Storytelling – When Kamishibai and Comics Come to Life!?
(2025) When Kamishibai and Comics Come to Life!? — Location: Shizuoka, Japan (5.April.2025)
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- Authors
Gencheva, Svetlana 
- Abstract
- This project marks the beginning of an inedit cultural collaboration between France and Japan. The joint exhibition of Svetlana Gencheva and Makoto Tagawa, Storytelling – When Kamishibai and Comics Come to Life!?, to be held in Japan in 2025, represents the first step toward presenting their works together in both countries, thus creating bridges between artistic traditions and digital innovations. As part of the twinning between Shizuoka and Cannes, this initiative will highlight the original fusion of storytelling, European culture, and traditional Japanese aesthetics through augmented reality paintings, calligraphy, and kamishibai (紙芝居, paper theater). For the first time, the collaborative works will come to life at the Shizuoka-CCC Gallery thanks to augmented reality, offering viewers direct interaction via a mobile application. The main objective is to offer an immersive experience that harmoniously combines culture, technology, and sequential art. Another ambition of this collaboration is to showcase the works of Svetlana Gencheva and Makoto Tagawa at the cultural venue of Saint-Martin Church in 2026. Looking ahead to 2026, Gencheva is preparing an immersive exhibition and artistic workshops at Saint-Martin Church in Coussay-les-Bois, in partnership with the Association Culture et Patrimoine Saint-Martin. This project follows an artistic residency in Shizuoka (Japan), in collaboration with the artists Peter & Joseph (Instagram), centered on augmented kamishibai (Japanese paper theater). It will include workshops for schools, middle and high schools, as well as the general public, integrating painting, comics, and accessible digital tools such as the Halo AR application. The project aims to foster cultural access in rural areas while raising awareness of new digital artistic techniques. Svetlana Gencheva’s professional path is rooted in a vision of transmission, digital inclusion, and intercultural dialogue, addressing schoolchildren, university students, and the wider public alike.
- Affiliations
CCC
Citations
Gencheva, S., & Tagawa, M. (2025). Storytelling – When Kamishibai and Comics Come to Life!? When Kamishibai and Comics Come to Life!?, Shizuoka, Japan. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/248821