Home Literary ”Chihiro and Totto-chan” Exhibition

”Chihiro and Totto-chan” Exhibition

Literary

Posted on 28/07/2011

Opening: Tue 09 Aug, 10 am
Exhibition: 09 – 31 Aug 2011, 9.30 am – 6 pm
Exhibition Hall, The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam

From The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam:
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, in cooperation with the Chihiro Art Museum and Nha Nam Publishing House, shares the delight of hosting an art exhibition “CHIHIRO & TOTTO-CHAN”, by Iwasaki Chihiro. The organizers hope that everyone who sees this exhibition will enjoy the creative interplay between Iwasaki Chihiro and Kuroyanagi Tetsuko, who wish all the time for the happiness of children and peace.

Before the publication of “Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window” by Kuroyanagi Tetsuko (Actress, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Director of the Chihiro Art Museum) in 1981, the episodes were appeared serially in the monthly magazine “Wakai Josei” [lit. Young Women] (1979-1980).

However, Tetsuko said that even 20 years before the serial publication, writing about her childhood memoir was always in her mind, and finally made a decision to write about it when she found there were around 7,000 remaining paintings and illustrations of various postures of children drawn by Iwasaki Chihiro (1918 – 1974).

During the two years of the serial publication, Tetsuko, the author of Totto-chan (Totto-chan is a nickname of the author), repeatedly visited the Chihiro Art Museum and selected Chihiro’s artworks which were matched with each episode in her non-fiction story.

The story is about the author’s childhood memoir mainly on her life, during World War II, at Tomoe Gakuen, a Tokyo elementary school where unconventional education was conducted. The combination of learning with fun, freedom, and love at the school made Totto-chan a spontaneous girl and eventually led her to a successful life.

Over 7.6 million copies of Totto-chan have been sold in Japan, keeping the top- selling record of all time, and it has been translated into more than 35 different languages. While Totto-chan herself is charming enough to attract plethora of readers, the artworks on the book illustrated by Iwasaki Chihiro are also essential to the worldwide popularity of the book.

This year 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the Japanese publication “Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window”, as well as its launch of Vietnamese version by Nha Nam Publishing House directly translated from Japanese.

In commemoration of such a special year both for Vietnam and Japan, Chihiro’s 30 selected artworks mainly used for Totto-chan will be exhibited at the Exhibition hall, the Japan Fundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam (27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem).

The opening starts at 10 am on Tuesday 9 August, including a talk by the curator of Chihiro Art Museum and a reading. Special Vietnamese “Totto-chan” books with the author’s autograph might be presented to lucky visitors on the opening day, as well as the visitors during the exhibition. The exhibition is free admission. The Vietnamese version of Totto-chan is also on sale at the venue.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Ha (091-541-6055)
Mr. Yoshioka (0123-384-4138)
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: 04-39447419 – Email: jpfhanoi@jpf.org.vn

See some beautiful selected artworks here: