Toronto Art Festival: Regenerate

Toronto Art Festival 2011: Regenerate

On March 11^th 2011, the earthquake in Northeast Japan shocked people all over the world. This disaster made headlines not only in Japan but also internationally, including in Canada, and remains deep in everyone’s memories.

Time has passed. It has already been more than 6 months since the disaster, and the media reports the situation as if everything is back to normal. In reality, Japan still has a long way to go, and some victims have yet to take even the first steps in the long road to recovery. Since the disaster, a polarization has arisen between the affected people and not-affected people. In response, people have begun finding ways to reconnect and reconcile these two separate groups, not through the initiatives of governments or institutions, but on an individual level.

We believe artists respond to these nuances in society and express these changes in their works. Through dialogue and exchange of opinions, innovative expression emerges and can lead to big movements where local issues spread and become relevant worldwide.

What can the artists who survived the disaster teach us from their situation after the earthquake? Can the movement to connect individuals to individuals emerge on an international scale?

To examine regeneration and hope, NIMO is curating a large exhibition at LucSculpture Gallery in Toronto that consists of approximately 90 Japanese artists from the Dorado International Artists Association from Japan and local artists from Toronto.

The Japanese artists and the Canadian artists will gather at this exhibition under the theme “Regenerate.” This international integration will present ideas towards “regeneration” in the truest sense, by exploring the possibility rebirth and growth.