JACCU, the Japanese Art & Culture Centre of Utrecht invited Lanka for a shodō (Japanese calligraphy) workshop and performance in the Manga and Japanese Culture Week of the Bibliotheek Utrecht, Neude library.

Thirty-two people had the opportunity to attend the workshop, which repeated four rounds in groups of eight. Lanka’s teaching method was really effective, Visitors were happy to see the improvement with their own eyes.

Her theatrical performance attracted the many spectators in the library. In minutes, with her performance inspired by the indigenous people of Hokkaido, the Ainu people, she conveyed her deep respect to her culture and the nature and people of that culture.

Lanka wrote four characters, which stand for Ainu culture and philosophy:

神威 (Kamui)
Ainu people call God Kamui with respect. They believe that God exists in everything, in nature and animals, even in the things that humans made.

礼 Rei and 祈 Inori
Ainu people perform a ritual (祈) when they hunt animals to get food and make clothing to show their gratitude courtesy (礼) to god, so that the god comes back to them.

This collaboration with the library and JACCU led her to a solo exhibition in the Neude Library. First the result of the performance was exhibited in May 2022. Later she was asked to exhibit more of her calligraphy works in June 2022. Taciser Sevinc and Hiroko Matsushita form JACCU helped her to curate her works on the exhibition walls of the library.

Japanese Art & Culture Centre of Utrecht and Bibliotheek Utrecht are willing to invite Lanka to Utrecht more often. Watch the videos in the JACCU Instagram account!