"Minamihida Art Discovery" Report

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Nozomi Tanaka

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Nozomi Tanaka's work reminds the medical herb garden that was once located inside the center. When you enter the exhibition space, the first thing you see is a herb shop curtain, and the smell of mountain herbs that the artist herself cut from the ruins of the herb garden fills the room.

"Learn Your Roots" 2024

Once you step through the shop curtain, you'll see displays of bottles of liquor made from herbs, herbalist tools and posters, and illustrations of the rabbit who runs the herb shop. You will experience the atmosphere of a traditional herb shop through your sight and smell.

"Learn Your Roots" 2024

Tanaka is an artist who researches the climate and folklore of Tohoku and conducts fieldwork. Based on the result of her research, she depicts rabbits as characters in her painterly expressions. "Learn Your Roots" is an animation work based on a story inspired by interviews to former residents and stories about the transplanting of plants during the maintenance of the herb garden. There are four monitors in the exhibition room, and animations will be played by lifting the bottles in front of each monitor. The rabbit, who sells herbs and is on a journey to learn about the "roots" of various things, talks to the people of Shiｍi Village (the area where the Minami-Hida Health Promotion Center locates) and thinks about roots and the land. Each of the four monitors shows different stories. For example, there are a person who has decided to live and die here, and another loves the smell of land of their hometown. Through their words, viewers will be able to think about Shimi area and their own hometowns.

"Learn Your Roots" 2024

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Kanji Yumisashi

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Compared to art festivals held over a wide area such as the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and the Setouchi Triennale, MInami-Hida Art Discovery is held in center, so visitors can see artworks by walking. While walking, they will encounter Kanji Yumisashi's works. For this art project, Yumisashi created works that will lead visitors between the works and to the edge of the center. The local folktale are conveyed through about 100 pictures and words.

”Folktales, By the Way” 2024

”Folktales, By the Way” 2024

Signboards with pictures and words are lined up, and visitors can appreciate the works by walking along them. Therefore, as you follow Yumisashi's works, you will reach another work or find yourself deep in the mountains, as if you are entering a story. The stories themselves also progress from ancient ones such as the legend of the monster fox to tales from the war era. Yumisashi create works on taboo topics such as suicide and memorialization, and this time he depicted the stories of the　military comfort women who lived in Gero during the war and the Houou pioneer group that traveled from Gero to Manchuria. ”Folktales, By the Way” allows visitors to deepen their understanding of the region through the stories that are passed down in this area, along with Yumisashi's powerful pictures that stand out even in the natural scenery.

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Akira Kugimachi

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Akira Kugimachi creates paintings that question the origins of civilization and the relationship between humans and nature, based on the concept of "light, time, and distance." In recent years, he has also created installations that combine painting and video. "Things to come" is also an installation that combines painting, sculpture, and video. The centerpiece of the work is "Gandate," a painting of the Gandate Gorge in Gero City, which is painted using Japanese painting techniques. It looks like a primitive landscape of Japan or the world, or like another planet. The appearance of the work is majestic by emerging from the darkness. By using "Gandate" as a screen, water flows, forests, and everyday landscapes that the artist had taken on a daily basis are randomly projected. Just as the actual natural landscape is changing, "Gandate" also changes its expression along with the video, so the viewer will not be able to take their eyes off it.

"Things to come" 2024

"Osaka" is at the opposite side of "Gandate". This work depicts a hollow in the rocks from which Osaka Falls flows, and video is projected on it, as well. Osaka Falls indicates Hida Osaka Falls, a town in Gero City with the most waterfalls in Japan, with over 200 waterfalls flowing through the town. Kugimachi's first sculpture, "Unknown," was created based on random shapes of crumpling Japanese Washi paper, but it looks like a meteorite or an artificial object from tens of thousands of years ago. Also, "Lightscape," which depicts only light in the dark, is displayed near the entrance to the room. Sometimes these four works are bathed in light and seem like one piece of work by coming into view at the same time. Sometimes they seem to be unique pieces with different meanings, or they disappear in the darkness. The entire space give viewers an unstable and fluid impression. In this way, this work, which gives the impression of time and landscapes that go beyond the scale of humans, may provide an opportunity to think about how the human world and ourselves relate to nature.

"Things to come" 2024

"MInami-Hida Art Discovery" MAP

The works of the three artists introduced this time are located in the locations highlighted in yellow on the map above;
1: Kanji Yumisashi "Folktales, By the Way", 2: Akira Kugimachi "Things to come", 7: Nozomi Tanaka "Learn Your Roots". With the exception of some of Yumisashi's works, works are about a five-minute walk from the shuttle bus stop that connects the venue to Gero Station (highlighted in red). The "Minami-Hida Art Discovery" allows you to see almost all of the artworks in one day, and you can enjoy artworks based on the nature, history, and culture of the region while walking around.


Cultural exploration in the land of clear streams "Minami Hida Art Discovery"

Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024 to Sunday, November 24, 2024
Time: October (19-31) 10:00-16:30 / November 1-24) 10:00-16:00
Venue: Minami-Hida Health Promotion Center (1557-3 Shimi, Hagiwara-cho, Gero-shi, Gifu Prefecture)

21 artists present works expressing "health/welfare," "nature of Gifu," and "craftsmanship of Gifu," as well as performance events that will be the highlight of the project.

Artists:
Shojiro Uchiyama, EBUNE x Aguri, Toshikatsu Endo, Ondekoza, Akira Kugimachi, Ryota Kuwakubo, contact Gonzo, Momoka Sakata, Hatsune Suzuki, Nozomi Tanaka, Min Tanaka, Seiran Tsuno, Tohru Nakazaki, Toshitaka Nishizawa, Mami Hirano, Shoji Funakawa, Chihiro Horita, Koichi Makigami, Ryoji Yamauchi, Kanji Yumisashi, Yasuyuki Watanabe + Sayo Watanabe