'Matite' to tell us who we are. Here is the comic festival that tells the story of everyday life

Contemporary comics between books, shows and drawn readings: Saturday and Sunday at the Polisportiva San Faustino in Modena , 'Matite-Il festival del fumetto' returns, now in its fourth edition, for two days of meetings and reflections on the contemporary and on the strength of a language, that of comics, which today is one of the media that best describe the society we live in.

The festival opens on Saturday 28 June at 5:30 pm with a self-produced market, aperitif and musical selection curated by Città Futura. At 6 pm presentation of 'Tutto sotto controllo' (Rizzoli Lizard) by Eliana Albertini , who will tell her new graphic novel, a poetic journey into the life of Nora, 30 years old, with the obsession of managing everything, including love. A story about life as adults and the fragilities of new adults. At 7 pm again Eliana Albertini, Giulia Cellino and Martina Sarritzu present the comic book reading 'Morta mia nonna mi sono innamorata' . Experimenting with drawing, performance and reading, the three authors will stage the fragilities, fears and desires of their generation. At 9pm, the comic book reading by Fumettibrutti and Francesco Cattani , who will read live from their two latest books: 'Tutte le mie cose belle sono rifatte' and 'Favola' (Feltrinelli Comics).

On Sunday at 5 pm Bianca Bagnarelli , winner of the Micheluzzi Award for best drawing at Comicon 2025, a recurring illustrator for the New York Times and the New Yorker, presents her first book, 'Animali domestica' (Coconino press), which tells of the silent threats that besiege our comfort zones, the great compromises and small cruelties that shape us, the solitudes nestled in the interstices of social life and the indefinable nuances of feelings. At 6 pm Silvia Rocchi and the Collettivo Fumetti Sovversivi 2025 (Lisa Caprara, Roberta Cacciatore, Riccardo Pedone, Gabriele Cerino, Alice Freddi, Silvia Bagordo, Ivan Truden, Fernando Aguilera, Sara De Nunzio, Luca Vidali, Enza Galiano and Francesco Degli Esposti) will talk about their comic book interpretations of Pier Paolo Pasolini 's 'Il sogno di una cosa' , reflecting on how, fifty years after the death of the Italian author and intellectual, his ideas continue to be relevant. Finally, at 7 pm, Francesca Ghermandi presents 'Babbo dove sei?' (Canicola), a memoir dedicated to the figure of her father, the sculptor Quinto Ghermandi : a journey without celebratory filters in search of a man, an artist, a father who escapes easy definitions. Free admission with Arci card. In case of bad weather the festival will take place inside the sports center.