The Center for Middle East and North Africa is pleased to share “Aesthetic Breach: Past and Present Struggles for Justice in North African Comics,” an exhibit of graphic novels and comics from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on display at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery this fall. The exhibit, which is open October 19th to December 4th, 2026, will showcase the work of artists from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, including graphic novels, cartoons, and comics.

In addition to a selection assembled by Simona Gabrieli from Alifbata, a publishing house specializing in Middle Eastern comics, the exhibition will also showcase drawings from recently published graphic novels, Toussaint est mort dans sa tombe (Toussaint Died in His Tomb) by Sadri Khiari (Tunisia) and Rwama by Salim Zerrouki (Algeria). Some of the artwork showcased in the exhibit at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery will also be displayed at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in January, as part of a pop-up show presenting all three exhibitions organized by at Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery in the 2026-2027 academic year. The exhibition will be on the curriculum of the core course for Cowell college first-year students and connected to a plenary session and a talk with professor Sherine Hamdy, from UC Irvine.