Himing Project

Residency in Himing Art Centre, Himi, Japan 2010

Himi is a small fishing town in Toyama Prefecture about 450 km from Tokyo. The town is old, historical, new, and active with artistic community mind people who retain charming profiles. Himing Art Centre is located in the middle of the town and is a hub for the City of Himi.

I was fortunate to have an opportunity to carry out the residency program in the Himming art centre. The art centre was a heritage building, renovated of a historical soy/miso production factory. The gallery is on the first floor and there is a nice middle-aged feeling studio/living space upstairs.

I really wanted to create something that reflects this town…. I did not know what, but I just started sketching around the town. Then I decided to create a mural of the portrait of this town on the wall with local plants. I collected grasses from the local area, I did draw the landscape, then created the first mural work with grass using small pins. The wall base artwork has been developed gradually with the local art lovers and me for over two months.

Then I invited local people who had never made any 'installation' artwork before to join the process. It was fascinating that all the participants were seriously engaged with the process and kept coming back. In the end, I had to go back to Tokyo and leave the art centre to invite visitors to join the project. The documents show how visitors enjoyed working together and creating a masterpiece.

The mural was left for about 5-6 months and was loved by visitors.

This project was a pivotal experience for me that made me certain that anyone, regardless of art education, has the potential to create and can engage in 'contemporary art practice. This small fishing village provided the future direction of my art practice.