Event Details
Mon, February 03, 2025
18:15 – 19:30
VILLA SASSETTI
Villa La Pietra
Via Bolognese, 120
50139 Florence, Italy
In conversation with Shannice Alogaga, Cleo Bissong and Williams Zouzouo. Moderated by Black History Month Florence.
Over the past five years, Black comic artists in Italy have profoundly reshaped perspectives and representation in the comics industry. This discussion brings together three trailblazing artists to explore the world of comics, the importance of representation and creative agency, and Italy’s role as a key hub for comic production. Working across mediums like graphic novels and vignettes, these artists represent a new generation redefining the cultural landscape. Through self-narration, they challenge traditional expectations surrounding the artistic contributions of people of African descent, paving the way for a more inclusive and dynamic future in the arts.
In collaboration with Black History Month Florence.
Featured Biographies
Shannice Alogaga
ILLUSTRATOR AND COMIC ARTIST
Shannice Alogaga is an Afro-Italian illustrator born in 1994. Her tables are made in traditional gouache and colored pencils. In 2020 she began to create self-produced comics with the BANDABENDATA collective and other independent realities; in April 2023 she made her debut in bookstores with her first Graphic Novel AliceWalker written by Mariapaola Pesce with Beccogiallo. In October of the same year she created the story “La Nebbia” for the in-depth comic Una montagna di soldi by Revue Dessineé, subsequently for the same magazine she illustrated the comic reportage “Le streghe son tornate” written by Alessia Dulbecco. In 2024 she worked on the illustrated book Disney Tiana’s Bayou, created a short story for the American publishing house Fair Square Graphic and is currently working for Glènat, on her next graphic novel. She is active in issues of Afro-descendant rights and culture, and among her hobbies is singing. She has a great passion for cats. She lives and works in Florence.
Cleo Bissong
COMIC ARTIST
Cleo Bissong was born in Milan to Cameroonian and Brazilian parents and grew up in a house full of music, art and people. In that lively environment she reads and draws comics continuously, and has tried not to stop since. She studied at the Academy of Urbino and in her last year, in lockdown in Milan, she illustrated and then published her first comic, Entangled (Slow News, 2022), with a story by Fulvio Nebbia and Alberto Puliafito. The following year she moved to Brussels, where she attended a comics course (at the LUCA School of Arts) during which “Ma siamo ancora qui a parlarne?” (2025) took shape, the first work written and drawn entirely by her. She currently lives in Milan, constantly looking for a house, and continues to draw
Williams “Gaudì” Zouzouo
ILLUSTRATOR AND COMIC ARTIST
Williams “Gaudì” Zouzouo (2000), is a cartoonist and illustrator. Born and raised near Milan by an Ivorian family. In his imagination, influences come from animation, manga, hip hop and R&B music, and dance. Always passionate about the world of art, he trained as a self-taught artist and in his early twenties he got noticed for his drawings online, collaborating with companies such as Disney TV and Nickelodeon as a character designer, with Netflix and then with various fashion brands such as Converse, Footlocker, Etro, Dr Martens. In 2024 he published Gatti, his graphic novel for BAO Publishing.