Deepening Friendships and Deepening Engagement

The artists who did the first exhibit in Fukushima three years ago (go to the story on the exhibit) continued their engagement with Fukushima in differfent ways. The nine artists went to the restricted areas surrounding Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in late 2013 and their experience mounted to an exhibit in Fukushima in March 2014 to commemorate the third anniversary of the triple disaster. After that, a group of friends got together in Vancouver and raised funds, prayers and other kinds of support to bring the exhibit to Vancouver (go to the story on the Vancouver ehxibit). In early 2016 some of these artists went to Fukushima again with addition of two new Japanese artists and a Canadian artist in March 2016. In their first visit to Fukushima three and a half years ago, they saw and grieved over the devastation, trauma and human tragedy of man-made disaster. Their work reflected their lament, but a sign of hope. 

This time the new exhibit in Tokyo showed their deepening experience as a group of artists: trying to understand what lies behind these man-made disasters, what is being done to recover the devastated soil and farms, how a small but resilient hope is found in various pockets of Fukushima. 

The artists visiting the areas stricken by tsunami (March 2016)

Learning from the radiation expert about the radiation clean-up work in Fukushima (March 2016)

Olive Garden: A nonprofit organization planting olive trees along the Fukushima shore line
by creating  jobs for the disabled (March 2016)

Six adults and three children from Vancouver visited the exhibit today. Last night was an opening event, which was a great success including some major media coverage (sadly, we missed it because we were just flying in to Tokyo at the same time.) Today, the exhibit began to fill steadily even during the day and got busier in the afternoon. 

Fukushima, even after six years, still continues to be a mind-boggling, immensely complex reality. It is a kind of conundrum to a nation that never took "no" for an answer. 

This exhibit, once again, is a communal art project which is honestly reflected by the people who care deeply and express boldly. As their experience grows deeper, their friendships grow richer. We are greatful for their vocation of artists. 

Here are some photos Jonathan took this afternoon. I wish many of the readers were able to come to Tokyo and experience this beautiful exhibit.