International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), one of the organizers of this exhibition, is preparing to hold the 10th International Conference of Museums for Peace, as a virtual-online asynchronous conference on September 16 (Wed), from Kyoto. This exhibition is planned as a part of the event, focusing on the expressive and expanding power of manga, with a purpose of “exhibiting peace” in a virtual space.
In the present-day peace studies, peace is redefined as absence of violence rather than absence of war, and here, violence implies a cause that obstructs the full bloom of human abilities. It can be starvation, poverty, social discrimination, suppression of human rights, environmental destruction, delays of welfare, education and medical care or others. In this way, violence in different shapes exists in our daily life, not somewhere removed from us.
At this moment, a new type of violence is occurring in Japan and abroad because of the novel corona virus epidemic. There are many situations that threaten human life and dignity, such as discrimination and prejudice against infected people, pressure on medical facilities due to political situations, and deterioration of labor environments because of stagnating economies.
In these circumstances, we decided to open this exhibition online to show manga works created with unfettered ideas, immediately and internationally. Moreover, submitted works during the exhibition period will be showcased on the webpage immediately upon arrival, instead of first collecting works and then opening the completed online exhibition. This is because people’s opinions on what is accurate could change daily and we want to represent contributors’ ideas as close to real-time as possible.
No one knows by what kind of artists nor how many works this “Manga Pandemic Web Exhibition” will contain. It is possible that the exhibition will not be complete by lack of submissions. Nevertheless, we, organizers believe that the instantaneous and spreading power of manga can help us combat the virus.
Anyone in the world can submit their works for the exhibition. You might develop a fever for manga, but please join us in promoting peace through this project!