Museum Shop Manga Pop-up March 19

To mark the last day of the exhibition Navigating a Minefield: A Manga Depiction of Japanese Americans in the Second World War, the Museum Shop has invited manga artist and illustrator Brady Evans (and former HoMA staffer!) to hold a pop-up of his work starting Thursday, March 16 and running through Family Sunday on March 19, 11am to 3pm.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Brady draws inspiration from his multicultural background, family stories and East Asian folklore. He has been a driving force in fostering Honolulu’s manga community. The focus of Navigating a Minefield is the graphic novel Journey of Heroes: The Story of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, written by Stacey Hayashi and illustrated by Damon Wong. Brady helped introduce Stacey to her manga peers when he invited her to participate in a manga exhibition in 2013.

Journey of Heroes was originally meant to help tell a story that Hayashi wanted to portray on film, and it has wound up having a life of its own. “I’ve always admired Stacey’s drive,” says Brady. “What I find so neat is [Journey of Heroes] became such an important tool in and of itself.”

At the pop-up Brady will share his new, endearing Year of the Rabbit print featuring a giant bunny-shaped cloud—you get one with a purchase of $50 or more. “It’s the year of the water rabbit,” says Brady, “so I wanted to create something with an aqua color. And I love drawing serene or awe-inspiring nature landscapes and clouds and I thought since a lot of rabbits are white, it would be an interesting visual play.”

Stickers, posters, books and other art prints of Brady’s illustrations will also be on sale.