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Rising stars line up at the Museum of East Asian Art
21st August – 9th December 2007

Featuring award winning artwork from the UK's annual manga competition a dynamic and unique exhibition entitled The Rising Stars of Manga opens at the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath on 21st August 2007. Reflecting the unique fusion of the traditional art of Japanese manga with Western characters, storylines and concepts, this exhibition uncovers a new range of beautiful and eye-catching illustrations from some of the UK's most talented emerging manga artists.

Manga in Japanese literally means "whimsical pictures" and was used traditionally to describe the whole genre of Japanese comics and print cartoon. From the late 18th century the phrase manga is thought to have become more commonly used due to the popularity of ‘ Hokusai manga', a printed publication of sketches by the famous ukiyo-e artist, Katsushika Hokusai. Originating from these traditional woodblock type illustrated books, manga still retains a distinctive Japanese style. However due to the increasing inclusion of foreign styles of drawing, contemporary manga is often seen as something quite distinct, describing one particular style, rather than Japanese comics as a whole.

Compared to other comic forms manga is distinctive in its fascinating ability to illustrate a mood or temperament of a character through a slight shift in graphic style. A subtle lifelike figure or background can easily become more stylised and vibrant through a change in animation. Covering themes such as horror, romance, comedy, drama, science fiction, action and sports, manga is constantly pushing the possibilities of animation further and is quickly becoming an internationally recognized art form. With contributions from TOKYOPOP's manga competition this exhibition reveals the UK's flourishing manga scene, and highlights the striking but also refined nature inherent within the UK 's new manga revolution.

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Digital images available

12 Bennett Street
Bath
BA1 2QJ
t: 01225 464640
f: 01225 461718