Japanese art still struggles in China

By LAURA FITCH

Special to The Japan Times

BEIJING — Japanese photographer inri was just 27 when she saw RongRong's photographs for the first time. As she wandered between the stalls of a 1999 Tokyo art fair, a series on traditional Chinese wedding dresses caught her eye. One image, with a man and a woman completely hidden in the folds of yellow silk robes, reminded her of something. She didn't speak Chinese, and instead grabbed a pen and paper to scrawl the two Japanese kanji 黄河 (yellow river) — in reference to a river crossed after death according to Buddhist mythology.

The two art photographers were soon married, a relationship that not only nurtured a family with three children, but also brought about the establishment of Beijing's Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, as well as the genesis of Caochangdi PhotoSpring, China's only grassroots art photography festival, which kicks off its fourth year on April 21.

Uniquely suited to building ties between the Japanese and Chinese art-photography communities, RongRong and inri have done considerable work in furthering that goal. Each PhotoSpring, held in conjunction with Les Rencontres d'Arles in France, brings in a key exhibition by a Japanese photographer — this year it's the black-and-white photos of Hisaji Hara — and throughout the year the Three Shadows works in part to promote cross-cultural ties between the Chinese and Japanese art-photography worlds. Though they are achieving some degree of success, overall interest in Japanese art from domestic Chinese buyers is still slim to none.

At the heart of the problem is the lack of Chinese market interest in international art. Mainland Chinese art buyers are snapping up ancient works, from calligraphy scrolls to jade sculptures. The handful that are interested in contemporary art are mostly interested in Chinese artists. "If they're going to buy art, they are going to buy Chinese art first," says Eric Chang, International Director of Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art at Christie's Hong Kong. This, coupled with a hefty tax levied on international art works is a formidable obstacle for any foreign artist looking to tap into the Chinese market.

When Sueno Mizuma opened up Mizuma & One Gallery — sister gallery to Mizuma Gallery in Nakameguro, Tokyo — in Caochangdi, Beijing, in 2008, he was excited about the prospects of having a gallery in China's capital. Contemporary art sales were humming along at a fine pace, and the Beijing art scene was becoming increasingly international. Mizuma was aware that the contemporary art market was fueled by foreign buyers, but he explained that he was excited to bring Japanese artists to China.

After the market crash at the end of that year, however, foreign funds dried up, and so did the market for Japanese art in Beijing — prompting Mizuma to change his focus to young Chinese artists. "It's very difficult to sell to Chinese collectors. They only want Chinese art," says Mizuma, who is slated to open another gallery in Singapore's Gillman Barracks later this year.

While inri notes that young Chinese photographers admire the works of master Japanese photographers of the 1960s and '70s; overall, the influence of Japanese art on the Chinese art scene is small.

"Aside from surface-level borrowings from the anime-as-art aesthetic pioneered by (Takashi) Murakami, there is actually not much Japanese influence," says Phil Tinari, curator of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, one of Beijing's most influential art spaces. Though, he says, the global resurgence of Japan's Gutai (tangible/concrete art) and Mono-ha ("School of Things") movements of the 1950s and '60s is also happening in China. "A young sculptor like Yang Xinguang, for example, is in implicit dialogue with Mono-ha masters like Lee Ufan," he says.

But while the influence of contemporary Japanese art in China is minimal, across Asia and globally there is still a large demand for it, says Chang. Hong Kong is the largest market for Japanese contemporary art in Asia, and interest is also strong in Seoul and Singapore, he says. In the 2002-2003 art season, the first auction record set for Asian art was a piece by Takashi Murakami. At that time, top Chinese contemporary artists, such as Feng Xiaogang, were pulling in $100,000 to $200,000 tops says Chang. Ten years later, Murakami still holds the record at $15 million, while prices for Chinese artists have topped out at $10 million.

Murakami has set the bar for Asian contemporary art, says Chang. "Not just in Japan but also among all pan-Asian artists," he says. "We are trying to find out whether they can have the same influence as Murakami."

Caochangdi PhotoSpring takes place at various venues in Caochangdi Village, Beijing, from April 21-24. www.ccdphotospring.com

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fa20120419a2.html

'Colorful Realm,' 18th Century Japanese Silk Paintings Make Rare U.S. Appearance

Watch 18th Century Japanese Scrolls Make Rare U.S. Appearance on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

SUMMARY

In a rare U.S. visit, a collection of 30 Japanese bird-and-flower silk scroll paintings by Ito Jakuchu are on display at the National Gallery of Art, just in time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival in the nation's capital. Judy Woodruff reports on the display of the 18th century Japanese national treasures.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june12/japanscrolls_04-09.html

Japenese festival allows patrons to admire the art of bonsai

A twisting trunk coiling up toward the sky, a balancing act of confined roots stretching one way and branching another, an off-centered placement in its soil; the beauty of bonsai.

