Combine your visit to Japan House London’s URASAWA Naoki exhibition ‘This is MANGA’ with an evening lecture on the artist by leading UK anime and manga writer Helen MCCARTHY.

Urasawa Naoki has been called one of the artists that have changed the history of manga, and his work has been recognised with multiple awards domestically and internationally.

In this talk, Helen McCarthy views his work as artist and writer from another angle: like TEZUKA Osamu, Urasawa is an explorer, a pathfinder building bridges from the comfortable world we know and accept into other, wider landscapes. From his debut as artist on ‘BETA!!’ to his current work ‘Renzoku Manga Shōsetsu Asadora!’, Urasawa’s filmic panel layouts and subtly detailed frames lead us through complex and often challenging worlds with characters who are real and relatable but never ordinary.

The exhibition ‘This is MANGA: the Art of URASAWA NAOKI’ is on display in the Japan House Gallery from 5 June until 28 July 2019.

About Helen MCCARTHY

Writer, speaker, artist and poet, Helen McCarthy wrote the first book in English about Japanese animation. Her books include ‘The Anime Encyclopedia’ and biographies of MIYAZAKI Hayao and Tezuka Osamu. She recently completed her fourteenth non-fiction book, on MATSUMOTO Leiji. Her work is widely cited in academic and general texts. Helen has curated many events at London's Barbican Cinema, including landmark seasons celebrating Tezuka Osamu and this autumn’s Anime’s Human Machines season. She also worked with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui on his manga-inspired productions TeZuKa and Pluto. She is currently collaborating with the British Museum on the Citi exhibition Manga マンガ.

Booking Essential; Admission Free