Project Sunshine for Japan

Konnichiwa ^__^/)

Last week I went to Dortmund because from March the 10th till March the 20th there will be the Exhibition 'Project Sunshine for Japan' shown in the 'Depot'. This Project is a Poster Project for Fukushima. Over 600 (known) artists from over 40 countries took part in the project. In the end 100 poster were chosen by a jury and now presented to the public.

First is was shown in the college in Düsseldorf in December 2011 and then also in Tokyo and Osaka in 2012 to sensitize the people of the catastrophy in Fukushima in March 2011. The posters and the content are about the catastrophy but mainly about the help of the world for Fukushima and the new hope given to Japan. It shows that the people are not alone and the world is suffering with them and helping the country to be reborn.

It was really touching and it makes you think about the catastrophy and the problems coming afterwards which are still not cured today. In 2013 the initiator of the project want to show it in other parts of the world, too, so the exhibition will also travel to Teheran (Iran) and San Francisco (California, USA) and then again to Japan.

Here are some impressions:

Poster for the exhibition

wall of posters (front)

wall of posters (back)

special poster in an extra place

Charactaristic for many posters is the red point from the Japanese flag. It is thematised in many posters.

Besides the posters there was also a artistic construction on the ground by the Japanese artists Yumi Watanabe and Shinpei Takeda. It shows the nuclear catastrophies of  Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima and should symbolize the way in to the future.

poster

discription

the ground construction

Because I were there alone, I had a long talk with the initiator. It was very interesting and very impressive what she have done for the project. She managed it besides her job and put much money into it but it was really important for her. That's why the entry is free so that everybody can visit it. So it was a pity that during the week almost nobody has come to visit. I really hope the project will survive and last in the future.

This year she also published a book about th project. It is filled with coloured pictures of the posters, stories and poems about Fukushima. She collect all the litary material and put it together in a great hardcover book. So it is not that cheap but I bought one for 29,90 EUR. It was worth it and it's also a little donation for the association of the project.

book cover

So I'm glad I went there and I had a great afternoon! I wish her luck for the future I hope this project will touch many more people in the world!