Bo Mambo

Christmas Cards

It was 1999, the year when it all started: a drawing on a piece paper, a sheet of white card, and sandwiched in between them, the ‘good old’ blue carbon paper. Already settled in the UK by that year, I was gradually driven into the custom of exchanging cards for Christmas. Working in a fancy card and paper shop (Paperchase), I got my mind completely over-saturated with images of Santas; reindeers; robins; Christmas trees…and of course, the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus (Birthday Boy!). Confused about what to choose from, I considered sending a picture of myself instead. However, and not feeling exactly in a narcissistic kind of mood, one evening I started drawing a caricature of myself (…OK, still narcissistic… but just slightly). The Legend was born.

In the years that followed, the Christmas card became an end-of year opportunity to reflect, first, on things that were happening to me at a personal level, (the boredom of ordinary life; unhappiness at work; my first steps in the film industry; and my exciting years at the School of Corporeal Mime, Theatre de l’Ange Fou; among other things), and how to forget my hairstyles and looks. Second, any relevant kind of event that had taken place worldwide (from America’s 9/11, the Chavez’s "Bolivarian Revolution", nuclear weapons, and devastating floods all over the world, to name just a few). Parallel to all this, a storyline also began to originate from what was starting to become my ritualistic Christmas event: a long term feud with the most iconic character of our celebrated festivity, Santa!