Karim Oyarzabal
Illustrator
April-June 2025
©Karim Oyarzabal
- Audiovisual
- Comics
“I need to feel the passage of time, and then everything moves very quickly. Both travel and adventure are, first and foremost, internal experiences. With the announcement of this project, it feels as though everything has already begun.”
For over twenty years, I have been dedicated to telling stories.
While producing theater plays, everything started with an often serendipitous encounter with a text, a sense of urgency to bring it to life, and an almost compulsive desire to act and experience it. This was the case for La Boutique de l’Orfèvre by Pope John Paul II, exploring relationships, for Cravate Club by Fabrice Roger-Lacan, which delved into friendship, and for almost all my projects.
In recent years, I have left the theater behind in favor of drawing. I illustrate press articles, write and create graphic novels, and produce animations. However, at its core, nothing has really changed—my creative process remains the same.
Last year, while at NASA in Houston, an astronaut confided in me that he saw bright flashes every time his space station passed over certain parts of the Earth. We both understood, without saying it outright, that these were cosmic rays systematically striking and damaging his optic nerve. Since then, that moment has lingered in my mind, and this week, as I write these lines, I have just finished the script for a graphic novel inspired by that encounter.
In 2024, I was a Villa Albertine resident in Houston, conducting research on NASA’s project to send humans to Mars. I am a former student of École Polytechnique (class of ’86). Twenty years later, I enrolled at Cours Florent and began producing and acting in plays—about fifteen in total. Today, I live in Paris, where I draw, illustrate press articles, and create graphic novels.
I will create an animation structured like a symphonic poem.
During my residency aboard the container ship MARIUS, I will capture mechanical sounds: the ringing alarms, the snap of ropes, the rhythmic movement of pistons, hydraulics, doors, ratchets, and control levers.
Naturally, I will also fill my sketchbooks with drawings. I will be deeply curious to understand the workings of engines, cranes, their cycles, and the mechanisms designed by engineers. I will eagerly listen to the crew’s insights on these topics.
Another key research focus will be capturing the organic and natural elements: the ever-present sea, the sun and stars, the traces of the wind, the ship’s wake, and the lives of the people on board.
This will not be a documentary animation but rather a poetic fiction. Gradually, an imaginary ship and its journey will take shape.
This ship will be silent, weightless, sailing in perfect harmony with the sea and nature. Dolphins and whales will greet us along the way.
Today, the blue economy faces significant challenges as awareness of climate change and the impact of human activities on the planet’s ecological balance intensifies.
For container ships, the issues are numerous—most notably, the pollution caused by oil-powered engines and their energy efficiency. Other concerns include noise pollution, waste management, ballast water disposal, ship collisions with dolphins and whales, and the environmental impact of port infrastructure.
This year, in the spring, the third United Nations Ocean Conference serves as a stark reminder of our responsibilities. The agenda is ambitious: to evolve the sector while accounting for its economic constraints—without dismantling its operational structure. This will not be easy.
Where will the solution come from? No one knows. But I believe it will come. And in any case, I find it important to live with the belief that it will.
I need to feel the passage of time, and then everything moves very quickly.
I now know that I will spend about two months aboard the container ship MARIUS, working on this project. This vessel carries up to 2,500 of these metal boxes, filled with various goods.
My journey will begin in Papeete, French Polynesia, then continue to Australia, before crossing the South Pacific, passing through the Panama Canal, and finally arriving in Philadelphia, on the East Coast of the United States.
But both travel and adventure are, first and foremost, internal experiences. With the announcement of this project, it feels as though everything has already begun.
I have already set out on my journey. This is how I work: I read, draw, study, and watch films about the maritime world in all its forms. I recently finished Stefan Zweig’s epic account of Magellan’s voyage. I plan to visit the Maritime Museum to study ship blueprints and historical archives.
Like vegetation sprouting from fertile soil, fragments of stories and scenes begin to form in my mind. It is then up to me to react—to take notes or sketch them out. Once again, I am at the mercy of my creative energy. I never know in advance which direction it will push me.
You see, I have already set sail.
In partnership with
MARFRET
MARFRET: AT THE HEART OF GLOBAL TRADE
Founded in 1951, the maritime company MARFRET specializes in international freight transport. Operating nine regular shipping lines along the north/south axis, it serves five major geographical areas: the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, Amazon, and South Pacific, with a significant presence in the French overseas territories.
MARFRET also has subsidiaries in river transport, handling, and warehousing, providing an integrated and multimodal door-to-door service.
The company has established a long tradition of hosting artists in residence, both aboard its ships and in its onshore offices. MARFRET, which owns seven vessels, likes to define itself as an “Ar(t)mateur.”
Musée national de la Marine
The Musée national de la Marine houses one of the most beautiful and oldest collections in the world, tracing over 250 years of maritime and naval adventures. A public administrative institution under the supervision of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, it is located in five cities across the national territory: in Paris at the Palais de Chaillot-Trocadéro, and in the ports of Brest (at the Château), Port-Louis (in the Citadel), Rochefort, and Toulon. It also has a conservation and resource center. Its networked presence allows it to maintain strong connections with local maritime cultures and to promote an active policy of exhibitions and events, making this institution a vibrant place for raising awareness about today’s and tomorrow’s maritime challenges.
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musee-marine.fr/en