Johanna Benz

Johanna: “I've never wanted it, but without my accordion I'm nothing.”
“No music, no money, no women.”
—Pacho Rada. The Legend.

The true story of Pacho Rada is also the history of the accordion, connecting Germany and Colombia through music. Through large and colourful picture and text panels, my book tells the legendary story of the Colombian musician who found an accordion and conquered the hearts of Colombians with his music.

I heard this great legend of how the accordion made its way to Colombia in the first place, in 2012. For well over a hundred years, Germany has manufactured many accordions for Argentinians who are crazy about Tango.

However, one shipment of accordions never reached Argentina, but instead got stranded on the coast of Colombia after a devastating maritime disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

With the help of the devil, Pacho Rada found the instrument on the beach and began playing like no-one else had ever played the accordion before. Fortunately, there were no textbooks, no manuals and no strict accordion teachers in Colombia, so Pacho Rada was able to play in his own way from the very beginning.

He became a famous man and played in festivals, weddings and funerals. In doing so, he met many women, Death, and the mayor.

This adventurous life inspired me to create a series of wild pictures. I searched for his life story, and on the internet I found his own texts about love, as well as 1000 additional anecdotes and truths that other people are currently telling about his life.

I listened to his music while I was drawing, until I couldn't stand hearing it any longer, and I wrote down my own version of his story. The biggest challenge was the connection between the text and the pictures. I drew the text on large sheets which I placed between the pages of pictures, just like I had seen in silent films with Buster Keaton or Murnau. These pages of text appeared very relaxing. They connected the very different drawings in an uncomplicated way into a choreography. On a grey day, one can simply look at the colours in the book.

I can sit at my desk for an entire day when it comes to book-making. I am inspired by curiosity, superficial knowledge and tall tales.

I have never been to Colombia and had never seen the Atlantic Ocean when the book was finished. Fortunately, Bernardo Carvalho, a Portuguese illustrator from Lisbon whom I like very much, took me with friends in the boot of his car to the Atlantic Ocean. It was my first encounter with this ocean. The Atlantic is beautiful and dangerous.

Pacho Rada was self-published in 2013 in Germany at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig as a small but elaborately made book with a screen printed linen binding. Then, at the book fair in Paris, Montreuil, I met Julien Magnani, the publisher from Éditions Magnani, and we decided to publish the book in French.

The collaboration with Julien and the translator was fantastic, and I redrew all the text – in other words, half of the book – in the French language. We presented the book for the first time in Paris in March 2015 and were overjoyed to travel with Pacho Rada and his accordion to Bologna this year. Hasta Luego! Ciau! Ahoi!

Illustrations © Johanna Benz. Post translated by Gengo and edited by dPICTUS.

Buy this picturebook

Pacho Rada, la légende! /
Pacho Rada, the Legend!

Johanna Benz

Éditions Magnani, France, 2015

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‘The sweeping flourish of the illustrations lends a mischievous irreverence to this book that speaks directly to the reader. The decisive use of colour here takes on symbolic significance. Empty spaces and apparently unfinished, floating lines are all carefully crafted. This is a book that combines graphic art and illustration to perfection.’
—The Bologna Ragazzi Award Jury