2013
Comics, Manga & Co.

In 2013, the Goethe-Institut presented the colorful and multifaceted exhibition Comics, Manga & Co. - The New German Comic Culture, curated by Matthias Schneider. This exhibition was Goethe-Institut's attempt to pick up on recent developments in German literature since reunification (1990). The German comic -today rather described as a graphic novel - had returned to the German book market, primarily as a legacy of the aesthetic tradition of the GDR.

Since the 19th century, German artists achieved international fame in the history of this literary genre of pictorial history. Great classics of German humor are Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908) and E. O. Plauen, alias Erich Ohser (1903-1944), who created the comic strip series Father and Son from 1934 to 1937. The comic strip also served as a popular medium for social criticism. Drawn satire was found in weekly magazines such as Kladderadatsch (1848-1944) and Simplicissimus (1896 to 1944) as well as the East German Eulenspiegel (1954-1990).

Since the reunification (1990) of East and West Germany, a new generation of artists from Berlin has been attracting attention. "If one were to name a single name, it would be that of a collective. PGH Glühende Zukunft was the name of an East Berlin artists' group that ironically alluded to the producers' cooperative of crafts (PGH) common under socialism. The group formed shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and consisted of Anke Feuchtenberger, Holger Fickelscherer, Henning Wagenbreth, and Detlef Beck. They were all of East German origin and had enjoyed a solid graphic arts education in the GDR, where techniques were still taught that have not been used for a long time at West German art academies and other educational institutions. Work on hand presses, wood or linocut, calligraphy, and book design formed the basis of the Berlin quartet's art and even somewhat younger East German comic artists like Hans-Georg Barber alias Atak and Kat Menschik still benefited from the training they had received in the GDR. These artists became known mainly with posters or caricatures, but that only continued what had also been possible in the GDR.” (Andreas Platthaus, 2013)

The exhibition showed 53 drawings and books by Arne Bellstorf, Martin Tom Dieck, Anke Feuchtenberger, Flix, Jens Harder, Sascha Hommer, Line Hove, Ulf K., Reinhard Kleist, Isabel Kreitz, Mawil, Christina Plaka, and Henning Wagenbreth. For a lecture and workshops with students, the Goethe-Institut invited the illustrator Line Hoven (*1977) to Hanoi. Her workshop was about drawings etched into scratchboard (mezzotint technique). Contributing artists were Nguyen Thanh Phong, Ha Zug Hiep, Nguyen Ngoc Quan, Nguyen The Linh, Nguyen My An, Tạ Lan Hanh, Tran Thu Huong, Bui Dinh Thang, Bach Le, Phan Thanh Tri, Nguyen Quang Huy, Tong Tat Tue, Dao Quang Huy, and Pham Thu Thuy.

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