Exhibitions of Japanese Comics (manga)

What is it about?

Drawing on manga/comics studies and exhibition research, this essay examines the world-traveling exhibition Manga Hokusai Manga: Approaching the Master’s Compendium from the Perspective of Contemporary Comics by The Japan Foundation (started in 2016). After a brief survey of manga exhibitions in Japan, the discussion focuses on what the show in question “tells,” both verbally and visually, and what it “affords.” The closing section shifts the focus from representing “Japan” to representing manga, and a Postscript briefly reviews The Citi Exhibition Manga, held by the British Museum in 2019.

Featured Image

Photo by Miika Laaksonen on Unsplash

Photo by Miika Laaksonen on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The essay does not merely confirm the persistent importance of comics’ cultural legitimization or Japan’s cultural diplomacy; it concerns itself less with the factuality of manga exhibitions that have become a given and more with their specific manner by raising questions such as: How are naturalized notions complicated, including the assumption that the artist Katsushika Hokusai coined the term manga and that the popularity of contemporary comics can be traced back to his Hokusai Manga? Does the priority of visual comparison at the expense of explicit verbal explanation facilitate Orientalist readings? Is the visitor positioned as a student or partner? How is cultural content interrelated with media-specific forms?

Perspectives