Nishiko: Repairing Earthquake Project
18 November 2018 - 27 January 2019
Opening: Saturday 17 November, 17 hrs by
Minister Yoshiko Ina Kijima of the Embassy of Japan in The Hague (vice ambassador)
Minister Yoshiko Ina Kijima of the Embassy of Japan in The Hague (vice ambassador)
Location: Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Open: Wednesday-Sunday, 12-17 hrs
Stroom School: Rising Waters
Public program accompanying the exhibition, including the lecture series Rising Waters.
Stroom Den Haag presents an exhibition of the Repairing Earthquake Project, the magnum opus of the Hague-based artist Nishiko (Kagoshima, Japan, 1981). After the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in March 2011, Nishiko visited the Tohoku district in Japan, searching for remaining objects and collecting eyewitness accounts that enable us to experience the aftermath of the disaster first hand. During the project (2011-2018) she repairs and reconstructs the battered objects with great care and tenderness. Their scars are visual reminders of the historical events. "In my point of view, extreme care and dedication generate a potential for healing", Nishiko states. The repaired objects are further granted a second life, as the artist has them adopted by foster parents. The exhibition at Stroom presents the Repairing Earthquake Project for the first time in its entirety.
In 2018 two new components form the culmination of the project. The completion is urged on by the pressure of time. The artist noted that in Japan, the reconstruction of tsunami-struck areas takes place at such a fast pace that it becomes increasingly difficult to find traces of the disaster outside the confined, highly radio-active areas. Earlier this year, Nishiko moved into a temporary studio in the coastal district of Tofino, Canada, to collect remnants that still wash ashore at the other side of the Pacific Ocean, seven years after the tsunami. More recently, the artist returned to the afflicted area in Japan. Many years after the event, survivors of the disaster still try to get compensation for the personal belongings they have lost. They consider these objects an integral part of their life and are still trying to get these objects returned to them. In response to these reports, Nishiko decided to render the objects which the survivors miss most as drawings, and to donate them subsequently.
In 2018 two new components form the culmination of the project. The completion is urged on by the pressure of time. The artist noted that in Japan, the reconstruction of tsunami-struck areas takes place at such a fast pace that it becomes increasingly difficult to find traces of the disaster outside the confined, highly radio-active areas. Earlier this year, Nishiko moved into a temporary studio in the coastal district of Tofino, Canada, to collect remnants that still wash ashore at the other side of the Pacific Ocean, seven years after the tsunami. More recently, the artist returned to the afflicted area in Japan. Many years after the event, survivors of the disaster still try to get compensation for the personal belongings they have lost. They consider these objects an integral part of their life and are still trying to get these objects returned to them. In response to these reports, Nishiko decided to render the objects which the survivors miss most as drawings, and to donate them subsequently.
The exhibition at Stroom not only aims to present the impressive Repairing Earthquake Project to a wider audience. Nishiko's project also enables us to experience a human tragedy. Simultaneously the project bears witness to an ecological crisis. The fact that the sea level is rising dramatically due to man-made climate change, as well as the presence of plastic garbage patches in the Pacific Ocean, gives the project even more urgency. The Repairing Earthquake Project not only dwells on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011, it also reflects upon our common future.
The
exhibition is accompanied by an extensive educational program,
aimed at pupils of elementary and secondary schools, students, and other
audiences within and beyond the field of the visual arts. The interdisciplinary lecture program Rising Waters with Dutch and international speakers will be part of the exhibition. We are looking forward to events with Peter Fend (28 November 2018), Annechien Meier (12 December 2018), Betsy Damon (9 January 2019), and Maarten Vanden Eynde + Tieme Haddeman (23 January 2019).
>> read more
>> read more
The exhibition and the lecture program have been compiled by guest curator Roel Arkesteijn.
He is a curator and author interested in forms of artistic engagement,
activism, and art for social change. Since 2008 he has been curator of
contemporary art at Museum De Domijnen in Sittard.
Acknowledgements
The
exhibition is made possible through generous support by Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tokyo, Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands, Satellietgroep, Mondriaan Fund, Prins
Bernhard Cultuurfonds, and the City of The Hague. Special thanks to: Tofino Botanical Gardens and Torinoumi Dental Clinic and the lenders ('foster parents').
