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Video
Hobart apology
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Written by Kate Gordon
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
 Go Graphic: graphic novels/ manga/ comics/ animated film/ gaming/
Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, 91 Murray Street, Hobart
(Until October 18)
My stepbrother used to be into Neon Genesis Evangelion, at about the time I was into The Spice Girls and Buffy.
He used to try and get me interested, begging me to sit down with him to watch the episodes on SBS every afternoon. As you can imagine, I was about as interested in that as I was in going to look at his model plane collection.
Back then, I thought I was a bit cool. Now, I know I'm not. On the other hand, Neon Genesis, and the manga and anime culture of which it is part, is suddenly uber-chic.
In Hobart, it's difficult to walk through the bus mall ... well, at any time, really, but my point is, every second groovy looking school kid in the mall is decked out like a Japanese “Harajuku girl” - and that's just the boys! When I asked one of my “on trend” young colleagues what was her favourite movie of all time, she was quick to reply: "Princess Mononoke".
Indeed, movies like the cult hit, Mononoke, as well as the commercial hit, Howl's Moving Castle have done much to legitimise the culture over the past years. Back in my former career as a public librarian, the idea of having a manga collection was met with sneers of derision by the “powers-that-think-they-be”. There's one there now. And, even more than that, there is a whole exhibition on the stuff, showing between now and October.
Go Graphic: graphic novels/ manga/ comics/ animated film/ gaming/ is a showcase of the work of award winning Tasmanian graphic artists, illustrators and film makers. It features the manga work of graphic novelist, Madeleine Rosca, author of the popular novel, Hollow Fields (pictured).
If you can withstand the slightly miffed glare of the librarian on duty (who still believes that children should only read Dickens, in between their chimney-sweeping shifts), you might also like to have a go at the Arcade Trap 3D experience and interactive game.
There's no escaping it: Manga is mega these days. My stepbrother is the height of chic. Well, just as long as he doesn't bring out his model planes ...
Join the manga mania at www.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/whatdo/whatson
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