On July 27 (Saturday) and 28 (Sunday) we held Weekend Art School in Tsukuba. Feel, see and become Leonardo da Vinci!? This weekend art school aimed at the elementary school students living in Fukushima took place in the University of Tsukuba and the Tsukuba Space Center. 15 teams of parents and children participated. During those two days, 6 workshops were organised around the theme of Leonardo Da Vinci, and the children as well as their parents and the professors, all have shared very rich and fun moments.
Leonardo da Vinci is famous for the wonderful paintings and drawings he made, but at times, he was also mathematician, mechanician, or scientist. Tsukuba is the location of the University of Tsukuba where one can learn art, and it is also the place of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and many other research structures. This is the environment in which the children who participated in the workshops had a chance to have an insight into art and science, and became for a weekend the genius Leonardo Da Vinci. They went back to Fukushima transformed into Leonardi Da Vinci.
(Ono)
Category Archives: off-campus Challenge assignments
Let’s make handmade pottery
Pottery of Yui Project: announcement
The CR “Yui” (community) team is organising a workshop for pottery making: ” Pottery of Yui Project.”
Have you ever tried pottery? Have you ever eaten off pieces of tableware you’ve made by yourself? Have you ever created things with people you met for the first time?
The Pottery of Yui Project consists of making pottery throughout 3 workshop sessions. The pottery made will trigger links between people. When the pieces are completed, we will also organise a meal.
Pottery seems interesting! I want to eat off a plate I made! What is the Pottery of Yui? If you are interested, please do not hesitate to participate.
For more details, click on the brochure image or email : yui.utsuwa@gmail.com
(akagi)
CR in action!
An interval exhibition between the Vision Formulation exercises and off-campus Challenge assignments has begun.
With the beginning of summer, the 7 teams have started to work on their projects in the various locations. The exhibition will show students interviews, and diaries of workshops and events, and visitors will be able to see the work in process of the various teams.
We will be waiting for your attendance.
“ CR in action ! ”
From June 25th
Location: Bldg 6A, Entrance Gallery
Aizu-Wakamatsu resarch
The day after the event held in the temporary housing of Johoku, we went to Aizu-Wakamatsu where there is more temporary housing in order to accomplish some researches.
We divided into two groups : the group that went to make a presentation at the town hall of Okuma, and the group that researched in Aizu-Wakamatsu city. The two groups joined in the afternoon to make a presentation of the POP CORN team project of this year in front of the curators of the Fukushima Museum. We received advice from them to help us order this project, and the students probably now have a better idea of what should be done in order to implement the summer event.
Temaki-zushi Festival of Okuma Tsukuba
The POP CORN team has organized a Temaki-Zushi Festival in the temporary housings located in the North of the Johoku elementary School, in the city of Aizu-Wakamatsu. Although it was the second time an event was organised in the temporary housings, many people living locally came to participate.
Under the direction of the lady living in one of the temporay houses, we managed to make a 4m-long Temaki-zushi!
This event was combined with some research works, and we took advantage of the meal to listen to the stories of the people living there. We will take this information back and it will help with the next event planned to be in summer. (Akagi)
Call for participants !! Weekend Art School in Tsukuba
Weekend Art School in Tsukuba. Feel, see and become Leonardo da Vinci !?! is calling for participants. We are looking for junior high school students living in Fukushima prefecture to participate.
About 500 years ago, there was an artist called Leonardo da Vinci. He is famous for the wonderful paintings and drawings he made, but at times, he was also mathematician, mechanic, and scientist. While getting to know more about the contemporary art and the space science art taught at the University of Tsukuba, let’s imitate Leonardo and become a genius in science!! It is an art school over two days aimed at junior high school students living in Fukushima prefecture. Please come to Tsukuba and have fun.
For more details, please refer to the brochure. (Ono)
Inspection tour in Sanriku
This year too, on June 1st and 2nd, we organised an inspection tour of two days in Sanriku. We wanted to see with our own eyes how the situation was in the stricken areas two years after the disaster. This year, 40 people took part in the tour, students and teachers all together.
