Vanitas 3.11

I met Misato in July 2012. She is 63 years old living in Fukushima with her family. After 3.11 I had a strong feeling that I should go there, I had to see what was happening. Seeing the news that day in the Netherlands, the images from internet seemed so distant, like from a movie. …..It looked like after a war. I missed hearing real voices.I didn’t know anybody there except my mother’s old friend. So I went to visit her.

Radiation has no smell. Radiation has no colour either. But under its invisible mask, radiation destroys the circle of nature, dominates the human body and even its mentality.Vanitas, a style of painting from the 16th and 17th century, depicts a fear of death, humans scared by mortality.During the 20th century humans created a new modern system, people became very happy and occupied with it. But in fact it brought a danger into people’s life. This drawing contains hidden 20th century objects based on the idea of vanitas painting.

 

Installation

2013 exhibited at KAdE

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‘’ She said that everything changed. There’s no local food we can eat, without having doubts. We are…… guinea pigs”

 

I met Misato in July 2012. She is 63 years old living in Fukushima with her family. After 3.11 I had a strong feeling that I should go there, I had to see what was happening. Seeing the news that day in the Netherlands, the images from internet seemed so distant, like from a movie. …..It looked like after a war. I missed hearing real voices.I didn’t know anybody there except my mother’s old friend. So I went to visit her.

 

I was shocked by the contrast between the calmness of the wild nature and the silence from the area after all the people had left.. Nature and abandoned animals could find their own way to live, but it was in a contaminated way.I couldn’t find the right words to say to Misato. It seemed that whatever I said, everything lost meaning. The only thing I knew that time was that I should return and meet her again.

 

This summer I went to back to Fukushima and met Misato again. At first she seemed more relaxed than before. But once I started to interview her that impression changed. The dark shadow had dropped significantly deeper within her.

 

In Japan, it’s said that there’s about 8 million gods living in Nature. It’s believed that they created Japan and they protect the land since then. Living abroad, I realized what a rich and beautiful nature Japan has. There are four full seasons and in every season local people hold a festival either to give appreciation for the harvest or to wish something from nature like good health, to bring rain or no earthquakes. Japanese gods used to be close to people’s lives. In the Netherlands where I live now, there is a famous sentence to describe the country, that is

 

 “God created the earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.”

 

After getting to know life here, I think that Japanese people perhaps depend a bit too much on their faith in God (Nature). After such a disaster happened people believe that everything will be ok again after a while because of the power of nature to heal itself. They become busy with their own lives and continue as before. Isn’t it too optimistic? Fukushima may never be the same as it was before. Fukushima’s story has just started. Even though the disaster is ongoing, I would like to try to be optimistic in the way of the Japanese God festival. I would like to borrow some ideas from Fukushima’s festivals (Waraji Matsuri (straw sandals) and Tanabata Matsuri (milkyway festival) to wish better steps in the future for Fukushima and for people related to there. I would like to tell her story here in the Netherlands which is far away from Japan, however I believe that this story is not too far from any person on this planet. Anybody could end up in the same situation.

 

I hope this is not the last form of the world.

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