Around the World: Art on the 10th Anniversary of Tōhoku Earthquake, Tsunami; Design Innovations and the Chandigarh Chair; and More
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
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Each week, we'll share a variety of videos, articles, webcasts, and more from around the web — all curated by the Asia Society Texas Center staff to reflect the broad interests and goals of our mission. In this digest, connect with art online and get a closer look at the exhibitions at Asia Society and elsewhere.
Artists in the 10 Years Since the 3/11 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan. While our In the Wake exhibition in 2016 looked at photographers' responses, this recent feature in the New York Times highlights the work of artist Kyohei Sakaguchi whose practice was also deeply informed by those events. Learn about his multidimensional artmaking and revisit the early exhibition of photographs at Asia Society Texas to learn how artists have responded to these momentous events.
Read the article »
Revisit the exhibition In the Wake »
"My grandparents were like the first installation artists that I ever met"
Artist Michael Rakowitz discusses a range of topics in this short Art 21 interview, including immigration, assimilation, decolonizing museums, his influential projects Enemy Kitchen and The invisible enemy should not exist, as well as keeping his studio going during the challenges of COVID-19. Reflecting on his early experiences in museums, he shares "there's nothing cooler than being 10 years old and learning that this is the first comic book and your people are responsible for it."
Chandigarh Chairs: From Functional Design Response to Collectible Object

Design historians Nia Thandapani, Petra Seitz, and Gregor Wittrick are freshly examining aspects of the narratives built up around the work of Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret in 1950s Chandigarh, India, and the team-based design processes that created objects like the Chandigarh chair. Jeanneret, working in collaboration with his cousin Le Corbusier and Indian architects such as Aditya Prakash and J.K. Choudhury, made design innovations that are a lasting part of Chandigarh's architectural history. As the chairs continue to influence designers today, collectors and scholars alike will pursue further research into the chairs' origins and impacts.
Read about the history of Chandigarh chairs »
Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Nancy Pollok Guinee, and United Airlines, Presenting Sponsors of Business and Policy programs; Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher, Presenting Sponsors of Exhibitions; Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Milton D. Rosenau, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts and Culture; Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsor of Education & Outreach; and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Presenting Sponsor of the Japan Series. General support of programs and exhibitions is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hearst Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, McKinsey & Company, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Vinson & Elkins LLP, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as Friends of Asia Society.
About Asia Society at Home
We are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.