On the first day, we visited the “recovery shopping street” of Ishinomaki city, and the participants had lunch in the shopping street restaurants or at the cafeterias run by students. Then we headed to the district of Kadowaki, a coastal area of Ishinomaki, visited the Kadowaki primary school, and also “Don’t give up Ishinomaki / ARIGATOU House”, and we got a chance to ask Mr Ogata, in charge of the “ARIGATOU House” about his experience of the disaster. We will remember that he feels that there is a gap between the reality of the situation and what is broadcast, and also him saying, “Rather than next year or the year after, I want to know what tomorrow will be like.” Compared to last year, the mountains of debris had shrunk, the ruins of the buildings that were taken away by the tsunami were replaced by wide grass fields and empty lands, and the absence of people left us with a strong impression of sadness.
After we entered the Oshika Peninsula where we were to stay, we heard from the people that are carrying volunteer activities in the area, about the state of confusion just after the disaster, and the current problem of decrease of population, and how this issue is addressed.
After dining at the hotel, each participant talked about his/her impression of the first day. Some said “Even though I’m here, I still couldn’t believe it was true. I felt how difficult it is to imagine. ” “I felt helplessness.”, “I was able to verify with my own eyes, and not through the media.” and expressed feelings of perplexion, and it was a very constructive time for everybody to be able to share opinions.
On the second day, we first visited Onagawacho, and saw the building that the tsunami had knocked down and left as a mere iron frame. We then went to the “recovery shopping street” of the Minami-Sanriku district, had a nice local lunch, and gathered again at the temporary housing of Prof. Ando.
Finally, we visited the production place of Ono-kun from Higashi-Matsushima, and the sight of the temporary housing inhabitants happily making the dolls freed us from the feeling of helplessness we had the first day, giving us hope that recovery can be reached if we started by whatever little things we can do.
We would like to thank all the people that helped us with this trip to Sanriku and told us precious stories and useful advice. I hope that the way the participant students will share what they saw with their own eyes during this trip with the rest of the team, will help push further our activities.
(Hashimoto)
Printmaking Workshop
A workshop entitled “Let’s Print with our Family!!” was held at The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, on Saturday April 27.
Participants were asked to think of a symbol to represent their family, and they printed it onto T-shirts using silkscreen printing. We rarely have such an opportunity to cooperate with our family to create an object, and the participants all appeared to enjoy themselves very much.
At the end of the workshop, the families put on their matching T-shirts and took photos to remember the experience. We hope this can be a great conversation starter for families to discuss with each other. (Akagi)
Join us at the «Potato Hot Pot» Festival!
The «Potato Hot Pot» Festival was held in the event hall of Johoku in Aizu-Wakamatsu. The citizens assisted students with preparations for the celebration and the gathering was made possible by the collaboration of both parties.
Despite rainy weather, the event benefited from the presence of numerous visitors while the “Cosplay” and karaoke activities sustained a very joyful environment.
It is our sincere hope that these festivities were able to nurture a stronger sense of solidarity and community for the local guests.
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Report : « Art Project in collaboration with the Ishigenishi Junior High School »
The Joso team has planned an exhibition to showcase the results of their art project in collaboration with the students and faculty of Ishigenishi Junior High School, whose school building was levelled following the disaster. Here is the report:
Dates: Saturday October 6th, 2012 to Monday October 8th (holiday)
Location: Tsukuba University festival “Soho Festival” / room 204 of the 6A building in the Art area
The team introduced the different steps of the project using panels on the black board, pictures and the display of actual objects found in the school building, and also worked to exhibit pieces the school students completed during the summer holiday workshop along with the work of the Tsukuba students and teachers. All the creations used materials and artifacts found in the demolished former school building.
Many people attended this exhibition. Among them were not only the regular visitors of the school festival, but also pupils and faculty from Ishigenishi Junior High School, guarantors, alumni, etc. The show appeared to be quite a success as we feel we managed to convey the sentiment of loss that the people of Ishigenishi experienced as well.
The exhibition is scheduled to be displayed at the Ishigenishi school festival too, on October 27th .
(Sasamoto)
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