Lakes comic art festival wants to 'change the world'

A comic festival that attracts internationally-renowned artists has declared it wants to "use comics to change the world".

The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, includes exhibitions, live drawing, workshops and a comic market.

Director Julie Tait said comics had "immense power to challenge our perceptions and opinions".

She said: "I believe they can be a force for positive change."

The 10th annual festival will focus on the environment, the climate crisis and pressures on the natural world.

Comic and mural artist Mehdi Annassi, from Morocco, has created a large mural featuring the Arctic charr, a rare species of fish still found in Windermere but vulnerable to pollution and water acidification.

The artist said he hoped the mural would "turn some attention towards the changing conditions and rising temperatures" of the lake.

"Hopefully the Arctic charrs I draw on the wall won't be the only ones left in Windermere," he said.

Work by other artists at the festival will also look at climate change and environmental issues.

A collection of drawings and written observations entitled "What is, What is" by Judith Vanistendael, from Belgium, and Dutch artist Eva Hilhorst reflect on their two-week visit to Kendal to hear residents' experiences of flooding, especially during Storm Desmond in 2015, which caused widespread devastation.

A commission supported by the British Council to explore climate change through art, science and digital technology, "Ten Years to Save The World", shows the "power of comics to stimulate climate change action", festival organisers said.

Information about other events can be found here.

The festival runs until Sunday.

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