Monday 17 March 2014
6:00pm – 8:00pm

“Yasashii Hankachi: Gentle Heart Project”- Handkerchiefs for Tohoku Children

13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle, London NW1 4QP

Organised by The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Yasashii Hankachi is an exhibition organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in association with the Japan Graphic Designers Association (JAGDA). It is a response to the devastation left by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku (north-east) area of Japan, when over 18,000 people lost their lives and many more faced the difficulties of being relocated, leaving a strong impact on local communities.

In collaboration with children in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, graphic designers have helped to create beautiful handkerchiefs. These have been exhibited and sold, and the proceeds have been donated to schools in the area to enable children to realise their reconstruction projects. In the past three years, JAGDA has been committed to raising awareness and much-needed funding to help children in the disaster area to rebuild their lives. This project is now in its third phase and has made a big difference to all the children involved, as it has allowed them to have a voice and collaborate actively.

The exhibition displaying their works has toured around Japan and Singapore and is now coming to London. Nearly 300 handkerchiefs by Tohoku children will be displayed at Daiwa Foundation Japan House in March 2014. The exhibition is a way to thank the British public, especially children, for their support in time of hardship.

Japan Graphic Designers Association Inc. (JAGDA) was established in 1978 as the sole national association for graphic designers in Japan, JAGDA currently has 2,900 members, and its activities range from almanac publication, exhibitions and seminars, regional development, public design creation to copyright protection.

Opening speech by Minister Hideki Asari, Director of the Japan Information and Cultural Centre, Embassy of Japan.

Exhibition organised in association with:

Exhibition supported by:

About the contributors

JAGDA (the Japan Graphic Designers Association)

JAGDA was launched in April 1978 with 705 members, rising to over 1,000 by the end of the same year. After becoming a public-interest corporation in 1984, JAGDA evolved into a graphic design organisation representing Japan. While responding to actual social needs in accordance with economic trends and other developments, JAGDA has become an organisation that is characterised by its members’ cutting-edge sensitivity. Their mission for the 21st century is to expand the definition of “graphic design” and work towards the creation of a new stage in its history.