listen with your eyes
before verbal language and written words came to be, human beings communicated through pure visual expression – an outlet that gives space for viewers to individually interpret and be inspired at the same time; a romantic anti-semantic without verbal tactic but still dense with messages to be conveyed. we invite you to open your eyes, your mind, and your heart to the works of a few artists, and one magazine editor, each with a story to tell and to be heard by the eyes
drawing power
eiji han shimizu and his socio-political works of art
“Nowadays, people have less and less attention span. Images de?nitely grasp readers attention better than texts,” says Eiji Han Shimizu, founder of “Make the World Better by Manga Media”, a documentary manga series based on real life characters such as the Dalai Lama, Che Guevara, Mother Teresa and one on Mahatma Gandhi.
Eiji integrates manga – a Japanese style of comic books which most people deem as a kitsch sub-culture – with socio-political topics. “Manga is so accessible and easy to read, that a seemingly dif?cult topic can be explained very easily,” says Eiji. “I wanted to put human faces to political stories that are so foreign to many of us, so that my audience can feel the joy and sorrow of the characters.” His aim is for viewers to take positive action through drawing inspiration from stories told in his manga biographies.
Eiji’s process in creating a manga is no less inspiring. “I choose topics that the world today should pay more attention to – the freedom of Tibet, democracy of Burma, the value of compassion, etc. Then I select an inspiring hero in each topic and contact any institutions related to them. Once I get their approval, I select Japanese manga artists and work with them in research, script writing, and storyboard drawing,” he explains.
With three book titles published in over ten languages and another being concocted, it seems like Eiji’s mission to make the world better is doing quite well. His book on the Dalai Lama was translated into the Tibetan language and distributed to 62 schools and monasteries in India and Tibet as educational material. The one on Che Guevara is used as a text book in history classes at some universities in the United States.
Eiji will be speaking at two events at this year’s ANZ Ubud Writers & Readers Festival; “Judging a Book by Its Cover” and “Happiness in Human Nature”
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