HaNNa Gallery will host a month long benefit show starting May 20th. Over twenty artists are participating by creating original T-shirts depicting all different types of animal friends. The gallery will be made to look like the backyard of a country home with an artificial grassy floor. Clotheslines will crisscross the space, with shirts pinned on the lines. Three dimensional animals, also made by some of the artists, will roam the ground or fly above peoples heads. Many of the shirts will be one of a kind. Others will be limited to an edition of three to five. Some will be silk-screened, others hand painted, and others embroidered or appliquéd. Both men’s and women’s shirts will be available. A third or more of the retail price from each sale will go directly to ARK.
ARK was founded in 1990 by a British woman named Elizabeth Oliver. It is one of Japan’s largest private shelters with an office in Tokyo and the main facility in Osaka. It currently houses 300 dogs and 200 cats and is able to take in 220 new dogs a year and re-home 150 of them. They take in abandoned, abused, and neglected animals and rehabilitate them so they are ready to find new homes. ARK also promotes spaying and neutering to decrease the unwanted pet population, educates the public on care, handling, and the understanding of their pets though public talks, newsletters, and events. They also lobby the government for better enforcement of the Animal Protection Law which is sorely ignored or overlooked.
In addition to the T-shirt show, a small area will be set aside for gallery goers to make cards for a wolf named Kei who is housed in a zoo in Okinawa. There is a campaign for her release to a North American sanctuary, as well as improvements to her overheated, barren environment at the zoo. Wolves are extremely social animals with high intelligence. The empty enclosure that Kei resides in is totally insufficient for her needs and amounts to cruelty. HaNNa is hoping to accumulate enough cards to send to the zoos director to help make an impact that will change her care and welfare. We also hope to spark interest in gallery goers’ hearts about an individual’s power to make a positive difference in our world.
Forever Home runs from May 20th to June 11th, 2006. The opening party will start at 6pm and end at 9pm on May 20th. Elizabeth Oliver, the founder of ARK, will give a talk in Japanese at the beginning of the party. Refreshments will be served and anyone is welcome to come and enjoy.
For more information on ARK and Kei the wolf please visit http://arkbark.net andhttp://www.keithewolf.com/main.htm
For more information, directions, and hours of operation for HaNNa gallery please visit
http://hpgrp.com/hpgrp
HaNNa Gallery: 6-9-16 Ginza; HPGRP 4th Floor; Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Tel: 03-5537-2740
