Art Knowledge News
Manga ~ Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure |
 |
 |
| Written by Paul Casciato |
| Wednesday, 11 November 2009 03:29 |
|
Manga are cheaply produced illustrated books, sometimes as long as a novel and read back to front (i.e. the opposite to the way English is written). Many different audiences read manga, and there are different manga for both children and adults. Hoshino Yukinobu (b. 1954) is a world-famous manga artist. One of his most popular characters is Professor Munakata who investigates history and folklore in his manga adventures. In this display, you can see original artwork by Hoshino, including drawings showing the start of Professor Munakata’s new adventure set at the British Museum. One reason the British Museum wanted to work with Hoshino was because of its exhibition of dogu, ceramic figures from ancient Japan which runs until November 22. "One of the aspects of that project was exploring how the prehistoric figurines have been rediscovered and re-enjoyed in contemporary culture," said curator Tim Clark.  "A lot of his Professor Munakata
stories have shown him touring around Japan to archeological sites and having
encounters with the dogu, so it was actually the dogu project that brought us to
him." Clark also said the character of Professor Munakata had a common purpose
with the museum in that both, in different ways, "have a fascination in
unraveling the mysteries of the past." One of the captions in the display written by Hoshino, also points to a cultural purpose in the collaboration. Noting that Britain and Japan were both island states, he wrote: "Britain chose to explore beyond the seas whereas Japan has often been enclosed by the sea. Professor Munakata will go on to investigate such differences, which are deeply rooted in our cultural identities." Although the display, which runs until January 3, is small, a larger exhibition on manga and its place in popular culture could follow. "I hope that happens in the future," said Clark, who is Japan curator at the museum. The current display features a handful of drawings, only some of which include items from the British Museum's collection, and blown-up versions on the walls and on the floor. There is also a stand containing manga comic books which visitors are invited to browse. Clark said Hoshino, inspired by his visit to the museum, was working on eight or nine stories linking his character to the collection. They are expected to be published in 2010. They will be combined in a special hardback version, which will in turn be translated into English. Clark said that while manga still enjoyed a relatively small audience in Britain, as opposed to Japan where it is part of mainstream culture, the recent rise of the graphic novel suggested that interest in the genre could grow further. "They are not exactly the same, but clearly they have a lot of similarities and it seems to me that people are finding graphic novels are presenting stories in an engaging way. "It remains to be seen how much manga and graphic novels really begin to take off." Step into a life-sized manga with Hoshino’s comic-book creations filling the walls and floor of Room 3. You can also browse a selection of Japanese manga books in the small manga kissa (literally ‘manga coffee shop’ – although coffee will not be available) in the corner of the room – a perfect way to discover more about the art of manga. Visit : http://www.britishmuseum.org/ (Editing by Paul Casciato) Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
Related Articles :
