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10 Dec 2018

British Museum to hold largest manga exhibition ever outside Japan

The British Museum in London is set to host the largest ever exhibition of the manga comics and graphic novels to be held outside of its native Japan.

The Citi Exhibition Manga, launching in May 2019, will display the art of manga as well as looking at how it emerged in Japan and how it grew to become a worldwide cultural phenomenon.

Working in partnership with manga artists, editors, publishing houses and specialists in Japan, the exhibition will display everything from earlier forms of manga such as the designs by famous 19th Century Japanese artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Kawanabe Kyōsai through to current 21st Century stars.

Among the works on display will be a replica the oldest surviving manga bookshop in Tokyo, which visitors can explore. The exhibition will also look at the fandom of manga, particularly conventions such as Comiket and World Cosplay Summit, as well as providing an opportunity for visitors to try on a costume and take their own photos.

It will also look at other Japanese phenomena, such as the Pokémon television series and subsequent gaming franchise, which were inspired by the genre, as well as holding an anime exhibition that will feature audio-visual content including anime film screenings, late events, lectures and workshops.

Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, said: “Manga, the modern graphic art of story-telling first perfected in Japan is now loved all over the world. Building on Japan’s centuries-old tradition, the best manga have the visual power to excite us and draw us into their world, with inventive storylines that engage our emotions.

“The British Museum cares for one of the finest collections of Japanese graphic art in the world. It is our privilege to invite the modern masters of manga to join in this exhibition with the great masters of the past such as Hokusai and Kyōsai.”

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