It’s Manga mania at Louvre Abu Dhabi’s newest creative zone
Manga fans, young and old, will be thrilled to hear that Louvre Abu Dhabi launched its very first “Manga Lab” last week, to coincide with its new exhibition Japanese Connections: The Birth of Modern Decor.
The lab is housed in Louvre Abu Dhabi’s forum, and features an “expression wall” where visitors can write or draw their own thoughts on Manga-inspired cartoons. There are also chill-out reading zones inspired by Japanese Manga cafes that are stocked with Manga books and comics, and there are creative areas where visitors can add their own touches to incomplete Manga-style comics. The lab will also be displaying Manga-inspired artworks from Emirati and resident artists.
The area is aimed primarily at children and young adults, although with Manga’s popularity among all age groups, and the presence of a selection of retro arcade games, you can be sure that a few of the bigger boys and girls will be taking a look, too, on their way to or from the main exhibits.
The lab will also be hosting a number of Manga-themed creative workshops from now until January, with topics including “Make your own Manga T-shirt” and “How to write a Manga.” Workshop leaders will include the likes of Abu Dhabi Manga artist Asami Art and the Cartoon Network Animation Academy’s Maryam Al Atouli.
Another high point is the central virtual reality space, where visitors can pull on a VR headset and take themselves “inside” a
selection of paintings from the main exhibition. The National checked out Utagawa Hiroshige’s Ichikoku Bridge in the
Eastern Capital, where we discovered we could get in a boat and sail under the bridge and down the river, checking out the scenery and skies for 360-degrees around as we went. It had nothing to do with Manga, but was fun nonetheless.
Entry to the Manga Lab, which is on until January 5, 2019, is included with general admission tickets. Louvre Abu Dhabi is open from 10am-8pm on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and until 10pm on Thursdays and Fridays. The museum is closed on Mondays. For more, visit www.louvreabudhabi.ae.