Tetsuya Ozaki's lecture "Yokai and Japanese Contemporary Art"
5 September, 2024
2024 September 5, Thursday, 18:00
National Gallery of Art
Konstitucijos pr. 22 , Vilnius
Modern manga’s distant ancestors can be traced to the Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga (Animal-person Caricatures) from the 12th to 13th centuries and the first volume of Hokusai Manga, published in 1814.
Modern manga, particularly after World War II, grew significantly alongside the revival of Japan’s economy. Almost no contemporary Japanese grew up without reading manga. Regardless of its pros and cons, contemporary artists are no exception.
Hokusai manga is a sketchbook featuring drawings of flora, fauna, customs, professions, famous places, historical stories, and even ghosts and yokai (supernatural creatures). But why are yokai so beloved by the Japanese? Prof Tetsuya Ozaki believes there are three reasons.
Born in Tokyo in 1955, Tetsuya Ozaki is an editor, publisher, art and multimedia critic, visiting researcher at the Kyoto University of the Arts Academic Research Centre. From 2000 to 2016, he was the publisher and editor-in-chief of the web magazine “Realtokyo”. In 2002 he oversaw editing a collection of photographs “One Hundred Years of Idiocy”, where he compiled the follies of a mankind in the 20th century, in 10 various subjects such as, the environment, technology, and war etc. In 2003, he launched the bilingual Japanese-English contemporary art magazine “ART iT”. Ozaki was the chief consultant for the exhibition „Beauties, Ghosts and Samurai“, curated by Dr Arūnas Gelūnas.
Working language is Japanese, simultaneous translation to Lithuanian.
Free of charge with a gallery ticket.
Registration link: https://forms.office.com/e/CgpZEDMjRF
The lecture accompanies the exhibition „Beauties, Ghosts and Samurai. Japan’s pop culture tradition from Edo period ukiyo-e to 20th-21st-century manga, anime and sūpā furatto“, which is on show at the National Gallery of Art until 13 October.
The event will be photographed and filmed, so please note that you may be seen in the photos and videos. These photos and videos may be published on social networks or media outlets.
