We’re pleased to share a new donation to the archives at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.
Artist Linda Ohama visited the museum this past summer to donate the cloth letters from her Kids for Kids Cloth Letter Project. Created in response to the Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in 2011, Linda coordinated the creation of hundreds of cloth letters from children across Canada. Each child was invited to paint, write, or draw colourful messages of peace, hope, and love for those impacted in Japan. These letters were then sewn into quilts by volunteers and flown to Japan by Japanese fishing companies. They toured several towns (with the help of Kuro Neko Yamato) that were impacted by the catastrophic events.
Many of the children who viewed these quilts in Tōhoku and other regions in Japan were inspired to create their own letters to send back to Canada. The number of cloth letters continued to grow as the quilts toured more locations, with over a thousand letters now a part of this international conversation. The quilts have been on display internationally ever since across Japan, Canada, and the United States.
The quilt pictured here is made from letters created by children at Yamanote Elementary School in Kobe, Japan.
These beautiful pieces are now under our care and will be available to view in the archives. Thank you Linda for gifting these meaningful letters to our museum. View more of Linda Ohama’s work at ohamalinda.com.
To make an appointment for research in the archives, email [email protected]. Explore more work from Japanese Canadian artists on our database at nikkeimuseum.org.
