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| MANHUA!
CHINA COMICS NOW: MEDIA COVERAGE BBC News: World | Panel Borders | BBC News | Broken Frontier | Visit London | Times Online | The Independent
BBC NEWS: WORLD Telling stories with pictures is part of China's cultural history. In the 1920s artists used to collect illustrations of classical tales or special messages in tiny books known as 'manhua'. The organisers are certain that the Manhua! China Comics Now exhibition will mark the beginning of a new wave of interest in art from China. Paul Gravett: "Many people have heard of Japanese comics, or 'manga' - 'manga' is actually a word now in the dictionary - but we think that in the coming years, with the rising power of China as an economy, 'manhua', or Chinese comics, will become even more part of our diet, part of our cultural enthusiasm here." Once used for propaganda purposes during China's cultural revolution, manhua has a darker side these days too. Some underground artists have adopted the ancient tradition of telling stories through pictures to vent their disapproval of China and how its changing. But China has been quick to clamp down on those who overstep the mark. That's sparked fear amongst publishers, leaving the artists scrambling to find an outlet for their work. Coco Wang: "I was in touch with lots of underground comic artists and I brought their work over to here, and for those underground artists they were really into their own stories, so its not so mainstream. Its very personal experience and has very strong feelings, like involves sex and violence, you know, very free thinking. So for those comics its very difficult to get published in China. So for those artists its quite difficult for them to survive." For collectors though, the 200-piece exhibition is a rare opportunity to scrutinise the history, legends and fantasies of China.
PANEL BORDERS: PODCAST Panel Borders is a weekly radio show broadcast on Resonance 104.4 FM each Thurday at 5pm. A series of four podcasts looking at the Manhua! China Comics Now exhibition at the London College of Communication in the Elephant and Castle. Manhua! China Comics Now is a month long exhibition featuring the best of recent Chinese comic book art. In Part 1 Alex Fitch is talking to artist Yishan Li, about her art, her love of the comics medium and her influences. Also: a recording of Paul Gravett's introduction and tour of the opening room of the exhibition. In Part 2 features Alex's interviews with Jessica Potter (China Now) and artists Mr Clement & Tim (TH) Yu. In Part 3 Alex Fitch hosts a round table discussion with curator Paul Gravett and Hong Kong artists Chihoi Lee and Hok Tak Yeung about their work. In Part 4 Alex Fitch discusses the Beijing underground comics scene with creator and commentator Coco Wang. In Part 5 Alex Fitch talks to the final three artists to be interviewed from the LCC's Manhua! comics exhibition - Benjamin, Nie Chongrui and Zhang Xiaoyu (via translator Coco Wang).
BBC NEWS From traditional ink drawings to worldly-wise crime tales, a new exhibition of Chinese comic art reveals the complex relationship between artists and the state. Comic-book heroes have frequently been called on during their countries' hour of need - from Desperate Dan bashing Hitler during World War II, to a recent proposal to pit Batman against al-Qaeda. Several images at the London College of Communication's exhibition of Chinese comic art - known as Manhua - show how the communists in China have also harnessed comic art for propaganda. In one series of pictures, perfectly-formed youngsters stare hopefully into the mid-distance, a giant red flag fluttering in the background. Elsewhere, a lantern-jawed fighter pilot overcomes his inner demons and external enemies with uncommon bravery. "There was a collection produced in the early 1970s called the People's Comics," says the exhibition's curator, Paul Gravett. "They showed an idealised society with a highly idealised view of the family. They were very seductive - they showed people smiling and enjoying life - they hit all the right buttons." He says organisations both in the West and in China continue to use comic art to promote themselves - albeit in a slightly more post-modern way. Chinese state media reported recently that an anti-corruption comic aimed at government officials was in production. Meanwhile, the UN has commissioned US publishing giant Marvel Comics to help promote its work, and the US Army uses comics to educate cadets about other cultures. Pushing the boundaries "The US military has found comics to be much more effective than traditional training manuals," Mr Gravett says. "The academy at West Point is now using the graphic novel Persepolis, which chronicles the life of a young girl growing up in Iran, as a learning tool." Beijing may have left the stark propaganda of Mao's era behind - but Manhua remains very much under the influence of the state. Yishan Li, whose artwork is on display at the exhibition, says government-backed comics still offer the best-paid work in China - and the commissioning process engenders a level of government control. "Officials review a project and they have to write a report to ask for funding - the government will always ask them if it is good for China and good for the children." She says this leads to comics with a moral message, often trying to teach young people to be nice to each other and not break the law. The imagery in Manhua is generally less controversial than its Japanese counterpart, Manga, which often contains violent and sexual content laced with acerbic social commentary. But there are several Manhua artists pushing back these boundaries. Creativity stifled One comic strip at the exhibition features two Godzilla-sized politicians embroiled in fisticuffs above the Hong Kong skyline, demolishing any buildings that stand in their way. Another features a misshapen man-child, his shaven head branded with a barcode, struggling to come to terms with modern working life. However, both of these comics were produced away from the Chinese mainland. UK-based artist Coco Wang says government intervention in China is stifling the development of Manhua because artists find it so difficult to produce work that is both permissible to the authorities and interesting for the readers. She collates and publishes a number of China-based artists whose work she says would be "almost impossible" to disseminate