• Japanese
• Nasunogahara International Sculpture Symposium in Ohtawara2012

Organizer Kodai Hihara

I hate to begin with "because of COVID-19..." again, but it's still invading our world.
In this a little depressed everyday life, we have invited artists living in Tochigi who is energetically active around the world.
We made the works publicly because we wanted to create a part of the bright future that we should aim for in the city.
Visitors can experience the intonation, presence, and excitement of the visit when they see the production process of paintings and sculptures.
I think that being able to share the environmental design of a familiar city with the citizens is an important factor for the artists in terms of building their own foundation.
Especially this time, we've done the field of flat surfaces which is to express paintings on walls and shutters, and many artists such as Banksy are active outdoors and are recognized worldwide.
It is memorable that the Brazilian artist left a picture on the shutter of Kurobane's store at The 2nd Artist in Residence in 2019.
The third session began on August 9th at Kurobane Shopping Street and the Institute of Art Cultural-Studies with a unified theme of 'Happy Feelings' with sufficient awareness of infection prevention measures.
It was held at the same time when the world was buzzing about 'The Tokyo 2020 Reconstruction Games' which had been postponed due to the pandemic.
As the artist started to work on the gray, inorganic shutters of an ordinary store, it became brighter and brighter, and the citizens cheered as if they were revived.
They chose to have a little detour when they went for their everyday shopping and stopped by at the shutter.
They solved the riddles of the picture story which were created by the artist, and enjoyed watching it.
In addition, the Institute of Art Cultural-Studies had revealed the path from log to completion of sculpture.
Three-dimensional artists can gain valuable awareness again by solving problems while being a little confused in a new environment.
When the visitors saw the traces of chisel-strike carved into a block of wood, they seemed as if they were washing their lives floating freely in the space while feeling the deep thoughts of the artist.
We predicted inconvenience since the venue was divided into two this year, but with the warm support and great cooperation of the neighbors and the Cultural Promotion Division, this catalog tells us that we were able to finish successfully without any incidents.
Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.