One of the things I want to do more in the months to come is to become more involved with Ogijima as a community. In other words, not simply be a visitor there anymore. It won’t be easy, the language barrier remaining strong – last week I couldn’t attend a symposium led by Ryo Abe about Ogijima’s future and revitalization because of that, but it’s something that is important I think (and I really need to find the time to learn Japanese, not sure where that time is).
It started on Sunday, when I went to the island to help with installing Christmas decorations in Ogijima’s Soul, which carries its name very well. If most visitors of the Setouchi Triennale see it mostly as an artwork by Jaume Plensa and as a visitor center, the rest of the year, it’s much more than that, it really has become the place where most public events take place on the island, a gathering point for the islanders.
It was a very fun afternoon, filled with arts and crafts and some manual work (I feel I want to do more of that in the future, I love writing, always will, but sometimes I want to create more physical things), good times, and the Koebi-tai fanfare (composed mostly of the volunteers that are usually on Ogijima) played a small concert. A good way to start the holiday season.
[iframe width=”640″ height=”360″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/4CY2vohqv3c?vq=hd1080″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]
It definitely was fun times on Ogijima (when is it not?).
Discover more from Setouchi Explorer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.