Didier RANDRIAMANANTENA (Madagascar)
Didier Randriamanantema, whose artistic name is Didier MadaBD, is one of the best cartoonists in Madagascar. He was born in Antananarive (Madagascar), where he works both as an illustrator and a cartoonist. Recently his adaptation of a Reine Anampoina story was published in L'Express de Madagascar and in an album, proving to be a success.
He has won international prizes , such as the Città di Bologna Award in the Pan-African competition "Africa e Mediterraneo", in 2003.
His comic strip : Imboa
he story is inspired by a traditional subject of oral tradition in Madagascar: the story of Razafimbolamena (the infant prodigy). Didier MadaBD accurately reports the traditional tale, modernizing its development. Furthermore, he tries to show the patterns of traditional visual culture within his work.
King Andriambahoaka has three wives. Before leaving for war, he asks his family to look after Ifara, one of the three, who is pregnant. He fears that she could be burnt for witchcraft. When Imboa, the king’s son, is born, the two wives enter the room and substitute the new-born with a bloody hummer and other bloody things. They give the child to a slave, ordering her to bring him up and finally, they poison Ifara to death.
When Imboa grows up, he starts asking the two wives of the king for his mother. They tell him that his mother was a slave. But the woman who brought him up told him about princess Ifara, his mother, buried south of their house. The young boy goes into the forest and receives a wooden sticks from an old woman. He puts it on his mother’s grave … Meanwhile the king is back from war and asks for Ifara…
Technical information
Work features: fantasy
Pages: 30
Colour