A city walked, observed, and loved through its panels
In Buenos Aires, a city that once narrated itself through ink and panel, the first International Comic Art Biennial opens as both homecoming and aspiration. From March 19 to 22, the Argentine capital gathers around José Muñoz — its most celebrated cartoonist, now 83 — to honor a tradition called the historieta that shaped how the city understood itself. The event is free, public, and deliberate: a recognition that popular art forms carry the weight of collective memory, and that what has been diminished can, with care, be restored.
- Argentina's comic tradition, once a mass cultural force rivaling football in public devotion, has quietly faded — and this biennial is a direct answer to that loss.
- José Muñoz, the only Spanish-language artist to win the Grand Prix at Angoulême, traveled from Milan at 83 to stand as patron, visibly moved by the tribute paid to his life's work.
- The launch drew cartoonists, writers, and illustrators across generations — a community that has kept the form alive even as its audience shrank — gathering now with renewed collective purpose.
- City officials and artists alike are pushing for the biennial to become annual, betting that free public access, workshops, and original exhibitions can rebuild the broad audience comics once commanded.
- Black and white dominates the aesthetic by design — a tribute to Muñoz's iconic visual language and a declaration that the classical vocabulary of the form still holds power.
Buenos Aires has inaugurated its first International Comic Art Biennial, running March 19 through 22 across three venues — the Casa de la Cultura on Avenida de Mayo, the Teatro 25 de Mayo, and the Planetario — all with free admission. The event is framed as both celebration and reclamation of the historieta, Argentina's distinctive comic storytelling tradition that once defined the city's cultural identity.
At the center of this inaugural edition is José Muñoz, the 83-year-old master who traveled from his home in Milan to attend the launch. Born in Buenos Aires in 1942, he studied under Alberto Breccia and Hugo Pratt, worked as an assistant to Francisco Solano López, and went on to create legendary collaborations with writer Carlos Sampayo — among them Alack Sinner and an illustrated biography of Carlos Gardel. He remains the only Spanish-language artist ever to win the Grand Prix at France's Angoulême Festival, the medium's highest international honor. Visibly moved by the tribute offered at the launch, he reflected on his teachers, his gratitude, and the long arc of a career that began as commercial labor and became a lifelong dialogue with the form.
Culture Minister Gabriela Ricardes framed the biennial not as a temporary exhibition but as a permanent statement — the city declaring comics to be living heritage. She spoke of how the historieta was never naive, managing to be simultaneously popular and sophisticated, entertaining and critical, with Buenos Aires itself becoming a character within its panels. The Casa de la Cultura, housed in the former building of the newspaper La Prensa, carries its own symbolic weight as a space reclaimed for artistic expression.
The launch drew the community that has sustained the form: cartoonists Tute, Ariel Olivetti, Rep, and Powerpaola; writer Carlos Sampayo; and illustrators across generations. Tute — son of the legendary Caloi — drew a parallel between comics and football as mass cultural forms that once commanded complete public attention, and expressed hope the biennial would become annual. A video message brought the voices of absent artists including Liniers, Eduardo Risso, and Maitena.
Artistic director Martín Ramón has centered black and white as the dominant aesthetic — a deliberate homage to Muñoz's style and the classical grammar of the form. Over four days, the biennial will offer workshops, exhibitions of original art, and performances. The ambition is clear: to rebuild the mass audience comics once held, to honor the tradition while generating new debates, and to demonstrate that Argentine historieta remains vital — both as history and as living practice.
Buenos Aires has opened the doors to its first International Comic Art Biennial, an event that arrives as both celebration and reclamation. Running March 19 through 22, the city is dedicating itself to the form that shaped its cultural identity for decades: the historieta, Argentina's distinctive tradition of comic storytelling. The biennial will unfold across three venues—the Casa de la Cultura on Avenida de Mayo, the Teatro 25 de Mayo, and the Planetario—with free admission for all.
