FIRST IN UKRAINE. TWO YEARS AFTER THE DISASTER. EXHIBITION OF PHOTOS AND ARTIFACTS OF CULTURE FROM JAPAN “PRAY FOR FUKUSHIMA”
July 9, 2013 we opened a new thematic exhibition on the ground floor of the museum. There are 120 documentary photographs, artifacts of Japanese national culture, traditions and folk art of the region Tokohu. This region suffered from the devastating earthquake and tsunami, and Fukushima prefecture belongs to it. Admission is free.
FIRST IN UKRAINE. TWO YEARS AFTER THE DISASTER.
EXHIBITION OF PHOTOS AND ARTIFACTS OF CULTURE FROM JAPAN
“PRAY FOR FUKUSHIMA”
09.07.2013 – 23.06.2014
Curator Anna Korolevska
The idea of exhibition, collecting materials for display by Makiko Segawa, Yukiko and Yoshiro Miyagoshi
Designers Anatol Gajdamaka, Evgen Korolevski, Anatol Musienko
Poster design, videofilm, dogital editing by Alex Kurmaz
The accident at the nuclear power plant “Fukushima-1” occurred after a powerful earthquake in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. It was the largest in 25 years after the Chernobyl disaster. There were many sources of radiation in the atmosphere and sea water. 150,000 people were evacuated from the zone within 20 kilometers of the plant. Most of them continue to live in temporary housing. A number of areas due to the high level of contamination is expected to be recognized as unfit for habitation. Land, which is subject to mandatory decontamination, will be enough to fill Tokyo Ballpark “Tokyo Dome” 23 times. Complete elimination of the accident, including the dismantling of the reactors, will take about 40 years.
One of the most important sections of the exhibition – the histories and portraits of the descendants of the samurai – members of a thousand year tradition of the festival Soma Nomaoi. You can see them their home town of Odaka (near Soma, Fukushima prefecture), which was abandoned after the tsunami and the accident at the Fukushima-1 NPP and is an exclusion zone now. Photo by Noriko TAKASUGI.
One of the most important sections of the exhibition – the history of the descendants of the samurai one of the oldest dynasties of feudal Japan who continue the tradition of millennial festival Soma Nomaoi despite the severe consequences of the disaster of 2011, in order to preserve important cultural values of the Japanese people. There is an exhibition of portraits of these brave people, made by the Japanese photographer Noriko TAKASUGI during the traditional festival Soma Nomaoi in 2012 in the area of Odaka -ku Minamisoma city , Fukushima prefecture (now the Exclusion Zone ). You ctn see them next to their houses destroyed by the tsunami and cannot be rebuilt because of radiation contamination following a nuclear accident at the NPP Fukushima -1.
In the center of the exposure hall there is a symbol of the two nations, which overcome the effects of nuclear tragedies: Ukrainian traditional dress of a girl from Chernobyl Polissya and traditional Japanese samurai suit of Edo – Musha-shouzoku. Japanese traditional dress of the samurai of the Edo period. These are a collection of Yoshio Watanabe, who is the descendent of samurai and head of community in Soma city. His house was attacked by tsunami, but he has repaired it quickly, then he began to help other victims in Soma.
There are maps of the Japanese exclusion zone and radiation contamination, 120 documentary photographs of 36 authors – photographers, journalists and ordinary citizens in Japan, Japanese national culture artifacts and folk art of the region Tokohu. This region suffered from the devastating earthquake and tsunami, and Fukushima prefecture belongs to it.
The exhibition helps you to see Fukushima by eyes of its inhabitants, to understand their concerns and hopes.