With its graphic precision and rapid picture sequences, the Japanese comic form Manga has gained worldwide cult status. At first looked down upon as a subversive means of expression belonging to the lower class, today Manga is the epitome of everyday Japanese culture. The exhibition explores the phenomenon of Manga as a pictorial language within the tradition of Japanese communication and aesthetics. The focus here is not so much on content as on conventions of style and principles of graphic design.

Unlike Western comics, the storytelling structures of Manga are not linear. Instead, Manga employs intuitive pictorial narrative structures with cinematic scene sequences, changing perspectives and diagonal elements. From the single-panel comics and selected strips exhibited here, the observer gains insight into these concepts and compositional techniques. The exhibition also presents recent Manga magazines and booklets as well as the newest online publications.

Curator Johannes Wieninger, MAK Far Eastern and Islamic Art Collection