Love 1980’s pop music and the Sustainable Development Goals? The United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo (UNIC Tokyo) is raising awareness of the SDGs with a new music video featuring more than 100 Japanese celebrities dancing along to 80’s idol Yu Hayami’s “Boogie Oogie Love Train” while holding the 17 colourful SDG icons.
The music video premiered on 15 July at the opening of Rainbow Reel, an annual LGBT film festival in Tokyo, and marks a collaboration with renowned photographer and film director Leslie Kee. Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto pulled the 100+ costumes from his special ten-year archive collection.
Also that night, Mr. Kee launched his photo exhibition “Out In Japan,” a display of some 1,000 portraits of people identifying as LGBT throughout Japan. Mr. Kee has the ambition to take a total of 10,000 LGBT portraits by 2020. UNIC Tokyo Director Kaoru Nemoto took to the stage with Mr. Kee to discuss LGBT rights in Japan, focusing on Goal 10 Reduced Inequalities, and introduced a video from the UN Free and Equal Initiative.
By mobilising celebrities in the art world, UNIC Tokyo has ensured that the SDGs reach a wide, youth-oriented audience through social media. This discussion will continue next month during UNIC Tokyo’s SDG-themed student photo contest.
Photo ©LESLIE KEE