inside the country. "The government is very sensitive to anything that is political, sexual or violent. So the underground artists have kept their distance from the Chinese publishers. All the underground comics are self-published." Looking west She says working outside of the mainstream industry has allowed the artists to create more experimental and challenging work, but she fears it is unlikely to gain a foothold in China. "The underground works are not growing in importance in China, but they have the potential and opportunities to grow in the West." Manhua artists - both mainstream and underground - are beginning to find markets for their work far away from their homeland. France in particular has taken to the comics. Mr Gravett says more than 4,000 comic books were published in France last year, and traces the popularity of the art form there to the generations of French raised on Tintin and Asterix. Edinburgh-based Yishan Li is working on several books to be published in France this year. She describes her own work as "girly stuff" - ranging from historical detective dramas to young girls' adventure stories - showing there is always room for comics devoid of political content. "People turn to comics because they want to laugh," she says. "They want to be entertained. They don't want something that'll make them feel like they're watching News 24 - that would just be depressing."
BROKEN FRONTIER This month, as part of the China Now festival of Chinese culture across the U.K., the London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London, plays host to Manhua! China Comics Now, Britain's first exhibition of contemporary Chinese comics. Curated by noted British comics historian Paul Gravett, it runs from March 7 to April 11 2008 and attendance is free. Further details, along with information on special events linked to the exhibition, can be found on Paul's website. Broken Frontier took a trip to London's Elephant & Castle to check out the event and also spoke to British-based Chinese comic creator Yishan Li. The promotional art to the right is by Benjamin Le Soir and pre-publicity for the exhibition reads as follows: Manhua are the powerful narrative art form of comics and graphic novels in China and are poised to become the next global cross-media phenomenon, spinning off into films, television, animation, games, toys and more. The exhibition explores 19th Century Picture Story Traditions, the Modern Manhua Masters, Hong Kong's New Wave movement and China's Next Generation of artists. With over 200 pieces of artwork and printed matter, this free exhibition presents the quality, diversity and individuality of recent and current Chinese comics from the last twenty-five years. As consumers, comics fans in the U.S. and the U.K. can largely be forgiven for their jaded outlook. With the all-encompassing, and endlessly recycled, super-hero genre dominating the market in both countries it's easy to forget sometimes just how much scope comics can (and should) have. You will encounter few better examples of this than the current exhibition of Chinese Manhua at the London College of Communication that, in terms of both style and content, provides a display of strikingly diverse material. The exhibition comprises both original artwork and rare Chinese publications with the majority of the contemporary artwork displayed in loosely themed categories (Fantasy, Histories, Romance, Legends, Rebellion and Humor among others). This allows for a fascinating juxtaposition of genres - from populist martial arts and traditional mythological heroes to stark political commentary and comics with an underground vibe, all the way through to humorous Transformers-style Hong Kong buildings and beyond. (At this point older British comics fans may find themselves looking at the mixture of styles and subject matter and wistfully remembering a time when a similar variety of material was prevalent on the shelves of any high street newsagent...) Directly highlighting the power of comics as a medium for disseminating ideas and philosophies, Manhua has been used as both state propaganda (during the Cultural Revolution) and more recently, through the work of underground creators, as a medium for expressing their feelings about modern China. This history of the form is also well represented with a selection of archive lianhuanhua (palm-sized "graphic novels" that originated in the early part of the Twentieth Century) that range from the political and ideological to blatantly pirated Tintin knock-offs! As an interesting comparison, visitors will note a more political element to some of the contemporary work displayed in the Histories, Rebellion and City Life sections of the exhibition. Later this month two very special associated events will also be held at the London College of Communication. On Wednesday 19 March comics creators Chihoi Lee and Hok Tak Yeung will be present for a Hong Kong Comics Evening demonstrating their drawing techniques and discussing both their work and the current independent Chinese comics scene. They will be joined by fellow Hong Kong cartoonist Mr. Clement and curator Paul Gravett. Tuesday 25 March sees a Chinese Comics Study Day looking at the "traditions and revolutions" of Manhua, the "great masters and innovators" of the medium and Manhua in all its forms; from the traditional to the mass-market. A whole host of creators will be in attendance. More information on both these free events can be found here. If you're anything like me, the chances are the artists featured in the exhibition will be largely unfamiliar to you... but I guarantee you'll leave the galleries with a determination to find out more about their work! Manhua – China Comics Now is a worthy and fascinating show, with an intelligent and accessible layout that will reward any comics fan who makes the trip. If you're in the London area over the next month, make sure you grab this unique opportunity to check out another culture's approach to graphic storytelling. Broken Frontier was also fortunate enough to have a quick chat with Yishan Li, a UK-based Chinese comics creator involved in the exhibition as both a contributor and a guest at some of the associated events. Amongst Yishan's current work is the upcoming CutieB and the monthly manga page for Cosmopolitan's teen counterpart CosmoGirl. Yishan talks below about Manhua, her work and the exhibition's aims. Read the full interview here...
