This month, the Embassy of Japan will host a small exhibition with a rather poignant message.
After the major earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Tohoku region of north-eastern Japan on 11 March 2011, power supplies, telephone land lines and mobile telephone networks were cut and internet access became impossible.
This made it extremely difficult for people to contact family and friends. The Japanese postal service - Japan Post - was, however, quickly up and running again. It was by postcard, in many cases, that people first heard that their loved ones were safe.
Inspired by the impact that the receiving of postcards can have, sculptors Katagiri Hironori and Kate Thomson invited Tohoku-based artists from Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori prefectures to make new work for Postcards From Japan - A Message from Tohoku Artists. Even artists who had lost so much in the tsunami were enthusiastic to celebrate life through art with their communication with the world outside. The results are works made especially for this exhibition and which give an insight into the incredible grace and resilience of the people of North East Japan.
The project continues and in response, artists from around the world are being invited to make ‘Postcards to Japan’ and post them to Tohoku as tangible messages of support to communities affected by the devastation.
Please see www.postcardproject.org for more information.
Admission to the exhibition, Postcards from Japan - A Message from Tohoku Artists, is free and is open weekdays from 12 December 2011 until 31 January 2012 (closed 26, 27, 29, 30 December 2011 and 2, 3 January 2012).
Visitors are requested to present a form of photographic identification when entering the Embassy