Last weekend, enthusiasts gathered to share and celebrate aspects of Japanese culture at the annual Arizona Matsuri.

Some especially focused on the spirit and art of bonsai.

Simply put, bonsai is the practice of growing miniature trees in containers. It has been a symbol of Japanese history and a revered form of art for centuries.

“Bonsai is something that people associate with Japan,” said Ted Namba, committee member for the Arizona Matsuri. “The bonsai exhibit is significantly larger in the festival because people are drawn to it.”

The Arizona Matsuri festival brings in a crowd of 60,000 to 70,000 to the Heritage and Science park in downtown Phoenix every year, many of them returning year after year, Namba said.

Celebrating a 28-year-tradition, last weekend’s festival opened with a visit from the Japanese ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, and had a variety of vendors, three stages for entertainment and food.

However, the bonsai trees were one of the most popular attractions.

“Bonsai is something that a lot of people enjoy,” Namba said. “It’s very relaxing and people just love the sheer beauty and simplicity.”

The Phoenix Bonsai Society, the second oldest club in the country, holds the main bonsai attraction at the festival every year. The self-proclaimed three musketeers of bonsai — current president James McEown, past president Jamie Sims and president elect Frank Harris — described the art of bonsai as both complex and serene.

“You break bonsai into two schools of thought. One is the horticulture side of the art and the other is artistic principles of the art,” Sims said.

Sims believes the horticulture side is the more difficult to master because environmental changes impact the plant and there is no possible way to predict them.

“The most important thing in bonsai is to keep your tree alive,” McEown said. “Everything else is secondary.”

McEown related the practice of bonsai to something mentally therapeutic.

“It takes all the extraneous away and it’s just you and your tree,” he said.

Any kind of tree or woody shrub can be bonsais and they typically live outdoors, McEown said. Mastery of bonsai techniques requires patience and the willpower to endure countless failures.

“Any bonsai artist who says he’s never allowed a tree to die has never done bonsai,” McEown said.

McEown referred to bonsai as the great equalizer because all walks of life can practice it. “Irrespective of your place in society, here, we’re all on the same level,” he said.

“With bonsai plants, they last,” said Tony Ly, who has attended the festival the past two years. “You want to take care of it the same way you would your health because if it dies, it will be a part of you dying.”

Contact the reporter at aiyana.havir@asu.edu

http://downtowndevil.com/2012/02/27/22799/japenese-festival-allows-patrons-to-admire-the-art-of-bonsai/

Edible Installation Art in Tokyo

Food and art make provocative bedfellows. At Tokyo’s recent Open Harvest event, food served as both medium and message to a project intended to spark discussion about sustainable agriculture in Japan.

Held inside Content, a restaurant at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, the event billed itself as a “participatory edible art installation.”

After passing through a noren curtain of dried rice stalks and grazing on a garden-like arrangement of potted salad greens, guests were free to forage among the food stalls, which had been arranged to evoke fields and ponds. Posted on the walls and projected onto large screens at the back of the venue were portraits of local farmers and fishermen, as well as images of the Open Harvest crew harvesting rice and visiting producers.

Sam White, a Chez Panisse maître d’ who co-produced Open Harvest, said he’s been thinking about holding a food-and-art event in Tokyo for more than a year, and he began discussing the possibilities with Sylvan Mishima Brackett, owner of Bay Area catering company Peko Peko.

“Given the fears about radiation, this seems like a special time in Japan when people are thinking critically about where their food comes from,” Mr. Brackett said.

That reality was on display at several points during the evening. In the middle of the room, near a stand serving wild pigeon and mushrooms, a group of chefs plucked and gutted a basket full of the birds before carrying them to the kitchen to be sautéed in wine and butter. Onlookers snapped photos as a deer was skinned, dressed and later served as delicious venison burgers.

More harrowing were the crowds, which filled every inch of the space, forcing diners to balance paper plates and glasses while trying to eat with chopsticks. The threat of being doused with hot bouillabaisse loomed around every corner, and was, unfortunately for me, eventually realized.

Tickets to the main event cost 10,000 yen per person (about $129), but the organizers said that the idea was not to turn a profit but to break even.

