Sawwaf Comics Collection

Conscious of the value of comics to society, and their ability to capture the "pulse of the time", the American University of Beirut has established the Mu'taz and Rada Sawwaf Comics Initiative in 2014. The Sawwaf Initiative aims to encourage new comics productions through various prizes, to support teaching and research around comics at AUB, and to encourage widespread appreciation of comics in Arab society as an expressive medium of choice. In addition, the Mu'taz and Rada Sawwaf Comics Initiative seeks to document the history and current state of comics across the Arab world through building a distinctive collection of Arab comics at the AUB Libraries that is accessible to fans, students and researchers, through the establishment of a fund that allows the Libraries to purchase materials of relevance and scholarly importance. The focus of the AUB Libraries’ Arab comics collection is both historical and contemporary. So far, some of the Libraries’ growing comics collections built through the Sawwaf Initiative include rare historical titles of early juvenile press,e.g. al awlad, al nunu, al bulbul, baba sharo, and al katkut. Some key titles of the Arab comics from the 50s, 60s and 70s, include Samir and Sindibad, for "children aged 8 to 88. T itles of graphic novels from across the Arab world include Cette Historie se passe, Mazen kerbaj; Metro, Al Shafei; Willis from Tunis; 2011، نقطة ومن أول السطر / خالد On affame bien les rats! / Abdelaziz Mouride; Tosh Fesh; al Samandal; فوت علينا بكرا

Mr. Mu'taz Sawaf (BArch 1974) is an AUB trustee since 2014, He is a comics authority and an accomplished illustrator as well as the founder of the Mutaz and rada sawwaf comics intiative at AUB. Mr. Sawwaf is also an executive board member of the Saudi Bin Laden Group and the managing director for the Architecture and Building Construction Division (ABCD).