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The British Library is to launch the largest exhibition of comic books in UK history, as the curator claims they want to inspire children to be “naughtier and more rebellious”.
The library will use this year’s show to elevate the status of comics as a research tool, arguing they should be given the same weight as primary sources as the greatest works of literature.
The exhibition’s curator, John Harris Dunning, told the Telegraph the display of seditious comics is intended in part to inspire the next generation to be “rebellions, troublesome and naughty”.
Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK will display more than 200 comic books from 1825 to the modern day, including one 1970s work focusing on an obscenity trial.
It is just one of the exhibitions announced for the British Library in 2014, alongside Terror and Wonder, a collection of Gothic literature, the personal archive of author Hanif Kureishi, and archives from the First World War.
Among the works on show will be The Trials of the Nasty Tales, a comic relating to the “Nasty Tales” series which stood trial for obscenity in the 1970s.
“One of the messages is that we’re trying to teach kids to be rebellious,” he said. “There’s such a huge tradition of rebellion in comics, whether it’s about religion, gender, politics, it’s really strong.
“One of the key focuses of this exhibition is sedition and rebellion, and I think British comics have got an incredible legacy of that,” he said. “They’re really rebellious in terms of gender, in terms of sex, in terms of politics, the portrayal of society and race, and I really want that to be highlighted, particularly for the next generation.
The exhibition will run from May to August this year, with the Gothic literature show opening in October and the First World War archives put on display in June.
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Wow, got some great exhibitions scheduled and I wish I could go.
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