8th
Annual Alan Templeton Distinguished Lecture in Foreign Languages, Literatures
and Cultures: Special Event
The
Culture of the Fukushima Disasters: Japanese
Film, Literature, Manga, and Photography after 3.11
These presentations and roundtable discussion explore cultural texts that have emerged in the wake of the triple
disaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear catastrophe that hit northeastern
Japan on March 11, 2011.
"FUKUSHIMA ONDO, the Song and its Rediscovered Origin
after 3.11: Reconnection Between Hawaii and Fukushima"
Ai Iwane, artist, photographer and filmmaker
A journey that began in Hawaii with the search for an abandoned
ISSEI, the first generation cemeteries, eventually connects me with
Fukushima after 3.11. My talk is centered around the photo series
KIPUKA, which I was able to create by witnessing an exchange
between two regions of performers who participate in the traditional
Japanese Buddhist Bon Dance. My attempt is to show the connection
that transcends the separation of time and space while showing a bird’s
eye view of history and geography.
Ai Iwane was born 1975 in Tokyo. In 1991, she left for the
United States to study at Petrolia High School,
where she pursued an off-the-grid, self-sustaining
lifestyle. She began her career as a photographer
in 1996 after returning to Japan. She continues to make work exploring the invisible ties between far-removed locations through a process
of herself immersing in those environments, such
as her KIPUKA series examining the connec-
tion established between Hawaii and Fukushima
through immigration. The series and the book
KIPUKA (Seigensha Art Publishing, 2018) was
awarded the 44th Kimura Ihei Award and the
44th Nobuo Ina Award. Her publications include Journey towards Kipuka
(Ohta Publishing), and, A NEW RIVER
(bookshop M). Her work has been shown at the Honolulu Museum as part of Hawaii
Triennial 2022, Tokyo Photographic Art
Museum, Kanazawa 21 Century Museum, Dali
International Photography Exhibition, China.
