[Reborn-Art Festival 2019] Yusuke Asai "Life Dwells Everywhere @ Sketches of Oshika," Kozumi Area

Reborn-Art Festival 2019

Held for the second time, “Reborn-Art Festival 2019 (RAF2019)” takes place across the Oshika Peninsula and the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture. It’s not just an art festival — it’s a celebration that also embraces music and food.

RAF2019 unfolds across seven areas.
One of them is the “Kozumi Area.”
Located roughly in the middle of the Oshika Peninsula, it’s an area surrounded by calm bay waters and mountains.

At this site is Fermento, a facility for butchering and processing deer taken through hunting into edible meat. Amid the worsening problem of animal damage, they advance deer culling while working to make full, respectful use of the deer as a local resource.

Kozumi Area

The Kozumi Area is curated by Hideki Toyoshima, under the theme “When We See Ourselves, Led by the Deer.”
Small houses built by artists cluster around the deer processing facility “Fermento,” forming what looks like a small village.

Hideki Toyoshima (left) and deer hunter Nozomu Onodera (right)

Each artist exhibits inside a house. The interiors are air-conditioned and comfortable.

Yusuke Asai “Life Dwells Everywhere @ Sketches of Oshika”

Yusuke Asai, whose large-scale mural at the Yokohama Museum of Art recently drew widespread attention.

Asai, known for depicting flora and fauna in mud paintings, presents an exhibition centered on works inspired by Oshika, including a number of smaller pieces.

Asai's house. His work is also painted on the inside of the glass windows so it can be seen from outside. — Asai’s house. His work is also painted on the inside of the glass windows so it can be seen from outside.

Every surface — the walls and even the ceiling — is densely painted.

Work painted on the glass window, photographed from the inside

Anchored in red — a shade well suited to mud painting — the work is unmistakably Asai's. — Anchored in red — a shade well suited to mud painting — the work is unmistakably Asai’s.

The mud used was collected here on the Oshika Peninsula.

The mud-painting surface has a wonderful texture.

Seen from inside, the sun was projecting the artwork onto the floor.

Displayed as if pasted on top of the mural.

This work, labeled "TO ONODERA SAN," appears to be an Asai piece addressed to Nozomu Onodera.An Asai work. It's placed somew… — This work, labeled “TO ONODERA SAN,” appears to be an Asai piece addressed to Nozomu Onodera.
An Asai work. It’s placed somewhere in the venue, so look for it.

I was able to enjoy work that felt distinctly Asai’s.
The Kozumi Area also features works by other artists.
And if the timing is right, you may even get to see Fermento, the facility that processes hunted deer.

Overview

Reborn-Art Festival 2019
Dates: August 3 (Sat) – September 29 (Sun), 2019 <58 days>
Venues: Oshika Peninsula, Ajishima Island, central Ishinomaki, Matsushima Bay (Ishinomaki, Shiogama, Higashimatsushima, Matsushima Town, Onagawa Town)
* Closed on Wednesdays <except August 14 (Wed) and event days.> * The Ajishima area opens on August 20 (Tue)
Organizers: Reborn-Art Festival Executive Committee, ap bank
Co-organizers: Miyagi Prefecture, Ishinomaki, Shiogama, Higashimatsushima, Matsushima Town, Onagawa Town, Kahoku Shimpo Publishing Co., East Japan Railway Company Sendai Branch, Yahoo Japan Corporation
Fiscal 2018 Agency for Cultural Affairs Program for Building an International Center for the Dissemination of Culture and Arts
Sponsors: Kinoshita Group Co., Kirin Company, Sumitomo Forestry Co., TSUTAYA Co., T-Point Japan Co.,
Kankyo Station Co.
Collaborating projects: Aichi Triennale 2019, Sanriku Disaster Prevention and Reconstruction Project 2019, Setouchi Triennale 2019