At MANN in Naples, the exhibition that compares Japanese manga and ancient artifacts

Singular exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples asks what oriental comic book stars and ancient art masterpieces have in common. To answer it, the exhibition Manga Heroes. Heroes and Myths on the Slopes of the Volcano, produced by MANN in collaboration with COMICON and J-POP MANGA and curated by Jacopo Buranelli. Manga Heroes thus confirms the collaboration between MANN and COMICON after the programming in past years of exhibitions on Hugo Pratt, Tanino Liberatore and Jean Giraud, known as Moebius. The Obvia project, which has promoted all COMICON-related events, has Daniela Savy (University of Naples Federico II) as its contact person. The exhibition is being held in the MANN’s Pompeii Plastic Room from April 21 to Sept. 19, 2022, and the installation is part of the University of Naples Federico II’s “Obvia- Out of boundaries viral art dissemination” project.

The exhibition intends to create fantastic connections between worlds that are only seemingly distant: it is the volcano that is configured as a cultural trait d’union: from Vesuvius, which buried Herculaneum and Pompeii in 79 A.D., to Fuji, a reference point for the Japanese pop tradition. Along the exhibition route you can find a special selection of works (about one hundred and thirty original plates, animation cells, helmets, toys and rare objects), Japanese comic book heroes are compared with mythical characters of antiquity.

In the exhibition come helmets reminiscent of the helmets of Magna Graecia, armor of the Knights of the Zodiac not so different from gladiators, preparatory studies and animation cells that express a figurative geometry projected not only into the future, but especially into the past. For the MANN, this is a temporal short circuit. The exhibition also wants to create a kind of archaeological journey into the “manga myth,” told by great narrative, almost epic themes. Astroboy as a little Heracles, Takemichi as a young Xenophon, passing through mythological figures such as Tiger Man, Godzilla and Pokémon. The target audience of the event is not only the hardcore fans belonging to the 1970s generation, but also the very young people curious about the art of comics. For those who may not be familiar with these characters, however, the exhibition is also meant to act as a kind of encyclopedia of Japanese comics and folklore.

The exhibition is divided into six sections: Myth and Science Fiction, Demons and Super Robots, At the Foot of the Volcano, Gigantomachy, Modern Anabasis, and Warriors of Athena. On display are rare pieces by Fabrizio Modina, Anima Firenze, Christian Colombo, Federico Profaizer, Enzo Francesco Crosera and other international collectors. Not to be missed is the precious collection of auteur portraits, signed by Barbara Barberis who, with her “Mecha” project, has immortalized the most iconic faces of Japan’s robotic Golden Age.

“Japan, a land of volcanoes and earthquakes, is a country culturally linked to the ancient story of Pompeii, so much so that it has funded many excavations in the Vesuvian cities and hosted, just this year, the extraordinary traveling exhibition ’Pompeii’ organized by MANN in the cities of Tōkyō, Kyōto, Sendai and Fukuoka,” explains MANN director Paolo Giulierini.“At the National Archaeological Museum of Naples we have been promoting for four years now the festival -The Other Japan-, a window on contemporary Japanese art. And, as is well known, Kagoshima, a city also with a bay and a volcano, has been twinned with Naples for over sixty years.”

“We think it is more than natural that as part of the well-established and now long-standing collaboration between our Festival and the National Archaeological Museum, to explore and present this aspect of international comic book production as well, bringing the universe of Japanese manga to the splendid halls of the Museum,” emphasizes Claudio Curcio, director of COMICON.

“Through the Manga Heroes exhibition, visitors to MANN will be able to immerse themselves in a cultural horizon that unites Vesuvius and Mount Fuji. The room of the Plastique of Pompeii will host the heroes of Japanese comics and animation in dialogue with the exhibits, deepening the link between the myths of the past and the legends of contemporaneity,” comments the curator of the exhibition, Jacopo C. Buranelli.

During the programming period of the “Manga Heroes” exhibition, COMICON 2022 ticket or subscription holders will be able to access the National Archaeological Museum of Naples with a special ticket at a cost of 7.5 euros. COMICON visitors will also enjoy promotional rates at sites in the ExtraMann network.

At MANN in Naples, the exhibition that compares Japanese manga and ancient artifacts

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