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pixiv Launches Kickstarter for Artists in Taiwan, Artists in Korea Art Books

The pixiv art website, e-book distributor Media Do International, and the San Diego-based boutique publisher Clover Press launched a Kickstarter campaign on Tuesday for two hardcover art books: Artists in Taiwan and Artists in Korea. The books feature 83 and 78 artists, respectively.

Monogatari illustrator VOFAN drew the cover for the Taiwan book, while Masamune-kun's Revenge manga illustrator Tiv drew the cover for the Korea book. Other featured artists include Say HANa, I READING, LOIZA, B.c.N.y., modare, Anmi, zipcy, Gearous, DSmile, and Canking.

pixiv sourced the artists, Media Do International is managing the project, and Clover Press will publish the books.

The campaign aims to raise US$10,000 by January 31. The campaign raised surpassed its goal and has raised US$12,173 so far. The campaign also offers backers exclusive prints, buttons, stickers, cards, and T-shirts.

VOFAN commented that although Taiwan and the United States are far apart, they feel close to the people of the U.S. due to past experiences. They also commented that Taiwan is very receptive to other cultures, which is reflected in the eclectic styles represented in the art book. Their cover art represents diversity, "depicting a variety of fantasy flowers flying and blooming in the sky."

Tiv commented that art allows people to come into contact with other cultures without a language barrier. They remarked that they have been fortunate to share their work, first in Japan and now in English-speaking countries.

pixiv senior VP of Creator's Platform Department Takahiko Kato state that the ‘Artists in’ series was produced to bring work by artists from different regions to a larger global audience. Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz commented on the mainstream appeal of manga and manhwa art and said, "We hope [the art books] introduce readers to more international artists and a new online community dedicated to art and illustration."

pixiv's international outreach projects also include Drawfest, an online drawing festival that hosts live streaming workshops and lectures in Japanese and English. pixiv streamed an interview with Tiv in August and with VOFAN in October, where they also drew the art book's cover illustrations.

The pixiv website was founded in September 2007 and now boasts 80 million users and more than 3 billion monthly page views. pixiv also runs the FANBOX crowdfunding platform, the e-commerce website BOOTH, and the 3D character maker VRoid.

Sources: Press Release, pixiv Presents Artists in Taiwan and Korea Kickstarter campaign page