Join us at 2pm to jump deep into Yokai, J-horror, and all things spooky with Zack Davisson, Writer, Translator, Folklorist; as he shares the world of " Masters of Monsters: The Tradition of Horror in Japanese Folklore and Manga". Book signing to follow the talk. Free Talk with Museum Admission.
To request ASL interpretation please contact patricia.sigala@state.nm.us, by Oct. 9th.
12noon-2pm Get Ready for Halloween and Make Your Own Yokai Mask in the Atrium
From the ancient weird energy of mononoke to the rise of yokai in the Edo period, Japanese storytellers have a well of frights to draw on. Kabuki artists like Tsuruya Namboku IV spun ancient folklore into modern stories. Ukiyo-e artists like Yoshitoshi Tsukioka amped up the gore and writers like Ryunosuke Akutagawa refined the shock into terror.This is the inheritance of horror that modern manga artists have continued to build upon. ‘Ge-Ge-Ge no Kitaro’ artist Shigeru Mizuki was one of the first to use Japan’s folkloric past in manga, followed by second-wave artists like Hideshi Hino and Tsunezo Murotani and modern artists like Junji Ito. Learn more about this legacy of horror!
Zack Davisson is an award-winning translator, writer, and folklorist. He is the author of Yurei: the Japanese Ghost, Yokai Stories, Narrow Road, Amabie: Past and Present, and Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan and translator of Shigeru Mizuki's multiple Eisner Award-winning Showa: a History of Japan, Tono Monogatari, and famous folklore comic Kitaro.
He lectured on manga, folklore, and translation at colleges such as Duke University, Annapolis Naval Academy, UCLA, and the University of Washington and contributed to exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery, The Museum of International Folk Art, Wereldmuseum Rotterdan, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
He was a researcher and on-screen talent for National Geographic’s TV special OKINAWA: THE LOST GHOSTS OF JAPAN, has appeared as a commentator on Chinese news network CCTV.
He has maintained the popular Japanese folklore website HYAKUMONOGATARI.COM since 2010.
He currently resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife Miyuki, their dog Mochi, cats Bagheera and Sheer Khan—and several ghosts.