While they have no firm plans to make it a regular event, they’re open to the idea, Mr. White said. “We have created friendships and alliances that will undoubtedly work together.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/11/30/edible-installation-art-in-tokyo/

Benton Museum Reopens With Three Shows

Emerging from a two-year construction project, the William Benton Museum of Artat the University of Connecticut in Storrs is opening its first summer exhibitions since 2009, and as if to meet pent up demand, three shows open Tuesday.

The emphasis is on a lovely collection of colored woodcuts from 19th-century Japan, combining the museum's recent gift of works focused on Japanese theater with landscapes lent from St. Joseph's College's museum, and rounded out by Benton acquisitions.

What were once printed as souvenirs of Kabuki productions now stand as art on their own, with intricate lines, swirls of patterns, alluring color and innovative printing techniques, even on the most common of images, such that the swords and metal shine with metallic-flecked paint.

Many of the images are by Konishi Hirosada, who worked in the theater community of Osaka in the early 19th century. He often presented key scenes from Kabuki productions, alongside close-ups of the actors, who were also widely known at the time. In Kabuki makeup, their often scowling faces are rendered flat, their relatively tiny hands often clenched in passion or clutching swords.

The images were acquired over the years by George Lincoln, UConn Class of 1960, and his passion for woodcuts (and for donating to college museums) was matched by the Rev. John Kelley, who collected landscapes and scenes of everyday life in Japan caught at about the same time.

His collection, donated to the St. Joseph College Art Gallery in 1966, includes Utagawa Hiroshige's 1857 New Year's image of a haunting skulk of foxes gathered below a garment nettle tree, under the stars at Oji, and several of his views of Mt. Fuji from varying parts of the landscape.

The Cat in the Hat would never be mistaken for a Kabuki actor (though it would be a good stunt for him and Things 1, 2 and 3). But a second new exhibit, "The Art of Dr. Seuss" opens in an adjoining gallery Tuesday.

It features more than a dozen iconic characters created by Springfield-born Theodor Seuss Geisel, in drawings, sculptures and paintings. Organized in conjunction with a summer performance of "Seussical: The Musical," opening on campus June 16 by the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, the exhibit also includes his own version of trophy heads and a few later, whimsical paintings.

The Benton also takes the opportunity to show off a number of works from its own eclectic holdings. "The Sum of Its Parts: Selections from the Benton Collections" range from Dutch and Italian etchings from the mid-17th century (including one from Rembrandt) to new acquisitions from Peter Waite and Alfredo Jaar. It's an opportunity to show an impressive new woodcut and relief print from 1983 by Frank Stella, "Imola Five II," which the museum was given last year. It hangs next to the previously acquired Stella, "Steller's Albatross," bought when it was new in 1977.

Representative works from Robert Henri's early-20th-century followers, known as The Eight, are on display, as are works by feminist art from Kiki Smith and Nancy Spero, among others, and a few examples of German pop art, including works by Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke and Dieter Roth.

The three shows run from Tuesday through Aug. 7.

Also This Week

The traditional Japanese woodcut as created by Keiji Shinohara is part of a show of five Connecticut printmakers opening Wednesday at the Slipe Gallery in Taub Hall at the University of Hartford's Hartford Art School.

"Focus on Process," presented by Paper New England, will also feature work by Bryan Nash Gill, Chet Kempczynski, Michael Levine and Robert Parker. Several of the artists will demonstrate their processes at an opening reception June 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. The show continues through June 30.

A reception is set for Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. for "Tearing Silk," a show of recent silkscreens by Miguel Trelles at the Broad Street Gallery, 1283 Broad St., Hartford. The show continues through June 18.

Among the current shows at the UConn Health Center in Farmington are "Epic Shadows," which features Indian shadow puppets from the collection of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at UConn, and "Nature's Watercolors," an exhibit of paintings by Sharon Kocay of West Hartford.

"Strictly Fanciful," a show of paintings by Terry Lennox, opens Wednesday at the Silver Circle Gallery in Putnam. An opening reception is set for June 3 from 6 to 8 p.m.; the show continues through June 26.

A watercolor show by Moodus artist James R. Riccio, "In Natural Light," opens at the Gallery at the Mill House in Chester Wednesday. A reception is set June 4 from 2 to 5 p.m.; the show continues through June 30.

The Paradise City Arts Festival is this weekend at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton. The event has been named one of the top three art fairs nationwide and the only New England event in a list of top 10 art fairs nationwide. Among the 260 artists — including 19 from Connecticut — are 40 new exhibitors. It runs Saturday through Monday.

