Bates Japanese minor Thomas Davis (’27) has been taking part in very exciting work over the past two years or so, joining the team of curator Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere in developing and preparing the Art of Manga exhibition, which showcases the art of Japanese manga from the 1970s to today. Dr. Rousmaniere’s 2019 The Citi Exhibition: Manga exhibit at the British Museum was the largest exhibition of manga ever outside Japan, and 2025-2026’s Art of Manga exhibition at the de Young museum in San Francisco was the largest exhibition of manga ever in North America. These popular exhibitions were known especially for drawing in a younger audience than the museums typically see. While manga has not yet been sufficiently appreciated in institutions of fine art, these exhibitions demonstrate the popularity of the art form worldwide. Manga is receiving increased scholarly attention around the world. People like Thomas with education in Japanese language, culture, and history are able to help the public understand the context and importance of the art they see in exhibitions like The Art of Manga.

Thomas worked from Marblehead, Massachusetts, cataloguing the exhibition materials, doing some curation work with Dr. Rousmaniere, and writing descriptions for the manga on display. He described the work as challenging but rewarding: Thomas needed to familiarize himself quickly with a large body of materials and had to engage in an iterative process of writing descriptions and revising them in accordance with feedback from Dr. Rousmaniere and the museum. He said that although it was difficult to craft concise, academic descriptions of the materials, he still feels that some of his personality was able to make it through to the final descriptions. Through this work, Thomas also had the opportunity to meet some of the high-profile manga artists featured in the exhibition.

Thomas’ work depended on reading in English, French, and Japanese, as well as working together with others who had different writing styles. He got to work with some of the delicate materials in their original form. Thomas emphasized that he does not think this work is possible without learning the Japanese language. His work on this exhibition required linguistic and cultural knowledge in order to thoroughly understand the materials, even though some are available in translation. Thomas recently spent a semester abroad in Japan with the Associated Kyoto Program, and said that “going abroad was important to being able to interact with this [material] at the level that I am.” Thomas mentioned that being able to do impactful work like this “was my hope for taking Japanese in the first place.” For reasons including language and geography, information and art from Japan does not always easily or automatically reach the rest of the world, which Thomas said “reaffirms my desire to improve at Japanese and always have this be part of my life.”

The Art of Manga exhibition opens next at the Brooklyn Museum, on October 3, 2026, and runs until January 31, 2027.