Out of Shadows: A Graphic Novel Set in Lausanne a Century Ago

Ozan Ozavci’s The Lausanne Project published its first graphic novel, intended to bring the network’s research to a wider audience. The novel, a public engagement activity, aims to tell the complex history of peace-making in the inter-war era in a fun but still thought-provoking manner.

Intrigue and conspiracy

Hacivat and Karagöz have been the stars of traditional shadow puppet theatre, famous across the Near East for centuries. But they are tired of performing the same old plays, night after night, as they are dragged from village to village by their puppeteer master. One night, they escape and make their way to the Swiss city of Lausanne, hoping to find freedom and fortune at the big peace conference.

With a little help from journalists Clare Sheridan and Ernest Hemingway, two Hungarian caricaturists, and a cat named Schuby, our heroes navigate the currents of intrigue and conspiracy swirling around the resort. Will they get to tell their own story at last? Or is the Lausanne Conference just another stage full of puppets?

The graphic novel is now available in French. Other versions, including an English one, are on their way.