​Kimiko Kawamura

March 10, 2016

11th of March 2016 marked the 5th anniversary of the unprecedented scale of earthquake and tsunami struck eastern Japan in 2011 that shook the entire world. On the 11th and 12th March, commemorative ceremony and a sizable Japanese cultural festival was held by Japan Club Sydney Rainbow Project to pay tribute to the victims, also to support those who are still recovering after 5 years since the disasters. The festival involved the artists from traditional instrument players to an anime voice over actor and many more.

With the attendance of approximately 250 people, the day 1 centred the tribute ceremony for the victims with a minute of silence, and also was dedicated to raise awareness for those who are still suffering from the impact of the catastrophes. The speeches and presentations were made by the people including disaster victim students, regional recovery initiatives from Tohoku, the Australian urban search & rescue team members who carried out the relief effort in devastated area immediately after the disasters, and other supporting individuals and group reps from Australia. A video message was received by the Hon. Julia Gillard who was the PM of Australia at the time of the disaster who responded immediately to support Japan. Also the artists such as violinist, calligrapher, dancers, singers dedicated their heartfelt performances for the cause.

On the day 2, the event took places over two venues that are St. Matthews Church and CORSO Mall in Manly. The ticketed charity concerts and performances were held at the church with the artists from Japan and Australia.The CORSO mall accommodated stalls to sell handcrafts made by the disaster evacuees, ceramics from the kiln which they had no choice but evacuating, relocating and barely restarting the operation after the nuclear accident, interactive/installation arts and Japanese food accompanied by more performances by the groups from wider Sydney communities.

Over the 2 days, we had the turnout of over 1,000 participants. Because of the significance of the 3.11 disasters, with the support from many organizations and individuals, strengthened by the organisation by Japan Club Sydney Rainbow Project staffs and volunteers, the event has raised over AU$ 20,000. All the proceeds will be utilised for the respite program for the children from Fukushima in Sydney through JCS Rainbow Project.

March 10, 2016

At this event, my role was mainly in curating the exhibitions together with other staffs, also in putting together the information displays of  the disaster’s “Then and Now”. We had the works with different approaches but all relating to the Tohoku disasters including the photographers who work with different objects and viewpoints (by Tetsuro Kameyama and Misaki Ito), photographies captured through the eyes of young students who continue to live in the disaster-affected areas (by RA Media Team), short films introducing recovery initiatives in the disaster-affected areas (by RA Media Team), a slideshow of the photographs of 'Difficult-to-Return Zone' so called 'no go zone' due to high level of radiation contamination (by Tetsuro Kameyama) and the disaster and its aftermath information displays (our project).

I produced the information displays with the help from Jinglong Song, Chun Huang, Marie Horvath, Malcolm Fisher, Yukiko Hirano, UNSW Art&Design ARC and JCS Rainbow Project. Over the two days, the many who came to the event and the many from general public had stopped in front of the displays to view the contents. I believe that our work made a contribution to the cause by reminding the viewers of what have happened and raising an awareness of how things are today in Tohoku.

The contents covered in the displays are;

• the earthquake & tsunami facts

• Fukushima Daichi nuclear accident

• Today’s evacuees

• Fukushima pledges to go renewables

• Disaster-related death

• Harmful rumours

Documentation of the event;

Disaster Information Display Contents

Photos - Exhibition and Screening

Photos - Ceremony on 11th March 2016

Photos - Event on 12th March 2016

Coverage of the Event by TBS

Event Facebook Page