With Covid-19 bringing global tourism to a standstill, Hongkongers are longing for cultural and travel experiences more than ever before.
Recognizing the popularity and impact of comic culture, the online exhibition – ‘The Comic Tour of Taiwan: When Location Becomes the Story Stage’ invites everyone to embark on a special two-dimensional cultural tour of Taiwan.
The event is one of the highlights of the 15th Taiwan Arts Festival –‘Ciao! Taiwan’, organized by Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Center, running from October 9 to November 22. With its eight diverse programs, the festival pays tribute to tradition and showcases the transcendent creativity of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Themed around ‘pop-culture tourism’, the exhibition assembles the work of outstanding Taiwanese comics artists to introduce 11 Taiwan’s cities, such as Taipei, Kaohsiung and Tainan. Each comic features different historical and significant events of a city, offering readers a taste of local customs through lively and creative visual effects on the website.
With the aim of promoting comics culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the event invited Taiwanese comics artist Zuo Hsuan and Hong Kong Comics and Animation Federation Deputy Chairman Alan Wan for a cross-strait Facebook discussion on November 11, covering topics from the history of Taiwan and Hong Kong’s comics industry to its future development.
When asked about their impressions of Taiwan and Hong Kong’s comics, they both recalled the work of some famous local comics artists. “When I was a student, my classmate lent me ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’ illustrated by Lee Chi-ching, and I was amazed by its story settings and illustrations,” says Zuo, adding that the comic inspired lots of her childhood fantasies.
Noticing a growing trend of comic books featuring distinctive local elements, Wan points out that there is a group of young Hong Kong comics artists expressing their love of local culture through comics. “They use comics to portray and capture important elements of Hong Kong, such as old buildings, traditional districts, cultural events, or something that had already disappeared,” he notes.
Similarly, Zhou’s debut comic, ‘Rites of Returning’, illustrates a religious festival of her home town at Daxi district in Taoyuan City, which is also one of the comics presented in the online exhibition.
Every year, on June 24 of the lunar calendar, Daxi will hold a parade to celebrate Lord Guan Yu’s birthday, which is recognized as the ‘second Chinese New Year’. Through Zhou’s delicate illustration styles and attention to fine details, the comics showcases Daxi’s natural scenery and lifestyle, introducing readers to the local cultural event.
“I want to use the gods as a theme to depict the bonds between people,” she says. During the day, local people will congregate and people living apart will also come back to prepare and celebrate the festival. “These scenes of reunion touch me deeply. Therefore, I hope readers can also feel the urge of going back home after reading this comic.”
In 2020, the award-winning comic was also adapted into a TV series, attracting attention from foreign distributors and the media. Zhou thinks that this kind of collaboration creates a positive influence on comics readers and the industry.
“I believe our online exhibition can encourage comics readers to travel the world, while people who don’t read comics can start developing the interest,” she adds.
Long seen as lowbrow, comics is a forbidden childhood hobby for many people. But for Zhou, comics is similar to movies, as both address diverse topics and appeal to specific audiences. “You won’t stop watching movies even when you have grown up, right?” she asks.
Looking forward, Zhou hopes that there could be more opportunities for comics artists and readers to communicate with one another after the pandemic. “I hope comics can continue to grow and integrate into people’s daily life, becoming a new option for entertainment or art appreciation.”
The Comic Tour of Taiwan:
When Location Becomes the Story Stage
Website: https://event.creative-comic.tw/tcm2020hk/
