Manga “Sinking Japan”

Press_3 — Volume 15, “Without a place to die the bee restlessly buzzes through the winter …” “Yes … that’s how it is …” © Tokihito Ishiki

Beč, MAK: Zapadnom (a i našem “južnjačkom”) duhu je skoro nemoguće da pojmi popularnost mange u Japanu. Ono što je san svakog evropskog autora – da ima, recimo, nekoliko hiljada sledbenika koji kupuju (ili makar čitaju) njegova pisanija, to je kikiriki za manga-ka (crtača stripova) Tokihiku Ishikija koji je prava zvezda u svojoj domovini. Izložbom “japan tone. Jedna manga” Austrijski muzej primenjene umetnosti MAK prezentuje Ishikijev popularan strip koji se u rasponu od 2006-2009 prodavao u milion primeraka nedeljno. Pomnožite ovu cifru sa petnaest tomova i shvatićete zašto je crtanje mange prestižan posao u Japanu. Zbog đavolskog tempa i jake konkurencije, malo kome od uspešnih manga crtača pada napamet da napravi malu pauzu od posla.
Tokihiko Ishiki je došao lično u Beč da prisustvuje konferenciji za novinare i svečanom otvaranju izložbe, a u subotu 19. januara (sa početkom u 16 časova) će takođe održati predavanje na temu “Kako napraviti mangu”. MAK je pripremio i propratni program koji se sastoji od bioskopskih projekcija Anime filmova, manga radionica i specijalne večeri “MAK goes manga” (U subotu 23. marta) sa Cosplay performansom & radionicom cosplay šminkanja, portretiranjem u manga stilu i radionicama za decu.
“Japan tone” ili u originalu – Nippon Chinbotsu je baziran na istoimenom romanu japanskog pisca naučne fantastike Sakyou Komatse (1931–2011) iz 1973 u kome je opisan jeziv scenario poslednjih 322 dana postojanja Japana. “Napisao sam i nacrtao strip u kome se radi o velikih prirodnim katastrofama i u kome se pojavljuju i nesreće u nuklearnim elektranama i Cunami, tako da možete da zamislite moj šok posle strahovitih dešavanja u martu 2011. U mom stripu se najviše radi o reagovanju Japanaca u ekstremnim situacijama i o načinu na koji se suočavaju sa neizbežnim ishodom, ali još više o nadi i o tome kako ostati sabran i optimističan u nemogućim vremenima. Odjednom je to što sam opisao postala stvarnost. Nisam više znao o čemu da pišem ni šta da crtam jer je puno toga postalo previše opipljivo.”, objasnio je Ishiki okupljenim novinarima u MAK-u.
Strip baziran na Komatseovom romanu prati dešavanja u Japanu posle višestrukih katastrofalnih zemljotresa čija je posledica da zemlja rapidno tone. Nema sretnog završetka i Japan nestaje sa lica Zemlje!

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Na izložbi se nalazi kompletan prvi serijal mange koji je izložen na nesvakidašnji način; skice i originalni crteži se nalaze u okruženju specijalno dizajnirane unutrašnje arhitekture – valoviti zidovi (koje je kustos izložbe Johannes Wieninger uporedio sa naborima moždane kore) sa obe strane izložbenog prostora se sastoje od džinovskih uvećanja grafičkih printova i sekvenci iz stripa. Dodatno, na izložbi se nalaze i dva videa; jedan od njih pokazuje slajd šou Tokihiko Ishikijevih crteža koji otkrivaju detalje iz umetnikovog kreativnog procesa, njegovu pedantnost u građenju grafičke naracije i predanost detalju. Na drugom ekranu se vidi samo kretanje miša na Ishikijevom kompjuteru – dok crta, popravlja i dodaje detalje…
MAK nije mesto na kome ćete moći da pročitate čitav strip ali ćete imati priliku da pogledate dosta crteža. Svega nekoliko redaka (uz kratak opis čitave priče) iz petanest strip tomova je prevedeno na engleski i nemački jezik. Izložba se pre fokusira na grafičku stranu stripa i na nastanak slavne ishikijeve mange “Japan tone”.
Kustos Johannes Wieninger podseća da odsek MAK Azija već dugo godina radi na pravljenju sopstvene manga kolekcije i da je Nippon Chinbotsu zapravo druga izložba u muzeju posvećena fenomenu mange. Pre osam godina je pokazana izložba “ Uaaaaa!!! Manga! Estetika treš kulture”.

