China Now comics exhibition

Thu, Feb 28, 2008

Art and animation, Comics and cartoons, Conventions and events

China Now is a nationwide arts and cultural series of exhibitions and events which will be happening all around the UK in the next few months. As part of it there will be a special exhibition of manhua – Chinese comics – which is claimed to be the first such exhibition in Britain and since the curator is Paul Gravett I am assuming that it will be a pretty fascinating event. From the official description the exhibition will cover:

“19th Century Picture Story Traditions, the Modern Manhua Masters, Hong Kong New Wave movement and China Next Generation of artists. With over 200 pieces of artwork and printed matter, this free exhibition presents for the first time ever in this country, the quality, diversity and individuality of recent and current Chinese comics from the last twenty-five years.

The main focus of the exhibition is the next generation of artists who are revolutionising comics today. Works from key artists including Nie Chongrui, Zhang Xiaoyu, Qian Yu and Benjamin Le Soir from China, as well as Chihoi Lee, Hok Tak Teung and Lily Lau from Hong Kong will all be on display. British-based Chinese comics creators Yishan Li, Mr Clement and TH (Tim) Yu, who are included in the exhibition, will create special “live” artworks in the gallery for the public. Master classes, a reading area and hands-on demonstrations will be conducted alongside a one-day academic seminar on Tuesday March 25th with 12 specially invited artists, publishers and experts.”

(this vibrant image come from Benjamin, who Paul Gravett describes as “the rock star of Chinese comics, borrowed from Benjamin’s blog and (c) Benjamin)

The exhibition will run in the London College of Communication in London’s Elephant and Castle area (for readers outside the UK, no, we’re not making that up, that is the name of the area, honest, isn’t it brilliant!) from March the 7th to April the 11th; check the website for full details on this and the myriad other events which are taking part under the umbrella of China Now.