Book Director and representative of BACH, Haba Yoshitaka is the official book curator of the library at Japan House London. Along with his colleagues at BACH – a company specialising in the curation of libraries and book installations – Haba works to spark encounters between books and people. Haba has created book exhibitions for places as diverse as zoos, cafes, eye hospitals, department stores, company staff rooms, schools, bakeries and more. He brings books to unlikely places, such as the shores of Kamakura’s beaches via a pop-up library in a retro caravan. Preserving the pleasures of print books in the modern world is his driving force.
When curating exhibitions on single topics, such as food or art, Haba’s style is to bring together books from a large spectrum of genres. In combining books from the worlds of art, photography, history and contemporary culture, Haba’s collections encourage readers to go beyond their usual selections and engage with a wider variety of printed material, exploring sensory experiences through the books’ feel and visuals. To date, Haba’s book exhibitions at Japan House have included topics such as folk art and nature, with themes rotating throughout the year to introduce visitors to a range of Japan-related subjects.