Also in Massachusetts, a new show that may be more suited to Labor Day Weekend than Memorial DayWeekend: "The Workers," opening Saturday at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, features the work of 25 artists interpreting the way labor is represented today. That Mass MoCA is housed in a huge factory whose failure affected the region underscores the show's theme. A reception is set from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday; it runs through March 12.

In conjunction with the exhibit, an area called "I Am Searching for Field Character," run by the Bureau for Open Culture operated by James Voorhies, opens today, promised to be part beer garden, part work space, part slideshow stage.

The Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon has canceled its planned Fire It Up! Summer kick-off bash Friday because of forecasts for rain. No makeup date has been set.

>> Send news of exhibits and openings to rcatlin@courant.com.

By ROGER CATLIN, rcaltin@courant.comThe Hartford Couranthttp://www.courant.com/entertainment/arts/hc-artweek-0526-20110526,0,3536552.story

Exploring the edible art of Japanese grilling

Cooking prime cuts of meat and other foods over live fire is considered a quintessentially American activity, the heart of many celebrations and holiday meals. In Japan, the native grilling tradition has even deeper roots -- starting centuries before Christopher Columbus ever saw his first ship.

"The Japanese Grill," by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, explains that in ancient times, Japanese homes were built around an open hearth, supplying warmth and a place to grill fish for the entire family. Traces of that grilling-centered diet can be found in the modern Japanese breakfast of rice, pickles and grilled fish, even if that fish gets cooked on apartment stoves.

*********

The Japanese Grill by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat

Ten Speed Press; 184 pages, $25

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A thousand years of refinements and innovations have brought Japanese grilling to an edible art, where even the alignment of chicken pieces and scallions on a skewer is considered for aesthetic affect. In their second book together, Ono and Salat offer a primer on classic Japanese grilled dishes, marinades, sauces and side dishes, plus the best Japanese approaches to American grilling classics.

Yakitori -- skewers of meat, seafood or vegetables grilled over charcoal -- are "one of the most popular and beloved foods in Japan," the authors write.

The best yakitori are assembled with painstaking care, focusing on specific sauces and skewering techniques to bring out the best flavor. In Japan, as many as 30 different cuts of chicken are prepared on skewers, including livers, necks and skin. The cooking technique is a two-stage process, partly cooking the meat, then brushing on sauce that caramelizes as the food finishes.

Authentic chicken teriyaki tops the book's poultry offerings, which also include chicken as spice-rubbed wings, pounded breast cutlets, butterflied legs; Japanese-style turkey pastrami and miso-glazed quail.

For grilling fish and seafood, the book concentrates on using a few flavors to draw out the best in the ingredients. Salt-grilled head-on shrimp and whole red snapper with ponzu dipping sauce rely on obtaining top-quality ingredients.

Applying Japanese flavors and techniques to American classics like a porterhouse steak results in crossover temptations like the porterhouse with garlic-soy marinade. Cooking the meat partway, then helping the surface brown with more brushed-on marinade, promises crusty yet juicy results.

Most of the recipes in "The Japanese Grill" can be executed using ingredients found in well-stocked Western New York supermarkets or Asian markets, but shoppers may have to mail-order some ingredients, like spice mixtures, that may not be available in local stores.

agalarneau@buffnews.com

By Andrew Z. Galarneau

NEWS FOOD WRITER

http://www.buffalonews.com/life/taste/kitchen-bookshelf/article425399.ece

Tsunami reverberates in isle arts communities

Hawaii entertainers are altering and sometimes canceling their tours in Japan

The impact of last month's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan continues to ripple through Hawaii's entertainment and arts communities.

Some of the same performers who have been donating their talents to disaster relief efforts in Hawaii have had to cancel long-scheduled shows in Japan because many venues are no longer functioning, rolling blackouts are affecting large swaths of the country, and there are understandable concerns about radiation leaks from the damaged nuclear reactors.

Add to that the still-unknown costs of rebuilding, the tremendous personal losses, and the feeling shared by many Japanese that it is wrong to enjoy oneself when so many others are suffering such a great misfortune, and it's no wonder that some entertainers have canceled their tour dates.

Jack Johnson was in Osaka for his "To The Sea" tour when the earthquake struck March 11. He performed there as scheduled several hours later but postponed his remaining stops in Sendai, Budukha, Fukuoka and Tokyo. On Friday the singer-songwriter announced he was canceling the remainder of his Japan tour because he wouldn't be able to work in rescheduled concert dates.

