[Takasago City, Hyogo Prefecture] Art Gallery Blanche opens in the wedding venue “Kashimadono”!

• Table of Contents
• About Art Gallery Blanche
• Exhibition contents during Art Week
• Why is art necessary for education?
• Future outlook

About Art Gallery Blanche

Group photo after the unveiling ceremony of the plastic waste art piece.

Kashima-den's Art Gallery Blanche was run down by the coronavirus, where locals Tatsuya Yamamoto (managing director of Kajima Kosan Co., Ltd.), Masakazu Yamamoto, and artist and calligrapher Yudai Fujita gathered last summer. Let's do something about Kashima-dono, the wedding hall! ? It started with a plan.

Kashima-den has long been used by locals as a wedding hall and banquet hall, but the number of users has decreased significantly due to the spread of the new coronavirus. Various ideas such as a hot spring were proposed, but since Takasago City does not have an art gallery, Mr. Hirotaka Yamamoto, representative of Kashima Kosan Co., Ltd., received Mr. Fujita's proposal to create an art gallery in Kashima-den. , was impressed by the plan and realized it by renovating a room called Blanche.

To mark the opening, Mr. Fujita planned and created art made of plastic waste together with local elementary and junior high school students, and the unveiling ceremony was held to commemorate the opening.

In addition to the children who participated in creating art out of plastic waste, Takasago Mayor Tatsuyoshi Tokura, City Council President Makoto Fujimori, former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Kisaburo Tokai, Prefectural Assemblyman Toshinobu Yamamoto, and many others. It seems that someone was in attendance.

Exhibition contents during Art Week

Inside Art Gallery Blanche. The gallery exhibits works by calligrapher Yudai Fujita.

During Art Week, plastic waste art will of course be displayed in front of the main entrance, but Mr. Fujita's solo exhibition will be held at Blanche on the first floor, and works from the local Kashima Junior High School's calligraphy club and art club will be exhibited twice at Kashima no Mori. It is on display. Also on display at the same time are works created by Mr. Fujita in Sweden, works by the students of the group Mr. Fujita presides over, and works stored by Mr. Kashima. Mr. Fujita's works are mainly exhibited as a calligrapher on the first floor, while his abstract works are exhibited on the second floor, allowing you to enjoy the different expressions.

About Art Gallery Blanche

Why is art necessary for education?

President Yamamoto of Kajima Kosan Co., Ltd. says that artistic thinking is necessary for education.

Yamamoto, CEO of Kashima Kosan Co., Ltd., says that technology has advanced rapidly in recent years, and the field of generative AI is attracting particular attention, and we are entering an era in which AI is used to draw pictures. Because it is created from scratch by AI, art has a uniqueness and depth that cannot be created by AI.

In his speech at the unveiling ceremony, Mr. Fujita said that such sensitivity is necessary for emotional education from childhood. He says that it is necessary to change the way education has been practiced up until now, and that change is also necessary in Takasago City.

It is true that the Setouchi Triennale is famous these days, but art-based city revitalization, such as triennials, is attracting attention in other areas. We hope that this will help art take root in Takasago City!

Future outlook

Takasago City, Hyogo Prefecture has many cultural heritage sites, but they have not received much attention. With Blanche as one of the birthplaces of culture, they plan to exhibit works by local artists and hold projects that children can experience. I can only hope!