"Roaming in Fantasy: Creative Comic Collection Exhibit" Breaks through Dimensions and Basks in Senses
"Roaming in Fantasy: Creative Comic Collection Exhibit" offers an immersive experience of revisiting manga stories.
In 2017 this exhibit's precedent series "World of Comics" explored cross-discipline presentations. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Creative Comic Collection (CCC) and the foundation of Taiwan Comic Base, the Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures (ASCDC) presents "Roaming in Fantasy" in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and a number of business partners.
This 2018 edition of comic exhibit features Scrolls of a Northern City, one of the manga classics of CCC, whose movie adaptation is underway. In making use of Apple ARKit 2, the exhibit recreates AR scenes of the story such that the 1930s Taipei teahouse materializes as the immediate surroundings of the visitor.
In addition to the early twentieth-century urban décor, the space is going to be populated by the manga's sought-after characters as well, so the way of seeing will not remain one-way. The visitor will be greeted by the three-dimensional projection of a teahouse waitress in period costume.
Dr Chin-shing Huang, Vice President of Academia Sinica, points out that since its inception in 2009 CCC has spared no effort to "translate" cultural heritage into new forms of narratives. After its reorganization, it applies new media to numerous cross-discipline productions and marks itself as an active agent in Taiwan's burgeoning intellectual-property-intensive industry. "These stories deriving from Taiwan's historical archives and scholarship not only popularizes Taiwan's cultural-historical assets for the general public but also paves the way for IP-intensive adaptations."
An original manga story, Scrolls of a Northern City develops into a cinematographic adaptation, which brings the audience back to Taipei under the Japanese rule with a twist of fantasy. The period backdrop includes a 3D reconstruction of Kikumoto department store and Taipei's historical streetscape. The exhibit will screen a pilot film of the movie and the behind-the-scene stories. Physical components comprise costumes, props, and film stills.
Another section of the exhibit is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of CCC. The magazine took shape through the Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (formerly known as the National Science Council). Its mission was to create manga works unique to Taiwan's social, historical, and natural fabrics. It released 20 issues up to the end of 2015, amounting to approximately 100,000 copies. In 2017 CCC is transformed from a quarterly magazine into a monthly one under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture with a view to a sharper focus on professional trends and longer manga stories. It has issued 10 volumes so far.
The CCC section tells the collection's publication history through an interactive bookshelf equipped with a touch panel powered by Aver Information. Copies and spin-off productions of CCC from different phases of its development will be on display. People can scribble and comment on the virtual wall and have a look at the signature of the magazine's contract manga artists.
Also available at Taiwan Comic Base is a VR installation inspired by Yamaraja's List, a manga adventure into the underworld.
Possibilities of pushing IP-intensive production of Taiwan manga forward interweave the genre, cultural materials, and technology. The ASCDC's commitment to pioneer this area with CCC will stay strong and steady.
Download the press release, clip, and exhibit pictures here
Roaming in Fantasy: Creative Comic Collection Exhibit
Dates: December 25, 2018-January 6, 2019
Location: Taiwan Comic Base
No. 38, Huayin St., Datong Dist., Taipei City 10349
Opening hours: 11:00-19:00, Tuesday-Sunday
Supervised by: Academia Sinica, Ministry of Culture
Organized by: Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures, Taiwan Comic Base
Co-organized by: Shih Hsin University
Other partners: Aver Information, Gaea Books, Kiwing Co.,
Kent Animation Digital Independent Production, Inc.,
Kadokawa International Edutainment
Project: Creative Comic Collection Publication Project II, Ministry of Culture
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeComicCollection/