Johnson, who performed at the April 10 Kokua for Japan fundraiser at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, also said he is donating $50,000 to GlobalGiving's Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

Grammy winner Daniel Ho said he had a tour in June that was canceled, but he will be playing dates at the end of June in Okinawa, Osaka, Tokyo and Fukuoka for the U.S. Embassy's American Centers.

"We want to support Japan in the little ways we can," Ho said Friday via email. "We have many family and friends there."

A spokeswoman for ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro said he will be going to Japan as planned this summer although a television appearance scheduled for the end of this month was postponed.

"(Jake) needed to find out whether it was safe enough to go or not," Yukari Takai said via email. "But now it seems that things got a little better so Jake has decided to go not just to do the filming but also a charity concert. … We are planning to have his annual summer tour as scheduled."

Robert Cazimero had a Japanese tour scheduled for late last month but now will be going sometime in July, according to Leah Bernstein, spokeswoman for the Mountain Apple Co. record label.

Raiatea Helm was in Tokyo with Elmer "Sonny" Lim Jr. and Bryan Tolentino when the quake hit, Bernstein added, and her tour was also cut short.

The Makaha Sons were 30 minutes from landing at Narita Airport when the earthquake and tsunami hit. Their flight was diverted to Kansai and they arrived in Tokyo the following day.

"We did one show there, (but) two other luncheon shows got canceled because they were afraid of the rolling blackouts that started, and also a lot of our fans from the affected areas just couldn't make it," said singer-guitarist Jerome Koko.

"We're still waiting to hear if we'll have any of our other shows or performances canceled. We do our northern (Japan) shows every other year, and this year all our shows are in the southern or Tokyo area. … If you had a show in the impacted areas, your show is surely canceled. For now we just send all our love and prayers to all of our family and friends in Japan."

Hawaiian music recording artist Eric Lee, just back from performing in Tokyo, is one of those who is eager to return to show his support for the disaster-wracked nation. He will perform this summer in Shinjuku, Miyazaki, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Okinawa.

"When I was in Shinjuku last week, I did notice a diminished supply of drinks in the convenience store. Some stores were completely sold out of water by 10 a.m.," Lee said via email Friday. "But I feel it's important to keep going to directly help to help keep their spirits up and encouraging them to keep moving forward through our music and dance."

On the other hand, "Territorial Airwaves" host Harry B. Soria Jr., a popular concert emcee on both sides of the Pacific, said via email that he will not be going to Japan as usual for sakura (cherry blossom season) because of the conditions there. Soria was among those questioning whether the Japan disaster may affect attendance at this month's Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, which always draws a large contingent of fans from Japan.

Grammy-nominated slack-key master Cyril Pahinui said he usually travels to Japan with the winning Merrie Monarch halau, and that plans for a separate trip later this year are still on.

While he didn't have a professional engagement booked, Bill "Billy V" Van Osdol, morning announcer on Hawaiian 105 KINE, said he canceled his annual "spring break" vacation to Hokkaido after rising radiation levels were registered in the eastern coastal city of Yokusuka.

"My wife said, ‘No, we're not going,' so we canceled our personal plans," Van Osdol said Friday. "The entertainers who are still going, like Nathan Aweau, are going to places that aren't anywhere near the earthquake.

"It's hard for some of the people over there to hold concerts and activities where there's ‘joyful music,' and the closer you get to the disaster area the more likely they are to hold back. Only now with the opening of baseball and some of the other events, people are starting to see a somewhat normal lifestyle that includes entertainment like ours."

Hawaii's musicians are not the only members of the arts community to be affected by the Japan disaster. The earthquake and its aftermath scuttled plans by the Honolulu Academy of Arts to send to Japan its touring exhibit of works by famed Japanese artist and printmaker Hokusai.

"The Japanese really wanted (the exhibition)," academy spokeswoman Lesa Griffith said, but concerns about potential radiation exposure contaminating the art or harming the curators resulted in the tour's cancellation.

She could not give an estimate of how much revenue would have been generated by the touring exhibit, but said it was more important to protect the artwork from inadvertent radiation exposure.

Ironically, Hokusai's best known work, "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," shows what is generally perceived as a tsunami, although art experts say it is actually "a large wave of the open sea" and not a tsunami.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/features/featuresstories/20110419__Tsunami_reverberates__in_isle_arts_communities.html

Moon Photographer Raises Money for Japan Relief Efforts

A local photographer is holding an art sale to benefit victims of Japan's earthquake and tsunami.

