Hokusai’s manga exhibition in Chennai explores the master’s art

CHENNAI: Commemorating 70 years of Indo-Japanese diplomatic relations, the Consulate-General of Japan, Chennai, The Japan Foundation, and ABK-AOTS Dosokai, Tamil Nadu inaugurated the exhibition, ‘Manga Hokusai Manga: Approaching the Master’s Compendium from the Perspective of Contemporary Comics’ on Sunday at Lalit Kala Academy, Thousand Lights.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Taga Masayuki, Consul-General of Japan. Speaking to DT Next about the exhibition he says, “As we’re celebrating 70 years of our relationship with India, we wanted to bring out a cultural experience for the people in the form of an exhibition. This is a travelling exhibition that took place first in Delhi and after Chennai will be going to Kolkata and Mumbai among other places.”

He says that as anime and manga have been one of the most widely consumed media, they wanted to offer a peek into the works of one of the greatest names in manga, Hokusai. Hokusai’s works have been used as a manual by several contemporary artists and have been developed into the form we see today.

The exhibition displays 15 volumes of Hokusai’s works and also features seven contemporary manga artists, Ichikawa Haruko’s ‘Summer Fields’, Igarashi Daisuke’s ‘A Person Who Draws the World’, Kyo Machiko’s ‘Innocent Toys’, Nishijima Daisuke’s ‘La Mer I’, Okadaya Tetuzoh’s ‘That’s All For Now’, Shiriagari Kotobuki’s ‘Funny Face 2015’, and Yokoyama Yuichi’s ‘Giant Elephant’, who revisited Hokusai’s manga.

The self-explanatory exhibition is divided into four parts that will walk you through the history of manga and Hokusai’s manga. The first part ‘Hokusai Manga: Funny Pictures?’ shows block printed figures on 15-stitched-bound volumes while also explaining the etymology of the term ‘manga’. These block-printed images are portrayed every-day-life in Japan and Hokusai’s version of it.

The second part ‘A Character Named Hokusai’ displays several contemporary mangas which featured Hokusai as a part of their narratives. Some of the manga artists who incorporated this are- Kamimura Kazuo, Sugiura Hinako, Ishoinomori Shotaro, Samura Hiroaki, Sakura Sawa, and Saeki Konosuke.

The third part ‘Manga Like Ukiyo-e, Ukiyo-e Like Manga’ explores the manga techniques like- balloons, symbolic lines, panelling, and eye size.

The last part ‘Hokusai Manga: Shared Manual!’ displays the playful side of Hokusai’s manga. Towards the end of the exhibition, people can see various famous manga. The curation is packed with information and history. Entry is free and will be on till October 20 from 11 am to 7 pm.