At the heart of this inaugural edition stands José Muñoz, the 83-year-old master cartoonist who left his home in Milan to attend the launch ceremony. Muñoz is not merely a figurehead; he is the living embodiment of what Argentine comics achieved in the world. He remains the only Spanish-language artist ever to win the Grand Prix at the Angoulême Festival in France, the medium's highest international honor. Born in Buenos Aires in 1942, he studied under Alberto Breccia and Hugo Pratt at the Panamericana School of Art, then worked as an assistant to Francisco Solano López before launching a career that would span decades and continents. His collaborations with writer Carlos Sampayo—on works like Alack Sinner and an illustrated biography of Carlos Gardel—became legendary. When Muñoz received an emotional tribute at the launch, he was visibly moved, telling those gathered that he felt proud of his teachers and grateful for what the medium had given him.
The biennial itself is conceived as a deliberate act of cultural restoration. The Casa de la Cultura, housed in a building that once contained the newspaper La Prensa, carries symbolic weight—a space reclaimed for a form of expression that shaped how Buenos Aires saw itself. Culture Minister Gabriela Ricardes framed the event not as a temporary exhibition but as a permanent statement: the city recognizing comics as living heritage, as something that continues to evolve. She spoke of how historieta had never been naive, how it managed to be both popular and sophisticated, entertaining and critical, and how Buenos Aires itself became a character within its panels—a city walked, observed, debated, and loved through the eyes of its cartoonists.
The launch drew the community that has sustained this art form: cartoonists like Tute, Ariel Olivetti, Rep, and Powerpaola; writers including Carlos Sampayo; and illustrators across generations. Tute, son of the legendary cartoonist Caloi, spoke of how some artists had postponed a soccer match to attend, drawing a parallel between comics and football as forms of mass culture that once held the public's complete attention. He expressed hope that the biennial would become annual, that it might restore the vigor comics had lost over time. A video message featured absent artists—Liniers, Eduardo Risso, Maitena, and others—offering warm tributes to Muñoz.
The artistic direction, led by Martín Ramón, emphasizes black and white as the dominant aesthetic, a deliberate homage to Muñoz's iconic style and the classical vocabulary of the form. The biennial will feature workshops, exhibitions of original art, and performances across its four days. The stated ambition is ambitious: to rebuild the mass audience that comics once commanded, to generate new debates while honoring the tradition, and to demonstrate the richness of Argentine historieta both historically and in its present moment.
Muñoz himself offered perspective on the arc of his own journey. He recalled participating in a 1968 comic biennial with just a single page, joking that nearly 500 years had passed before he found himself as patron of this new iteration. He described how the work began as commercial labor without passion, how some artists pursued it out of personal stubbornness, seeking a space to speak about things that moved them. He found that space, he said, and the dialogue between artist and medium had been fruitful. At 83, having spent a lifetime building the international reputation of Argentine comics, he stands as witness to both what the form was and what it might become again.
Citações Notáveis
I am very moved. I cannot find the words to reflect this. At the same time, I feel proud of my teachers Alberto Breccia and Hugo Pratt.— José Muñoz
The historieta was never naive—it managed to be both popular and sophisticated, entertaining and critical, and profoundly human.— Culture Minister Gabriela Ricardes
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Buenos Aires need a biennial dedicated to comics right now? Isn't that form already well-established?
It's not about establishing comics—it's about reclaiming them. They were massive here, shaped how people saw their own city. But that audience drifted away. The biennial is saying: this matters, this is part of who we are, and we want it to be vital again.
And José Muñoz—why is he the right person to anchor this?
He's the proof that Argentine comics could reach the world at the highest level. He won the Angoulême Grand Prix, the only Spanish-language artist to do it. He's not just a figurehead; he's the living connection between what comics were and what they could be.
The emphasis on black and white seems deliberate.
It is. That's Muñoz's signature, the classical language of the form. By making it central, they're saying we're not chasing trends—we're honoring the tradition that made this art form distinctive.
Do you think it will actually bring people back?
That's the real question. The city is betting that if you create the space, show the work seriously, make it free and accessible, people will remember why they loved it. Whether that happens depends on whether comics can speak to what people care about now.
What did Muñoz himself seem to feel about all this?
Genuinely moved. He came from Milan at 83 to be there. He talked about how it started as commercial work without passion, but he found something real in it—a way to speak about things that mattered. That's what they're trying to revive.