MAAP Projects

Manhua Wonderlands

Slurping down noodles while skimming through manga comics in a hybrid pearl tea/ LAN arcade as karaoke clips flicker on television monitors, and j-pop is piped through the speakers - it is this highly mediated fusion of cross-cultural experiences that Manhua Wonderlands aims to explore.

In partnership with the State Library of Queensland Mobile Multimedia Lab, Manhua Wonderlands will present a series of collaborative workshops conducted by new media artists that will lead to the creation of media art works exploring networked cultures and communities. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn areas of media arts practice such as game design, stop-motion animation, audio-visual performance, and video collage.

The result of these workshops is the creation of screen works that will be presented as part of a Public Exhibitions Programme in 2006. Karaoke clubs, pearl-tea cafes, gaming arcades, purikura stickerbooths, sushi stations and yum cha restaurants throughout Chinatown, Darra, and Sunnybank will become exhibition 'hotpots' hosting a series of site-specific installations, screenings, projections and performances. Content created as part of Manhua Wonderlands will be featured at the launch of MAAP in November 2006 at the State Library of Queensland, compiled into a DVD Zine, and toured throughout regional Queensland through the State Library public library network.

Manhua Wonderlands will also see the creation of unique education resources accessible to the widerpublic and regional areas of Queensland. This education extension is supported by VACBandMuseum and Gallery Services Queensland and is being developed through the State Librarys partnership with Education Queensland through The Learning Place.

Manhua Wonderlands is a new media/ community cultural development project produced by Thea Baumann through the Australia Council's New Media Arts Board and Community Cultural Development Board EPIC (Emerging Producers in the Community) initiative.