In the 1920s, the pocket-sized picture story books (lianhuanhua) were read on the streets and later on used as propaganda tools. Nowadays, the contemporary animation and comic industry is booming. The Cartoon Museum Basel in cooperation with the National Museum of Modern Art in China (NAMOC) will display the first large-scale exhibition of contemporary Chinese Comic Art (manhua) and its important historical models in Switzerland.
The displayed contemporary works are examples of the creativity of a new generation of Chinese artists. The historical works - concentrating on the period between 1930 and 1980 - are important reference points and still influence today's comic art. Comic strips always present a mirror of society. Therefore, next to stylistic and technical variety, the drastic social and political changes since the 1960s are reflected upon.