Izložba traje do 21. Aprila

2013-01-18

Manga “Sinking Japan”

Marina D. Richter
art-Exhibitions Vienna, art-Recent Publications /0 Comments

Vienna, MAK: For a Western mind is almost impossible to comprehend the scale of manga popularity in Japan. What is every European author’s dream – to have, let’s say, a couple of thousand people buying (or reading) their stuff: that’s peanuts for manga-ka (cartoonist) Tokihiko Ishiki who is a true star in his country. With the exhibition “Japan sinks. A manga.” the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts – MAK is presenting Ishiki’s popular comic which was sold (from 2006-2009) one million copies every week. Multiply that by 15 volumes and you will understand why drawing manga is a prestigious job in Japan. Because of a devilish tempo and enormous concurrence, stopping to make a break is not something that most of the manga authors will even consider!

Tokihiko Ishiki has personally come to Vienna to attend the press conference and the opening He will also give lectures on “Making a Manga” on Saturday 19th January at 4 p.m. MAK has prepared a supporting programme consisting of Anime cinema, Manga workshops and a special evening “MAK goes Manga” (Saturday, 23rd March) with a Cosplay performance & Cosplay makeup workshop, manga portraitists and a workshop for children.

“Japan sinks” or in original – Nippon Chinbotsu is based on the best-selling science fiction novel of the same title (1973) by the Japanese writer Sakyou Komatsu (1931–2011) who described a scary fictive scenario of Japan’s last 322 days of existence. “I’ve written a comic dealing with big natural catastrophes; also involving nuclear plants and Tsunami. You can imagine my shock after the latest unfortunate chain of events that hit Japan in March 2011. My comic is about Japanese people’s reaction in extreme situations and the way in which they deal with the inevitable. The story is actually about hope, about how to stay composed and optimistic in impossible times, which suddenly became reality. I didn’t know what to write anymore because so much of it became too palpable, explained Ishiki to the journalists gathered at the press preview in MAK. The comic based on Komatsu’s book sees the end of Japan after multiple disastrous earthquakes which culminate in the country sinking.. There is no happy end – the country goes under!

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The first complete volume of the “Japan sinks” manga is displayed unusually, the sketches and original drawings for the comic being accentuated by the means of specially designed inner architecture: billowy walls (which the exhibition curator Johannes Wieninger compares to “brain parenchyma”) on both sides of the room present a selection of blown-up graphic prints and sequences from the comic-strip. Additionally, a slide show of Tokihiko Ishiki’s drawings reveals artist’s working process, his meticulousness in building the graphic storyline and his attention to detail. Another video screen illustrates the creative process – with the viewer following artist’s cursor moving over the computer screen.

This is not the place where you can sit and read through a comic book, although you might want to have a look at the drawings, as only parts of the storyline are translated to English and German. The exhibition focuses on the graphic side of the comic and on the genesis of Ishiki’s famous manga: showcasing original drawings, sketches and the development of the graphic storyline. Visitors can also have a look at some of the original weekly comic-strip sequels which are not fully translated to other languages. Instead, there’s a short synopsis in German and English.

The curator Johannes Wieninger reminds us that the MAK Asia department has worked for a long time on building its own manga collection and that Nippon Chinbotsu is actually the second exhibition on manga phenomena. In 2005, MAK has shown an exhibition on “The Aestetics of a Trash Culture; Uaaaaa!!! Manga!”

Through April 21