Photo: Takashi Homma
Tove Jansson, also well known in Japan as the parent to Moomin, was born in 1914 in a family of liberal artists and was raised in an environment where creativity was always within reach. She herself began publishing at the age of 7 with the name “Tove Publishing” and went on to release numerous picture books and novels through other publishers later on.
At TABF, we have invited Keiko Morishita, translator and researcher of Tove Jansson based in Helsinki, Finland, to present Jansson as an “artist who makes books” by gathering all her illustrated books and materials. Within this selection, we will also be focusing on Jansson’s strong connection to Japan with the Japanese versions of her publications and other works.
In addition, there will be an exhibition of photographs by Takashi Homma who has captured the beautiful yet wild nature of the islets, including Klovharun with the summerhouse where Jansson and her partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, have spent over twenty summers, and the mushrooms that grow there. Morishita, who has been researching Jansson for years, describes Homma’s photographs as “a work that does not simply search for Tove Jansson, but a piece through which you can feel her perspective.” These images thus unveil the charm of the Nordics and their unique outlook on the world by tracing back Jansson’s thoughts and steps as we can grasp her presence with us.
Islands, Islets, and Their Mushrooms, a book which includes Homma’s photographs along with Morishita’s essays counting the episodes related to these islets, will also be released at the occasion of Tokyo Art Book Fair.
With Support From: KODANSHA LTD., Hiroko Yokokawa, CURATORS Inc.
<Related Publication>
Islands, Islets, and Their Mushrooms
Photographs: Takashi Homma Text: Keiko Morishita
Art Direction & Design: Asuka Wakida
Publisher: TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR
Deeply impressed by “Haru, the Island of the Solitary,” the documentary film about Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä’s days in Klovharun, Takashi Homma published his photobook A song for windows (LIBRARYMAN) in 2016 which collected pictures he had taken on the island.
Accompanied by Keiko Morishita who had also coordinated his trip then, Homma revisited the Finnish islands in September this year, to photograph the nature and mushrooms found there. Along with the new pictures Homma had captured, this book includes essays which outline Morishita’s own experience on the islands as well as the life of the islanders, full of playfulness and adventurous spirit.
Takashi Homma
Homma released Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (MACK) and TOKYO OLYMPIA (Nieves) in 2023. His solo-exhibition “Revolution 9: Homma Takashi” will be open until Sunday January 21st 2024 at Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.
Keiko Morishita
Born in 1969, in Mie Prefecture. She moved to Finland in the fall of 1994 to research Moomin at the University of Helsinki. She has lived in Helsinki ever since and currently works as a coordinator and translator/interpreter. She also coordinated the photoshoot for the "Tove's Perspective" exhibition and was the associate producer of the film “Kamome Diner.” Her most known translations are the Little My picture book series, Tove Jansson Life, Art, Words: The Authorised Biography, Tove Jansson: The Illustrators.