CAMAGÜEY.- With the presentation of the book My Life in Cuba, an autobiography in vignettes by Juan Padrón, the 14th edition of the Comic Art Conference began at the Nuevo Mundo Room in this city.

The posthumous work of the mythical creator of Elpidio Valdés and Vampiros en La Habana (Vampires in Havana) is a testimony full of personal stories, which bring the reader closer to the human and very Cuban Padrón.

Published by the Spanish publishing label Reservoir Books, the book has 285 pages and a prologue by Mauricio Vicent.

In 2017 he began to draw his life: the arrival of his Spanish ancestors in Cuba, his childhood in Matanzas with his brother Ernesto as co-star and partner in pranks, pranks from his youth, the beginning of his passion for drawing, love and travels. In one of them, his iconic mambí character was born, this is how he tells in Leningrad, the last chapter that he finished before falling ill and entering the hospital in 2020, days before he died. His wife Alberta Durán, supported by notes, photographs and experiences lived alongside him, completed the rest in an extensive epilogue.

Dairel Arcos, visual artist of the Provincial Council of Plastic Arts, and a "Padronian" at heart, was in charge of the presentation.

"His humor and sincerity stand out, he weaves a collective story in unison by telling important events in the country and Cubans who coincided with him," he said.

Despite being the work of one of the most significant personalities in animation, comics and Cuban artistic culture in general, the book can only be purchased on the island digitally, as no national publisher has been interested in its publication. .

Dairel is fortunate to have a copy, a gift that he treasures, having received it from the Padrón family themselves.

"For some time now I have been making illustrations of Elpidio Valdés, in his same style, but in a different context. From these works I met his daughter Silvia, who was interested in the project and the proposal for an exhibition, we have maintained for years a beautiful friendship".

"She gave me the book and I consulted with her about the idea of presenting it for the first time in Camagüey during this edition of ArteCómic, she agreed from the first moment, because it is a way of remembering Juan's work," he explained.

The initial day of the event also featured a conference given by Alfredo Fuentes, founder, about comics as art and the graphic styles of Cuban comics.

In addition, researcher Haziel Scull, director of the Vitrina de Wallonia museum of the Office of the Historian of Havana, exchanged with students from the Vicentina de la Torre Academy of Arts. The exhibition La Douce, by the Belgian comic François Schuiten, was also inaugurated in the Jorge Santos gallery of that center.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez