Over the winter holidays, Blue Bear Films filmed another video about the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Galleries collection of pre-modern Japanese art. This segment interviewed Matt Alt, an expert on Japanese pop culture, manga and anime.
These films are part of a large resource website that will debut in 2015 to provide worldwide access to the Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Galleries extensive pre-modern Asian art collection. The videos provide interpretation through the eyes of contemporary artists, filmmakers, and others.
Matt Alt discussed the folklore and artwork that inspired much of today’s Manga and Anime, from monsters and ghosts, to the evolution of Ninja and Transformers.
Senior curator of Japanese art Dr. James Ulak and researcher Motoko Shimizu provided in-depth expertise about the woodblock prints, sketches and paintings from Japan’s Edo Period artists in the 1800s.
