LITERATURE

March 31st, 2020

KAWAMATA TADASHI SENDAI IN PROGRESS 2016-2020 Documentation Booklet

A documentation booklet outlining the progress of Sendai in Progress was published.  The booklet documents project activities to the beginning of 2020, commencing with the first research conducted in July 2016.  Works included: Bo …

2022

Kawamata Tadashi and Sendai in Progress: From memorial and prayer to Densho, and beyond

Running between the estuaries of the Kyu-Kitakami River (former Kitakami River) and the Abukuma River, the Teizan Canal is Japan’s longest canal, and was built in a 327-year project that commenced in 1557. In August 2022, a temporary  …

by ODAWARA Nodoka, Sculptor, critic, head of publishing company

2019

Slippages and Gaps

In a nutshell, the concept of a modern bridge is to erase its own existence. An ideal bridge is one that does not make you feel as though you are on a bridge when you drive over in a car. It is simply “an extension of the road.” (Bridges an …

by KAI Kenji, Artistic Director, sendai mediatheque

2019

The Beginning of Sendai in Progress

In 2016, when I was exhibiting a work called Under the Water at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in France, I was approached by someone from sendai mediatheque about doing a project in Sendai. The installation Under the Water came into being from i …

by KAWAMATA Tadashi

2019

Sentiments of People Involved in the Project ① 2019

TAKAHASHI Fumiya (First year master’s candidate specializing in urban and architectural studies, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University) Mr. Kawamata once said, “We are strangers. We came from other places and will create a new S …

by TAKAHASHI Fumiya, student of Tohoku University

2019

Sentiments of People Involved in the Project ② 2019

UEHARA Keigo (Representative of Teizan Canal Club / Representative of The Field Next to Home for All) As I was searching around for ways to be involved in reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake, I unfolded a map of Miyagi Pref …

by UEHARA Keigo, Representative of Teizan Canal Club / Representative of The Field Next to Home for All

2019

Sentiments of People Involved in the Project ③ 2019

HIRABUKI Yoshihiko (Professor, Department of Regional Design, Tohoku Gakuin University) My area of specialization is landscape ecology. In recent years, I have been looking at satoyama and satochi, traditional Japanese socio-ecological syst …

by HIRABUKI Yoshihiko, Professor, Department of Regional Design, Tohoku Gakuin University

2019

Sentiments of People Involved in the Project ④ 2019

ENDO Genichiro (Shinhama Neighborhood Association, General Affairs Section) Beginning immediately after the disaster, the neighborhood association in Shinhama played a central role in holding active discussions about reconstruction and town …

by ENDO Genichiro, Shinhama Neighborhood Association, General Affairs Section

August 7th–11th, 2023

New developments in Ido, Wakabayashi Ward

For the first time, we expanded our activity area to the Ido district of Wakabayashi Ward. We decided to create the “Idohama Pergola,” “Table,” and “Bench” based on research on the current situation in the Ido  …

August 3rd–7th, 2022

Floating Bridge (temporary) Spans the Canal

People had been looking forward to the production of a work with the function of a bridge for a long time, however, a range of factors made the production of a permanent bridge difficult, so a temporary bridge was created instead. Because o …

February 2nd–April 7th, 2022

Shinhama Tower with Views of the Teizan Canal   

Shinhama Tower was created so as to be able to offer commanding views of the Teizan Canal and the wetlands. Production was carried out remotely, as Kawamata was once again prevented from visiting Japan with the pandemic still in effect. Det …

December 14th–19th, 2020

New Wood Path for All 2020

Kawamata created the second-edition Wood Path for All 2020 in between Chochingama Marsh, which is home to precious natural environment, and Shinhama Seaside Forest. With the Covid-19 global pandemic, plans for the project were forced to cha …

July 20th–27th, 2019

Wood Path for All 2019

Extending toward the sea, Wood Path for All 2019 was built on the seaward side of the Teizan Canal. This area was once home to a vast pine forest, planted by the forebears of the local people as a disaster-prevention forest, but large secti …

July 28th–August 8th, 2018

Boat for All Makes a Successful Crossing of the Canal!  

With the conceptual aspects of Bridge for All moving forward, the team also created Boat for All so as to increase the number of activities around the Teizan Canal and attract attention. The boat in this work is modeled on umabune, wooden b …

August 4th–11th, 2017

Working toward the Production of Bridge for All        

Led by Kawamata, the production team and students from France made their first Shinhama site visit. Working toward to the production of Bridge for All, they investigated the Teizan Canal, engaged in exchanges with local residents, and held  …

July 28th and October 18th, 2016

Sendai in Progress Commences  

For his new project, Sendai in Progress, Kawamata is working with the Teizan Canal, a waterway that runs along the coast in Sendai’s east, in an area whose villages and farmland were destroyed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan E …

July 27th, 2016

TALK: A Record of “Tadashi Kawamata’s Art Projects”  About Starting Up the Project in Sendai  

The term “art projects” came into use in Japan during the 1980s. The artist Tadashi Kawamata has been pioneering in this field, creating site-specific works and engaging social issues, which over the years have included collaborations with  …