Art festival planned to boost reconstruction efforts in Fukushima Pref.(芸術祭で復興後押し)

 
Yosuke Suga, second from left, and others involved in the Fukushima Hamadori Kokusai Geijutsusai festival visit a farm in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in August.(8月、「ふくしま浜通り国際芸術祭」のため、いわき市の農場を視察に訪れた須賀洋介さん (左から2番目) ら)

 A project to hold an international art festival is underway in Fukushima Prefecture to help boost reconstruction efforts of areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear disaster at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s No. 1 nuclear plant in March 2011.

 2011年3月に発生した東日本大震災と東京電力福島第1原発事故の被災地復興を支援するため、国際芸術祭を開催する計画が進んでいる。

 The organizing committee of the Fukushima Hamadori Kokusai Geijutsusai (Fukushima Hamadori international art festival) consists of artists and event staff from inside and outside Fukushima Prefecture. It aims to inaugurate the triennial festival in the autumn of 2024.

 県内外の芸術家やイベント関係者でつくる「ふくしま浜通り国際芸術祭」の実行委員会は2024年秋に、3年に一度のイベントの発足を目指す。

 For the inaugural festival, the committee is planning to exhibit sculptures for 1½ months in the towns of Tomioka and Futaba as well as other areas that suffered damage from the disasters. It will call on artists from home and abroad to produce works that inspire people to feel hope for the future. The committee is also considering the use of unmanned train stations to display installations.

 初回は富岡町や双葉町などの被災地に、1カ月半にわたり彫刻作品を展示する予定。将来への希望を感じさせる作品の制作を国内外の芸術家に呼びかける。無人駅の空間そのものを作品とする「インスタレーション」も検討している。

 The organizing committee is looking at Setouchi Triennale as a model for the festival, which features contemporary artworks from home and abroad at multiple venues on islands in the Seto Inland Sea. This event also apparently brings attention to various social issues, such as forced segregation of former leprosy patients under a government policy based on erroneous information.

 実行委が参考にするのは、瀬戸内海の島々を舞台に国内外の現代アート作品をそろえる「瀬戸内国際芸術祭」。誤った情報に基づく国の政策によるハンセン病元患者の強制隔離など、社会問題の発信でも注目されている。

 "We'd like to revive Fukushima with the power of arts," said Shizuka Horikawa, the head of the Fukushima festival organizing committee. "We'd like to see local people making good efforts as 'dots,' and art as 'lines,' and connect them together."

 実行委員長の堀川静さんは「福島を芸術の力で復興させたい。地元の人が頑張る姿を『点』とし、芸術で『線』としてつなげたい」と話している。

 Preview events in October
 The organizing committee will hold two preliminary events for the festival in October.
 In Tomioka, an open-air restaurant will open for a limited time, and will be run by internationally acclaimed French-cuisine chef Yosuke Suga, who runs restaurant Sugalabo in Minato Ward, Tokyo. Both Tomioka and Futaba towns will also host photo exhibitions by Tokyo-based world-famous photographer Leslie Kee, featuring his photos of people and landscapes in areas affected by the earthquakes, tsunami and the nuclear accident. The events are set to bring further enthusiasm for the festival.

 10月にプレイベント
 実行委は二つのプレイベントを10月に開催する。富岡町では、東京都港区でレストラン「SUGALABO」を営む世界的なフランス料理シェフ須賀洋介氏が、期間限定で屋外ダイニングを開く。富岡、双葉両町では、東京を拠点に世界で活躍する写真家レスリー・キー氏が地震や津波、原発事故の被災地で撮影した人物や風景の写真を展示し、芸術祭への気運を盛り上げる。

 In late August, Suga traveled to a farm in Iwaki in the prefecture to look for food ingredients he will use at the open-air restaurant.
 "I'll have a good look at Fukushima [Prefecture] and see what I can do," he said.

( Translated by The Japan News )

 8月末、屋外ダイニングで使用する食材を探すため、いわき市内の農園などを視察した須賀シェフは、「しっかりと福島県を見て、自分に何ができるか考えたい」と述べた。

 【 2022年8月23日付・福島民友新聞掲載 】