Reiko Nireki, a sculptor who lives in Kamojima, came with Mutsumi Uchiyama up to my place, ChanTak. This time, she came up to Kamiyama to do some preliminary preparations for an art project scheduled to go on next spring with a Finnish artist.

Three women artists, including Ms. Nireki and two Finnish women are developing a project in Finland where they use art as a medium to open dialogue about the diminishing forests and the former place that forests and trees held in the ancient Finnish culture of nature worship.

Next, they plan to weave to two similar but different cultural backgrounds of Finland and Japan, to illustrate the beautiful but cold relationship between “People and the Woods” in an experimental project.

Sounds pretty neat.

Art. Forestry. International.
It seems like there is a lot of crossover here with what Green Valley is working on.

I’d heard a lot about Ms Nireki but this was my first time to actually meet her.

I’d heard that she’s got a very deep connection to Finland, not just with creating art, but she’s also brought Finnish artists to Japan in a sort of personal artist in residence. I had heard about how active she is and I was expecting a real powerhouse, but she’s quite laid-back in person, and very centered.

She says she’s going to come to Kamiyama again soon and do a presentation about her project.
When that time comes, I’ll be sure to post about it here.