Manga Hokusai Manga

In connection with contemporary Japanese comics and their worldwide distribution, Hokusai manga, a multi-volume collection of sketches by ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), are also attracting increasing attention. Fans all over the world even see them as the origin of today's manga. However, the outward form of these two types of manga does not immediately suggest a continuous tradition, and so the question arises as to whether today's graphic narratives have more in common with the famous master's "multifaceted sketches" than just the name.

In contrast to previous exhibitions on Hokusai, this one approaches the famous sketchbooks from the perspective of contemporary Japanese comics. The focus is less on the interplay of words and images or the role of popular figures, but rather on today's manga genres, the visual telling of stories and the culture of participation. Instead of examining historical "influences", the audience is invited to compare works from different periods, explore the diversity they contain and reflect on their own ideas of manga.

In the first part of the exhibition, it becomes clear that the success of Hokusai manga in the 19th century was not based solely on its humour, but on a perfect balance of sobriety and humour, of instruction and entertainment. The second part focuses on Hokusai as a manga character and his transformation over time and in various manga genres. The third part focuses on comic-specific means of representation such as speech bubbles, motion lines, page grids and large eyes as well as their equivalents in the graphic culture of the 18th and 19th centuries. The fourth part links the Hokusai manga, which primarily served as copy models, with the manga drawing books, thus shifting the focus from aesthetics to the participatory culture of fans. Finally, seven manga artists show what Hokusai and Hokusai manga mean to them with works created especially for the exhibition.

The travelling exhibition of the Japan Foundation has been touring the world since 2016 and was conceived under the direction of Jaqueline Berndt in collaboration with the curators Itô Yû and Takahashi Mizuki. Sobue Shin (cozfish) was responsible for the exhibition design.

In Germany, Cologne is the only exhibition stop.