Liv Strömquist in conversation with Marta Peirano

With the collaboration of the Embassy of Sweden in Madrid

The work of Liv Strömquist defies the narrative limits of the traditional graphic novel. Both on account of her style of illustration and the topics she has chosen to deal with, she has never conformed to the expectations that are the norm for this genre: she totally exceeds them. She creates rigorous, documented and deeply entertaining essays. In this way, in “Fruit of Knowledge, a Cultural History of the Vulva”, she clearly exposes how the representation of the female sexual organs has historically been made invisible, and the political reasons for this and its cultural consequences. In “Prince Charles’ Feelings”, taking as her starting point an anecdote that took place during the announcement of Charles and Diana’s engagement, she reflects on the dominant heteronormativity, moving from marriages of convenience to the role of the submissive mother. In “I Don’t Feel Anything” she picks up another character from pop culture, Leonardo Di Caprio, and analyses his love affairs as an exponent of a contemporary trend: how late capitalism is destroying romantic feelings.

Liv Strömquist (Lund, 1978) is one of Sweden’s most prestigious cartoonists, as well as a popular radio and TV presenter. She made her debut in the world of comics with “Hundra procent fett” (2005), and in Spanish she has published “The Fruit of Knowledge” (Reservoir Books, 2018), “Prince Charles’ Feelings” (Reservoir Books, 2019) and “I Don’t Feel Anything” (Reservoir Books, 2021). She usually publishes her creations in mainstream media such as Trade New, Ordfront Magazine, Aftonbladet or Dagens Nyheter. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Malmö. She currently works for the Swedish Arts Council.

Marta Peirano (Madrid, 1975) talks and writes about culture and technology in numerous media, including eldiario.es, El País, Muy Interesante, La Sexta and RNE. She was a founder of ADN and deputy director of eldiario.es. She was co-director of the Copyfight project, co-founder of Hack Hackers and of Cryptoparty Berlin. She has written books on automata, notation systems and an essay-handbook on cryptography called “The Little Red Book of the Network Activist”, with a prologue by Edward Snowden. Her latest book, “The Enemy Knows the System” (2019), an essay on platform capitalism and its impact on the media ecosystem and online political campaigns, became an instant best-seller.