Biography Nishiko
Nishiko (1981, Kagoshima, Japan) studied photography at the Tokyo Zokei University. In 2006 she decided to move to The Hague and studied at the Royal Academy of Art. Since then Nishiko resides in The Hague and is active as a mixed media artist. Nishiko was longlist nominee for the 2017 Prix de Rome and placed on the shortlist for the mk Award 2015.
Nishiko (1981, Kagoshima, Japan) studied photography at the Tokyo Zokei University. In 2006 she decided to move to The Hague and studied at the Royal Academy of Art. Since then Nishiko resides in The Hague and is active as a mixed media artist. Nishiko was longlist nominee for the 2017 Prix de Rome and placed on the shortlist for the mk Award 2015.
Recent exhibitions
Climate as Artifact / Klimaat als Mensenwerk (de Electriciteitsfabriek Den Haag, NL, 2018), Present Time Station (Corridor Project Space, Amsterdam, NL, 2017), Oerol festival (Terschelling, NL, 2017), We come in peace, you're welcome! (Galerie b2, Leipzig, DE, 2017), Living in Dreams (De Bond, Brugge, BE, 2017), Tool, Mind, Earth (Scottish Poetry Library Edinburgh, UK, 2016), Intimacy + Chambres d'Amis (Marres, Maastricht, NL, 2015).
Climate as Artifact / Klimaat als Mensenwerk (de Electriciteitsfabriek Den Haag, NL, 2018), Present Time Station (Corridor Project Space, Amsterdam, NL, 2017), Oerol festival (Terschelling, NL, 2017), We come in peace, you're welcome! (Galerie b2, Leipzig, DE, 2017), Living in Dreams (De Bond, Brugge, BE, 2017), Tool, Mind, Earth (Scottish Poetry Library Edinburgh, UK, 2016), Intimacy + Chambres d'Amis (Marres, Maastricht, NL, 2015).
See also:
Climate as Artifact (Klimaat als Mensenwerk)
18 October - 18 November 2018
With a.o. Nishiko (Repairing Earthquake Project)
Organisation: Satellietgroep
Location: De Electriciteitsfabriek, The Hague
Climate as Artifact (Klimaat als Mensenwerk)
18 October - 18 November 2018
With a.o. Nishiko (Repairing Earthquake Project)
Organisation: Satellietgroep
Location: De Electriciteitsfabriek, The Hague
Sunday 28 October 2018, 14:00 - 18:00
With: a.o. Nishiko and Roel Arkesteijn
Organisation: Satellietgroep
Location: De Electriciteitsfabriek, The Hague
With: a.o. Nishiko and Roel Arkesteijn
Organisation: Satellietgroep
Location: De Electriciteitsfabriek, The Hague
Nishiko: earlier at Stroom
Stroom Library session: Nishiko (2016)
Ondertussen: glinting honey in the dark, a feather tickling on my back (2015)
Stroom Library session: Nishiko (2016)
Ondertussen: glinting honey in the dark, a feather tickling on my back (2015)
Return on Invest (2012)
InLoop/EnTry: Nishiko - Repairing Earthquake project (2011)
InLoop/EnTry: Nishiko - Repairing Earthquake project (2011)
PRESS
Kunstkrant, January-February 2019
Art Critique, 28 February 2019
Art Critique, 28 February 2019
Arts en auto, 8 January 2019
Den Haag Centraal, 13 December 2018
Den Haag FM (Kunstlicht), 18 November 2018 (radio interview starts after 6 min.)
Den Haag FM (Kunstlicht), 18 November 2018 (radio interview starts after 6 min.)
chmkoome's blog, 18 November 2018
- 17 Nov '18 - 27 Jan '19
- Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
- Entrance: free
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project'
photo: design: Caroline de Lint
photo: design: Caroline de Lint
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project', exhibition view Stroom, 2018
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project', exhibition view Stroom, 2018
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project', exhibition view Stroom, 2018
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project', exhibition view Stroom, 2018
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
photo: Ayako Nishibori, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project, object#2011_4', 2012
photo: Yuhki Yamamoto, courtesy Nishiko
photo: Yuhki Yamamoto, courtesy Nishiko
Nishiko, 'Repairing Earthquake Project, object#2011_35', 2012
photo: Yuhki Yamamoto, courtesy Nishiko
photo: Yuhki Yamamoto, courtesy Nishiko
Nishiko at work on 'Repairing Earthquake Project'
photo: courtesy the artist
photo: courtesy the artist
Nishiko: Repairing Earthquake Project
photo: design: Caroline de Lint
photo: design: Caroline de Lint