Descriptions of the artworks are here.

Souya Handa Projects and TAMENTAI are pleased to announce "Take it Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error," a group exhibition featuring works by Four contemporary artists: Sixte Kakinda, Kei Ito, Layla Yamamoto, and Souya Handa. The exhibition will be held at Sogo Hiroshima from May 16 to 22, 2023, including the period of the 47th G7 Hiroshima Summit.

The aim of this exhibition is to connect historical points related to the atomic bomb and to build a linear narrative history from the uranium mine used for the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima to the nuclear weapons tests after WW2, and Fukushima.

Sixte Kakinda, the first African artist to obtain an MFA degree from Tokyo University of the Arts and a PhD from the same university in 2023, will showcase his project that focuses on the relationship between Congo and Hiroshima. Congo, the country that has the uranium mine and the atomic bomb dropped at Hiroshima made of the uranium that came from the Belgian Congo. His project not only showcases the invisible link between Congo and Hiroshima, but also bridges disconnected histories with the artist's body.

Souya Handa, a Japanese artist who grew up in Hiroshima, has made it his mission to preserve and pass down Hiroshima's history. In his new work, Handa challenges himself to use smell as a metaphor for the residual radiation left after the explosion, which remains on visitors' bodies and clothes. In this exhibition, he focuses on the time that has passed since the atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima and the significance of visiting the city.

Kei Ito is a Japan-born visual artist based in the East Coast area of the U.S. He works on visualizing the invisible, such as radiation, memory, and life/death. As a grandchild of a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and a first-generation U.S. immigrant, Ito deals with the downwinders, the victims exposed to nuclear fallout from nuclear weapons testing, including the American workers for the first tests unaware of the deadly and invisible threat of radiation.

Layla Yamamoto, a Japanese artist educated in the United States, focuses on social and political power. Her previous series, "After the Quake," critically examined the post-war Japan-United States relations, which began with the atomic bombings and continued through the nuclear plant trade that conducted the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Her works with a phrase, "Postwar is over," do not only call on Japanese people to reconsider the postwar political structure but also serve as a reminder that Hiroshima's postwar cannot be over until all atomic bombs are eliminated from the world.

The exhibition's title, "Take it Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error," is derived from the epitaph of the Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima. The formal translated epitaph reads, "Let all the souls here rest in peace; for we shall not repeat the evil." Although the subject is omitted from the original Japanese text, it can be interpreted as "we," referring not only to the people in Hiroshima or Japan but to all of humankind. People from all over the world visit Hiroshima to learn about the events that occurred and take home what they see and hear to build a peaceful future and not repeat the error. This is the prayer of Hiroshima.

Take it Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error.

May 16 - 22, 2023

Artists: Sixte Kakinda, Kei Ito, Layla Yamamoto and Souya Handa

Curator: Souya Handa

Hours: 10am - 7:30pm

Venue: Sogo Hiroshima Main Building 2F (Special Event Space)
6-27 Motomachi, Naka ward, Hiroshima

Equipment Support is Provided by SHOYEIDO INCENSE CO.

Sixte Kakinda is a self-taught drawer from the DR Congo and the first African artist to earn a MFA degree from Tokyo University of the Arts. His MFA thesis project, titled Intimate Moments/Monologue, earned him the graduation prize. Kakinda went on to earn a PhD from the same university in 2023. Kakinda held his first solo exhibition, Intimate Moments, at Gallery G in Hiroshima in 2020. He was invited to participate in the Drawing Tube project in 2020, collaborating with Japanese artist Hiraku Suzuki. Kakinda has also collaborated with South African actress and writer Lindiwe Matshikiza on the documentary film One Take Grace (2015) and with Congolese writer Sinzo Aanza on the comic book Men and Beasts (2017). An excerpt of the comic book was published by Words Without Borders. Kakinda has created the Expanding Drawing Lab, where he explores new ways of expanding his drawing skills to other art disciplines.

Kei Ito is a Japan-born visual artist based in the East Coast area who primarily works with camera-less photography and installation art. Ito received his BFA from Rochester Institute Technology in 2014 and MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016. He is currently teaching at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in NYC. His works are included in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Norton Museum of Art, the Marva & John Warnock A-I-R Committee, En Foco, and California Institute of Integral Studies.

Layla Yamamoto was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1995 and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her artwork reflects her unique perspective as a Japanese woman who has experienced living in America, and often questions the concept of "What is Japan?" Yamamoto has produced several noteworthy works, including After the Quake series which examines the relationship between postwar Japan and the U.S. from the perspective of nuclear power, Pregnant's Autonomy series which highlights the challenges that women face during pregnancy and childbirth, and Who Said it was Simple? series which uses shoujo manga and anime to explore themes of women's empowerment and solidarity.

Souya Handa, born in 1994 and grew up in Hiroshima, is an artist and independent curator who has curated numerous exhibitions in collaboration with commercial galleries and companies. His projects focus on exploring the relationship between technology and social ethics, as well as on issues surrounding Asian and Japanese identity. Additionally, he is an accomplished researcher in the field of 1980s Japanese video art. He holds a master's degree from the Tokyo University of the Arts, as well as a master's degree from the University of Tokyo.