Last month, I stayed in Taipei for a few days. Taipei is a city I don’t like too much. While my friends went to shop for snacks that
no body actually needed, I strolled around aimlessly, listening to
once-upon-a-time pop songs in Mandarin via my Bluetooth noise-reduction
earphones.
When I entered R79 Eslite Underground（誠品 R79 中山地下書街）, there
was an exhibition showing paintings of vivid, soft and colorful images of
children on huge light-boxes with annotations. They were works by the famous Japanese
children’s book illustrator Chihiro Iwasaki（岩崎知弘）. She was born in 1918, and 2018
marks the centennial of her birth. There
were various celebration activities. The
National Museum of History in Taiwan cooperated with the Chihiro Art Museum in
Japan and held an exhibition to present 100 pieces of her original work. In this R79 Eslite Underground exhibition,
several local writers pay tribute to Chihiro Iwasaki by choosing a few pieces
of her work and wrote short stories accordingly. This was the reverse of creating illustrations
for story books, in which a story was written first.
Chihiro Iwasaki was born before her two sisters in 1918 to working
parents in Fukui Prefecture. She was
raised in Tokyo and she was very active in painting and sports. At age 14, she started to learn oil painting
and sketch from Tokyo Art School professor and painter Saburosuke Okata. When she was 18, she began to learn
calligraphy. The work I Can Do It All by Myself in 1956, in
which she depicted her son, was her first picture book. She then produced various picture books and
illustrated for children’s books. The Pretty Bird won the Graphic Prize
Fiera di Bologna in 1971. Children in the Flames of War won the
bronze medal of the Leipzig International Book Fair in 1973. Chihiro passed away because of liver cancer at
the age of 55 in 1974.
The book that made Chihiro most well known was written after her
death. It was written by the Japanese
actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi（黑柳徹子）, about her experience in the Tomoe Gakuen School where she attended
as a little girl. Tetsuko chose from the
abundant works of Chihiro and was able to find a character that matched the
dropped-out girl perfectly both in positions and expressions in her book Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window. The book made Japanese publishing history
by selling more than 5 million before the end of 1982. It was later translated into different
languages.
Around 1938, Tetsuko, addressed as Totto-Chan by her classmates, was
kicked out soon after she entered school as first-grader. Her form teacher complaint that she was
naughty and disturbed the discipline of the class. She talked too much. She always stood at the window, called to the
street musicians passing by and asked them to play a song. She talked to every bird outside. She repeatedly opened and shut the lid of her
new desk. Her mother was left with no
choice but to bring her to an interview of a new school. Totto-Chan was lucky to have a mother who was
minded not to blame her, and to meet a kind educationalist headmaster who
accepted her to his school after listening to her talking non-stop for 4 hours
during her interview. Her book was about
those interesting stories while she learnt and grew in this warm and special
school.
I liked this book, both the stories and the illustrations. I shared the feelings of the author towards
Chihiro: “Chihiro Iwasaki is such a
genius to depict children. I don’t think
any other artist in the world can draw vivid and authentic children as such. In her works, you can tell the difference even
between six months old and nine months old, no matter what poses these children
are. I’ve always dreamed about using
Iwasaki’s illustration in this book. she
loves children so much, and she is so willing to pray and give blessings to
children. What can be happier than
fulfilling my dream? As my story and
Iwasaki’s works are so well coordinated, some readers assume these works are
done in advance particularly for me. This
shows her works really portray different aspects of many children.”
Why am I writing about Chihiro Iwasaki? Apart from the fact that she was a great
artist, it is the 100th anniversary of her birth. The HKMA will celebrate her 100th
birthday in 2020. We are planning a
series of celebration activities starting the forth season in 2019 through
2020. There will be a kick-off
cardiology symposium, followed by different sports and cultural activities. The HKMA Orchestra and the HKMA Choir are
already planning a grand concert in the forth season in 2020, followed by the
Gala Dinner to mark the finale.
If you have any ideas on how to celebrate this important event
meaningfully, please tell us. And,
prepare to hear from us on how and when you can join in one or more of the
celebration activities.
(Source: HKMA News Nov 2018)
