An email from a classy museum

[sensei]

... in Hamburg, Germany, arrived in the account used for my Rubberslug gallery feedback. They are showcasing their world-class collection of 18th and 19th century Japanese woodcuts (including some by Hokusai) by extending their scope to modern analogs of this popular form of visual art. As one special concern in these woodcuts is the yokai universe, or world of the paranormal (often as presented in kabuki theatre), they wanted to add some modern examples that showed a similar graphic approach and similar topical interests. As the preview of the exhibit says,

The contemporary pop culture, for example, is characterized by a pronounced pluralization of themes, motifs and genres while also drawing on traditional Japanese narrative material such as that of the Yokai and the Samurai and reinterpreting it in ever new ways. In addition to these shared contents and motifs, similarities are also found in the visual repertoire, the stylistic aesthetic, the linking of text and image, and the forms of serialization. The production methods, with their division of labour and distribution structures, are likewise comparable in nature, as can be retraced in the technical innovations that came about over the centuries.

Anyhow, would I be willing to loan two of my cels for the exhibition? They both come from my "Golden Age" gallery dealing with one of the Toei adaptations of the late Shigeru Mizuki's classic yokai-based series, Gegege no Kitaro. I am in the process of checking with the museum's contact person on how they expect the cels to be sent and exhibited. But I did agree, and I'll keep Beta updated on the progress of this cooperation, which I hope will expand public awareness of the historical value of animation art.

[Kaona]

Ditto, asking to borrow a Ghibli repo from me.

Seems very legit, and documents are forth coming. I think we ought to organize a museum trip to Hamburg this summer!

Anyone else been contacted?

[star-phoenix]

Of course, proceed with caution. But, that sounds wonderful! Please keep us posted guys!

[nowherekid85]

That's pretty cool that you both got a request like that from a museum! Hopefully it's 100% legit and perfectly safe! How long will they have your cels for?

I would be too scared to part with any of my cels, unless it was one of the few I'm not crazy about, but I doubt anybody would want to exhibit those. I'd be afraid that the cel would get lost in transit too.

[Kaona]

That's pretty cool that you both got a request like that from a museum! Hopefully it's 100% legit and perfectly safe! How long will they have your cels for?

I would be too scared to part with any of my cels, unless it was one of the few I'm not crazy about, but I doubt anybody would want to exhibit those. I'd be afraid that the cel would get lost in transit too.

From June - September 2016

[sensei]

It is the Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Arts and Crafts), an institution founded in 1874, in imitation of the London Victoria and Albert Museum. It makes a special effort to document artistic approaches that involve technologies like mass printing, wallpaper/home furnishing, etc., rather than just the traditional forms of painting, sculpture, etc.

I do know that there is increased interest in modern Japanese art styles, particularly those like Superflat that draw on manga/anime designs. When I went to the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga last Thanksgiving, I noticed that they had a room dedicated to Japanese art, some of it American-made Art Deco using Japanese motifs for exotic effect, but a few pieces of Japan-for-Japanese art. I looked at one piece, a splashy modern sculpture using plastic as a medium, and thought "that looks like Murakami!" And when I looked at the description tag -- indeed, it was.

So maybe (as with those popular 19th C woodcuts that were inexpensive and easy to collect until recently) there may be some professional interest in our collections. I'm certainly going to ask that the catalog include a url address to my gallery and invest in a new Langenscheidt's in case I get mail as a result.

[cutiebunny]

I think it's really nifty that a museum has taken interest in your collections and is planning to incorporate anime artwork into their exhibit. I remember when the Osamu Tezuka Exhibition stopped in San Francisco a couple years ago and how excited I was to finally see cels, original settei and original manga pages being displayed, despite the latter's poor condition. I know it really made me hopeful that, perhaps one day, more museums will consider anime production artwork as art worthy and display them along with works of art from people the artwork considers artists.

Congratulations on your artwork being featured in an exhibit.

[sensei]

Opens tomorrow!

Hokusai x Manga: Japanese Pop Culture since 1680

Be sure to play the exhibition trailer at the bottom, which is witty and well done.

[BuraddoRun]

Old topic I know, but that's pretty amazing! I assume you got your cels back sensei? Any word on their reception? Did the museum give you any feedback after the exhibit?

[sensei]

Oh, yes, they were very prompt and careful with the cels. The published booklet, as you'd expect, is much fuller on the historical prints that are more in favor by serious art students, but does have some very good essays demonstrating that there is a continuity of style from Hokusai to manga and hence to anime. There are fewer reproductions of manga/anime examples (I'd guess copyright was an issue here) but the show was evidently quite successful. I got a few cellphone snaps of how the items I loaned were displayed that give a sense of the show. The room was, as you can see, kept quite dark for the sake of both the cels and the 19th-C woodcuts, which are also fragile, and it was kept easy to move from one to the other, as you can see.


My cel on the right with a collection of Gegege no Kitaro figurines mounted beside it on the left.


This part of the display with more of the context. You can see how dark this gallery was kept for the sake of the health of the art being displayed.


My other cel beside a much splashier oversided original set-up from the same series. On the closer wall to the right: a collection of netsuke using yokai themes, and on the left wall of the column where my cel is hung are some masks or wall hangings portraying the main characters in Kitaro.


Another view of this cel's context. On the column to the left are several copies of Mizuki's Kitaro manga, some opened to characteristic moments in the story showing the artist's approach to layout. Behind in the middle are some 19th-century woodcuts that explore similar themes.


A cropped version of the above, showing how close the displays of Hokusai-era woodcuts are to the newer manga/anime items.

[JWR]

Very nice to see that they were very professional in their displays and took care to protect the art from extreme lighting damage.

[Kaona]

Thanks for sharing the photos of the event! I wondered how they would display the cels, and it looks like they took great care with everything.