Japan Society Gallery in New York will present In the Wake: Japanese Photographers Respond to 3/11 beginning Friday, March 11, 2016, five years to the day since an enormous earthquake and tsunami struck northeast Japan, devastating coastal regions and setting off a nuclear power plant failure. On view through June 12, 2016, the exhibition is the centerpiece of an institution-wide observance of what was the first natural disaster in Japan caught in its entirety by cameras. Public programs, films, performances and special events will be presented in conjunction with the exhibition at Japan Society to commemorate the anniversary and examine issues surrounding post-3/11 recovery and reconstruction.

Organized by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where it was on view last year, In the Wake features more than 90 photographs, videos, and installations created by 17 artists who contemplate what has been lost and what remains in the aftermath of a national tragedy that took some 18,000 lives and displaced another 400,000 individuals.

A special highlight of Japan Society’s presentation is a room-sized installation entitled, Lost & Found, one artist’s painstaking project to collect hundreds of thousands of lost family photos from the region and restore, digitize and in some cases even return the photos to those who lost them.

“News of the earthquake and tsunami swept through Japan Society offices five years ago, immediately prompting the organization to jumpstart an international effort that has now grown to over $14 million and 66 grants supporting relief and recovery,” notes Yukie Kamiya, Gallery Director at Japan Society. “This exhibition extends that effort and Japan Society’s mission of more than a century to connect Japan to American and the rest of the world.”

“In the Wake invites us to accept a challenge: that is, to enter into the reality of devastation through the power of art,” adds Ms. Kamiya. “These are works of art with universal resonance that speak to human resilience.” ‘)}