Mazen Kerbaj
31 years. Comic's author, painter and musician.
Q & A
Most of the work featured in Rebirth Lebanon seems to have a spontaneous, reactionary feel in its expression. What prompted you to illustrate?
I actually draw on a daily basis in a sort of diary/notebook format since the year 1999. During the war, I just continued doing what I am used to do. It's only the subject matter that changed.
What sort of reactions, positive and/or negative, did your work receive upon its first diffusion?
The blog experience was very intense. Having more than 10000 people checking each drawing on the same day I drew it, changed totally the relationship between the author and the reader. I was somehow drawing "live".
How do you view the role held by artistic expression in Lebanon, especially in relation to the current crisis?
I think that art is totally useless against a bomb. In the best case, art can save only the artist himself from the madness that surrounds him.
What does "Rebirth Lebanon" mean to you?
Nothing. I do not consider that Lebanon was ever "born" in the first place.
http://mazenkerblog.blogspot.com/
