Ten days have passed since the opening, and new project sites added for the Summer Session are settling into a routine. Many of the Koebitai volunteers who have worked hard since the session began are now moving out of the Koebitai dorm and back to their homes. This has left the operating team short staffed, especially on weekdays. In response to this emergency, two families joined the team yesterday for two days. Please come out and help us if you can.

The flow of visitors is very promising. However, many jump on the boats for the islands without stopping to check out the art sites and projects in Takamatsu and Uno ports. Of course, the islands are the reason they are coming, but as the quality of work at both ports is extremely high, I recommend returning on an earlier ferry to give yourself time to check out what’s there.
The photos at Uno Port, in particular, are striking. Displayed on and in homes and buildings, they are concentrated in high density near the port. Nobuyoshi Araki’s billboard pieces are clearly representative of his lifework, while David Sylvian’s abandon/hope presents a fertile world, like a Visconti movie, the traces of which are beautiful yet heartrending. Masafumi Sanai’s works have a strong presence, like objets d’art, that make a powerful impact, and Sakiko Nomura’s Platinum Portraits are fabulous, revealing the emotions and “growth rings” characteristic of the elderly through the facial expressions and posture of the subjects who were prepared for their portraits by a makeup artist and fashion stylist. Moving from house to house to view the works of these four photographers was like viewing fragments of the world’s scenery sparkling in Setouchi’s Uno Port.

Una-ben, a healthy packed lunch, contains balls of rice and mixed grains and is delicious. I also highly recommend the rare and unusual live musical performances at the Port.