. (Well, it seems extreme to westerners like us.)
He’s looking for some clothing to take back to the states. Me, fashion advisor? Justin: "yes, I am the world's most sartorially challenged gay man". (Pull quote!)
Beyond his travels he’s curating two comics shows with Jesse Reklaw (Slow Wave) – one of queer artists at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, and one of Bay area cartoonists. Do these guys ever sleep?
We both note that Something Should be Done for Jesse’s 10th anniversary of Slow Wave, one of the first ever web comics. Great to catch the comics goss.
Justin is very curious about both Cambodia (and the folks he met last January) and Australia, where he’ll be going next. He’s happy to hear we are working on finding a way to publish Em Satya, have published two NGO comics recently, and that Sin Yang Pirom’s done a new book.
Thanks to the gods of comics I happen to have a Melbourne comic on me so I proceed to give it to him. Can't go wrong with Mandy Ord. I suggest he connect with Silent Army and take it from there.
Yes, there are comics, queer folk, and queer comics in Australia. This leads to a bit of speculation – is doing comics (always being marginalized, always having to assert your legitimacy) similar to identifying as gay? We play with this notion a bit. Justin thinks there’s a lot of similarities, but points out that queer cartoonists are alienated even from *alternative* comics culture.
We head out to see Petaling Street, the Chinese shopping district. Justin in search of a tasty ‘shave ice’ dessert, me looking for Malaysian Hip Hop. Alas, we’re unlucky for both. “It’s as big as your HEAD” he enthuses about these icy treats. Maybe next time.
We wander around a bit, killing time before Justin’s bus leaves that PM. He points out that the nearby gay nightclub is just a few hundred meters from one of the most historic mosques. He digs hearing the call to worship 5 times a day. To him it’s exotic and a reminder that he’s on the road, but to hear it at home would of course be completely different.
We’re both intrigued by the recent controversy surrounding the Danish cartoons. For once being an American abroad is relatively safe! I figure he should return to Cambodia at some point, he speaks some French and is big on teaching and community building.
‘Keep up the struggle’ he encourages as I depart. Viva dessinateurs sans frontieres!
Tags:Malaysia, Cambodia,comics
