Dubai’s Moving Image Museum (DMIM) is hosting a free evening of acoustic performance, poetry and storytelling to announce the winner of its One Page Comic Book Competition at 6.30pm on Wednesday 26th March. The organisers are also encouraging attendees to dress up in comic book0themed fancy dress to lend the event a real comic book party atmosphere.
If you’re a fast worker, you still have time to enter the competition as the deadline for entries is 6pm on the 26th. Entries will be judged on the night by a team including Marvel Comics’ VP of creator content development CB Cebulski. The winner will receive a full critique and review of his or her work from Cebulski and a three day pass to this year’s Middle East Film and Comic Con in April. The winning comic will also be reprinted, displayed and sold on the Dubai Moving Image Museum stand at Comic Con, with proceeds going to the winning artist after the museum’s 15 per cent commission. With the artist’s permission, the original winning piece will be framed and displayed in the museum itself.
Even if you haven’t entered the competition, we’d heartily recommend checking out the event on Wednesday night, not least because it allows free entry to the museum itself. I would add that, having visited the museum for the first time last week, it is well worth every Dirham of the usual 50AED entry fee. The museum contains a stunning array of artefacts, including extremely rare examples of camera obscura, magic lanterns, zoetropes, early animation and 3D photography.
I was previously unaware of the museum, and having now found it, I’d say it’s an absolute cultural gem tucked away in the unlikely surroundings of TECOM. If you don’t want to take my word for it, though, or like the idea of ‘try before you buy,’ Wednesday is your chance. Just one thing: If you’re impressed, go back with friends and pay the entry fee, or even book a tour with the museum’s knowledgeable, informative and uber-enthusuastic manager, Mandy. The museum is entirely self-funded and I for one would like to see it stay open!
More details on both the competition and the museum can be found at www.dubaimovingimagemuseum.com