VISIT LONDON This free exhibition explores the art and stories within modern Chinese comic books. For the first time ever in the UK, the quality, diversity and individuality of Chinese comics from the last 25 years will be on display. There will also be the opportunity to view select work from Taiwan and Hong Kong. The exhibition is curated by Paul Gravett, director of Comica, London's International Comics Festival at the ICA and author of Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics, Graphic Novels: Stories To Change Your Life, and Great British Comics.
TIMES ONLINE Download here an exclusive, free version of Chinese artist Coco Wang's Wild China, an image designed especially for The Times to celebrate the China Now festival. An exhibition of Manhua — the narrative art form of comics and graphic novels in China — runs from Friday to April 11 at the London College of Communication, London SE1 (020-7514 6500)
THE INDEPENDENT The first Manhua comic appeared on the Chinese market in 1928. The genre was used as a political tool during the Second World War and by Mao's regime, before being adopted by today's underground artists, intent on challenging the state. Now Britain's first exhibition of the Manhua tradition – which traces its roots back to Chinese drawings from 11th century BC – is being staged in London. Manhua! China Comics Now, opening next Friday at the London College of Communication as part of China Now, a six-month cultural festival in Britain, will trace the 19th-century picture-story tradition out of which Manhua emerged, with a display of prints and rare palm-sized graphic novels which were originally used to provide education for the illiterate as well as political propaganda. The display of 200 pieces of artwork includes unofficial pirate versions of Hergé's Tintin, and China's long-running cartoon boy hero, San Mao. Most of the images have never been seen in the West. During Mao's Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, comics were used as propaganda, featuring a smiling workforce and heroic images from folk legends. In recent years, the artform has been adopted by a group of underground illustrators to challenge notions of freedom and modernisation in China. Because of their subversive nature, Manhua comics are not granted licences to be sold in bookshops, so artists give away artwork or send it free to mobile phones. The show spotlights work from the past 25 years by modern Manhua masters, Tony Wong, Ma Wing Shin and Lee Chi Ching, pioneers who transformed Hong Kong's comics with all-action martial arts illustrations, which have since been adapted into films. A separate section shows works by Hong Kong's New Wave movement, led by satirical cartoonists including Danny Yung and Raymond Doe. They were working during the hand-over period for magazines such as Cockroach and Spring Roll and used the comic form to explore questions of freedom, feminism, discrimination and politics. Paul Gravett, the show's curator, said he hoped the exhibition would show how the new generation of satirical cartoonists revolutionised the genre. "Manhua was an art form in Communist China. The subjects were legends or propaganda but the artistic quality was extraordinary. There is still control in mainland China so mainstream comics tend to be romantic or based in history. "Underground artists, particularly in Beijing and Shanghai, are critical and question ideas of freedom and self-expression. They attack these ideas in a symbolic way through surreal situations," he said. One such comic refers to an iconic photograph of the battle of Iwo Jima, in which 20,000 Japanese soldiers perished. It features six American marines raising the US flag on top of Mount Suribachi after capturing the airfields. The absurdist Manhua reference to this moment is illustrated by a "Trouser" liberation, in which a defiant man hoists his own leg wear on to a flagpole, opening up the debate about the possibility of freedom through revolution, according to Mr Gravett. "There is also a tension between traditional and modern aspects of China and capitalism in these comics," he added. Works from key artists, including Zhang Xiaoyu and Benjamin Le Soir from China, and Lily Lau from Hong Kong, will be on display, while the British-based Chinese artists Yishan Li, Mr Clement and TH (Tim) Yu will create special "live" artworks in the gallery. 
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EXHIBITION INFORMATION Exhibition INTERVIEWS LINKS
EXHIBITION Admission Free Dates: Venue: Opening Times:
MANHUA Artists: Publishers: Resources: |
Text © Paul Gravett.
All artwork © the respective copyright holders.
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