If you ask Rob Larson, every little bit counts.

The Moon-based photographer set out last week with a simple goal in mind: To raise some money for Japanese tsunami relief efforts through his artwork -- no amount raised would be too modest, he said.

As the death toll from Japan's earthquake and tsunami earlier this month stretched to more than 8,000, Larson began reaching out to friend and clients. He offered them a piece of his work in exchange for a donation to Japanese victims. So far, the Moon Area High School graduate has raised a couple hundred dollars in the sale.

"I've seen a lot of artists creating things to help Japan," said Larson, who works as an editorial and commercial photographer. "Maybe creating one-of-a-kind posters or whatever medium they work in. It's really cool."

Larson said 80 percent of the cost of each piece purchased will go to an aid organization of the donor's choice, including the American Red Cross and Global Giving. All of the donations are processed through PayPal.

"I know that with Japan it's not exactly the same thing as with Haiti, where they desperately need money," he said. "But it's so easy to forget about a thing like this when it falls out of the news."

Larson, whose portfolio ranges from portraits to surreal landscape photos, said he's never before used his art to raise money for a cause quite like the disaster in Japan. News of the devastation left after the earthquake and tsunami, however, prompted to him to get involved.

"Not to be crude, but it's sort of like dangling a carrot in front of people," Larson said. "They get a cool print and a piece of art and hopefully we can help the relief effort."

To donate or learn more, visit Larson's website.

http://moon.patch.com/articles/moon-photographer-raises-money-for-japan-relief-efforts#photo-5341872

By Jenna Staul | Email the author | March 21, 2011

Is Japanese manga moving into mainstream art?

While manga is one of Japan’s most powerful mediums, with a huge influence on many industries including publication, film, games and even electronics, the art world has never quite embraced it as high art.

But now is perhaps the time to change that mindset, as Artsonje Center, a private art museum in Hwa-dong, central Seoul which usually presents contemporary conceptual art, has taken the bold step of opening its space for a special exhibition on Japanese comics.

Organized by SAMUSO and The Japan Foundation, the exhibition “Manga Realities: Exploring the Art of Japanese Comics Today” makes the case for why and how manga should be viewed as art.

“We pondered the question of how manga, which is born to be sold in the form of comic books in book stores, could be displayed at an exhibition. We also questioned the limit of manga; if it should stay as a commercial product and be bought and shared by many people, or become something more. We hope this exhibition will pave the way for more discussions on manga,” Takahashi Mizuki, curator of the exhibition, told the press Friday.

Manga’s sudden intrusion into a lofty art museum definitely seemed to have caught the media’s attention as the museum was unusually packed with journalists on the opening day. Setting aside all the lingering questions, the general response was that the show offers heart-fluttering memories for hardcore manga fans and an easy introduction for manga first-timers. Divided into nine sections, the show features some original illustrations from nine manga strips ― “Number Five,” “The World God Only Knows,” “Sugar Sugar Rune,” “BECK,” “Children of the Sea,” “Solanin,” “Five Minutes from the Station,” “Sennen Gaho” and “Nodame Cantabile.”

“Only the most representative manga that are translated into Korean and widely read here were selected for the show to better reach out to the public,” explained Mizuki.

Unlike in some exhibitions fe aturing comic strips which simply display the original illustrations, exhibition designer Toyoshima Hideki created something like a 3-D realization of the comics by adding whimsical props and installations that look like they just popped out of the comic books.

The section dedicated to Wakaki Tamiki’s “The World Only God Knows,” for example, is presented like a classroom with a chalkboard, a lecturn and 12 desks and chairs, just like it is illustrated in the comics. Brief introductions on the characters are written on the board in adorable handwriting.

The highlight and finale of the show is “Nodame Cantabile,” manga which was also made into a TV series and a movie that were extremely popular in Korea. Original illustrations and rough copies of the manga are exhibited behind a player piano that plays Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 13 No. 8, a significant musical number in the story.

The complete collection of the comics featured in the show are on display on the first floor of the museum. A guide book is distributed to visitors so even those who are not familiar with the original works are able to get a picture of what they are going to see before jumping into the sea of 3-D realized imaginations.

The exhibition runs through Feb. 13 at Artsonje Center in Hwa-dong, central Seoul. Tickets are 1,500 won for students and 3,000 won for adults. For more information, call (02) 733-8945 or visit www.artsonje.org/asc.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

http://www.koreaherald.com/entertainment/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101205000235