VocalEye is thrilled to partner with the Museum of Anthropology once again to offer an online tour of A Future for Memory: Art and Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
On March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by a massive earthquake that caused extensive damage to the Great Eastern region. The ensuing tsunami swallowed up coastal towns, and caused irrevocable damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
In this 10th anniversary year of the Great East Japan Earthquake, or 3.11, A Future for Memory addresses how we deal with memory when our physical surroundings are drastically altered. It focuses on the changing physical and psychological landscapes in the aftermath of 3.11 and shows that regional disasters have global relevance. Events such as 3.11 force us to rethink our ways of life in relation to nature. Even in the midst of disasters, people have the desire to create and to express themselves—as does nature.
A Future For Memory derives from the exhibition curator’s personal experience in the disaster region. Dr. Nakamura spent a few months in Miyagi Prefecture originally as a volunteer in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and she has returned to the disaster region as an anthropologist to conduct research every year (with the exception of last year due to the pandemic). This is your chance to virtually experience this powerful and moving exhibition that focuses on the creative forces that make recovery and healing possible.
This slow-looking virtual tour will include highlights from the exhibit with visual descriptions for people with sight loss. The tour will be facilitated by VocalEye’s Steph Kirkland and will include a post-tour conversation and opportunity for Q + A with exhibition curator Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura.
This event is designed for those who are blind and partially sighted, but all are welcome to attend.
The VocalEye virtual lobby opens at 6:30 pm Pacific Time for some socializing and community updates with host Amy Amantea. The pre-show introduction will begin at 6:45 pm with Amy and guests. The show begins at 7 pm with a running time of approximately 90 minutes, followed by conversation, Q and A and a prize draw. This is our last event of the season. We’ll be back with more exciting programs on September 22, 2021.
If you’ve never attended a VocalEye Almost Live Zoom event before, you can register for each one separately, or sign up for all of them and get a link and reminder sent to you automatically for every event (you can unsubscribe at any time, of course).
Register here or call 604-364-5949
“The exhibition is eerie, beautiful – and relevant.” –The Globe and Mail
SUPPORT MATERIALS
Curator’s Statement
What would we look for if our hometown were swept away? How might memory be traced in material form? At 2:46 pm on Friday, March 11, 2011, Japan was rocked by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake that caused extensive damage to the Great Eastern region, especially the northeastern region known as Tohoku. The huge tsunami waves triggered by this earthquake swallowed up several towns along the coast, taking away the lives of numerous people. The tsunami also disabled the power supply and cooling of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This triple disaster — the earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku and tsunami, combined with the nuclear disaster — is commonly referred to as the Great East Japan Earthquake, of 3.11 (san ten ichi ichi, literally “three-dot-one-one”) in Japan. It has made people in Japan and beyond rethink our ways of life in relation to nature. Even in the midst of disasters, people have the desire to create and to express themselves — as does nature.
Nature is powerful. It can be destructive, but can also be regenerative and healing. While the tsunami took away so many lives, the ocean has also blessed us with rich resources. There was a breath of life in the aftermath of the disaster: flowers bloomed and trees continued to grow. The moon and stars shone above the ravaged land. At the same time, in some areas in Fukushima the soil and trees exposed to radiation have had to be removed or hewn. These further changes to the natural landscape have added to the destructive impact of human needs. This triple disaster also left many people to live with invisible disaster: radioactivity and nuclear leaks are barely visible, if not invisible, despite the visible fears they induce. In a way, that experience is not unlike what we are going through today as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, though the cause is entirely different. What have we learnt from the force of nature and the resilience of people to live in harmony with nature?
A Future for Memory: Art and Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake is held in the tenth anniversary year of the Great East Japan Earthquake. This exhibition addresses how we deal with memory when our physical surroundings are drastically altered. It examines the immaterial and material traces of memory and history, as well as their symbolic value in a moment of collective grief and reconstruction. It also explores the bias inherent in the ways we may see the situation from outside Japan. For instance, this disaster is often incorrectly referred to as “Fukushima” by people outside Japan, whereas that name designates just one of many prefectures affected. The exhibition focuses on the changing physical and psychological landscapes in the aftermath of 3.11. It shows that the disaster is not simply about region (Tohoku) or a country (Japan), but has global relevance: There are nineteen nuclear reactors in operation in Canada, the second largest producer and exporter of uranium in the world. Fishing boats from Tohoku have swept up on the shores of the Pacific Northwest, reminding us that we are connected by the same ocean and are mutually responsible for our environment.
This exhibition derives form my personal experience in the disaster region. My initial involvement with relief and recovery activities in 2011 was in Miyagi Prefecture, which suffered the largest number of casualties. I worked particularly closely on reducing and cleaning photographs found among the debris, an experience that led me to reconsider the relationship between memory and objects. By going back to Tohoku every year since then, I have continued to collaborate with local museum professionals, survivors, volunteer groups, and artists in Japan. They all have ongoing engagements with the recovery and reconstruction process, and some of them continue to live in the region. Recovery from a disaster is a long process. Art can be a crucial component in revitalizing disaster-affected communities, as it can provide an opportunity for reflection and create a shared sense of hope. Museums and archives can also play a vital role in documenting experiences and preserving memories and histories. Through artworks and recovery projects, this exhibit explores connections and relationships that have been developed because of this tragic disaster. it demonstrates how people have undertaken the process of recovery and are preserving histories and memories for our common future.
A Future for Memory aims to help us learn about natural disasters and resilience, enabling recovery processes to be seen as unique opportunities for new connections and relationships. The exhibition is an important occasion for those of us living in Canada to consider the impact of natural disasters and their implications as we prepare for potential future disasters. Because Canada has not suffered a major earthquake or tsunami of this scale in living memory, we often see such disasters as someone else’s problem, not our own. But the coast of British Columbia is the region most at risk form potentially major earthquakes and tsunamis. A Future for Memory not only complements MOA’s ongoing engagements with preserving cultural heritage, but provides opportunities for further discussion while we undertake seismic upgrades of the museum building.
The works and photographs in the exhibition trigger memories, emotions, and imagination. They serve as more than just objects of memory by reminding us to not forget the disaster or the continuous efforts of many survivors to rebuild their lives. I believe there is a future for memory through the creation of the connections that will be passed on for generations to come. -Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura
Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura is a sociocultural anthropologist and Curator, Asia at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. She is the curator for A Future for Memory: Art and Life after the Great East Japan Earthquake, which derives from the past ten years of her engagement with the disaster region. This exhibition is open to the public until September 19, 2021 at the Museum of Anthropology.
