I will be doing voluntary work in Japan this summer. In the remote
rice farming communities of Echigo Tsumari, Niigata and also in the
sprawling metropolis of the city of Osaka.
1) Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial 2009
Echigo Tsumari (Niigata province, Japan) is a city scattered with rice
fields, dotted with hills and a brush of river running in between. The
art triennial is about using public art to revitalise vast amounts of
land covering six farming municipalities.
The story goes that urbanisation, a lowered demand for pearl rice in
Japan and a declining birth rate has meant that schools continue to
close down and the average age of the population continues to
increase. Its a trend that the entire nation will have to face and, in
many ways, what happens in the villages is a preview of times to come.
300 or so artists, mostly from Japan, but also selected from all over
the globe, will gather in Echigo Tsumari this summer to celebrate it's
4th Triennial by creating artworks addressing themes touching upon
the vice and virtues, friendships and conflicts of our contemporary
world.
I shall be working with a Hong Kong artist, Mr. Kingsley Ng (伍韶勁), who has
been selected by the Echigo Tsumari community to create an artwork
amongst rice paddies and village townhouses.
Please follow the link to see one of Mr. Ng's art piece called metier
a tisser musical (Musical Loom)
http://www.youtube.com/wat
The following are related links:
facebook group:
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 越後妻有大地の芸術祭
Kingsleys Ng's homepage:
http://www.kingsleyng.com/
Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial 2009:
http://www.echigo-tsumari.
2) Aqua Metropolis Osaka 2009
I shall also be working on an art project for the
city of Osaka under the title 'Aqua Metropolis Osaka 2009', an
initiative that aims to bring water back to the city of
Osaka.
Osaka was once known as the Venice of the east due to its rich
waterways. Modern infrastructure has meant reclamation and an
explosion of vehicles on concrete roads instead of water
transport as a way of commuting.
The project aims to stimulate questions about modern urban land use
and explore various themes such as conservation, nature,
city, development, and urban interaction.
The following are related links:
Aqua Metropolis Osaka 2009' Touting new city image
http://www.osakacity.org/n
Kansai in Focus: Waterside with people: for revival of 'aquapolis'
http://www.kippo.or.jp/Kan
3) Fundraising efforts:
In order to make all these happen, we plan to
have a tour to sponsor the artist, Mr. Kingsley Ng and
his team as well as students who will form a team at Echigo Tsumari
and Osaka.
The tour will be led by Mr. Alexander Hui (許日銓), a trained architect who was
a curator and lecturer from the University of Hong Kong. He also spent
some years as the executive officer of the Hong Kong Arts Centre.
He is currently pursuing a PhD degree and is also actively involved in
many community projects in Hong Kong.
One tour will cover a special preview to Echigo Tsumari to see the artists and volunteers at work.
The other tour will take all to a special visit to the Naoshima,
inland Seto Sea area for a special preview of not only places like
ChiChu and Inujima with the curators but also museums and art sites
under construction by Tadao Ando, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Li U Fan in
preparation for their opening in 2010.
If you are interested in these projects / tours / donations,
please email to
James Lam (林自立）
juanjaime@gmail.com
or
Alex hui (許日銓)
huialexy@hotmail.com
Warm regards,
James Lam
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