East Meets East at Norwich Forum

I recently got involved with the East Meets East exhibition at the Norwich Forum, which celebrated connections between East Anglia and the Far East from the last 150 years. Most of it was in the main Forum area, with a 'Video Bento' in the Fusion section to the left of the main entrance. I was asked to put together a video slideshow for the Bento that showcased the amazing photography of Hiroshi Shimura, accompanied by an audio interview with him. A couple of my favourite HS pics:

On Wednesday 23rd September, all the project's volunteers and workers were invited to a special thank you party at Fusion (see top pic), which involved an opening speech from the Mayor of Norwich, some Taiko Japanese drumming and a taste of sushi (below).

My slideshow formed part of the running order on the incredible 'Video Bento', a technical version of the traditional 'bento' - a sort of compartmentaized Japanese lunchbox, that was a feast for the eyes and food for thought, if not the stomach. Below is a frame of my vid showing on the Bento:

Here's a couple of piccies of the main exhibit:

The Norwich exhibition ran from Sept. 23rd-27th, which included the Japan Day on Sat. 26th, which I also did some stewarding at. This just involved standing right next to the martial arts displays, getting a good vantage point for photos and videos, whilst stopping little kids running forward and potentially getting smacked with a wooden Kendo sword or shot by an arrow. The Japan Day also gave people the opportunity to try a bit of drumming, fighting and sushi cooking for themselves.

There was also more Taiko drumming. Hooray!

East Meets East was one of, if not THE biggest exhibitions I've seen at the Forum and I was really glad to have been a part of it. Catch up with it in Peterborough if you can!