A drop of water 1 – Spring

美しい風土の中に生きて、ものづくりをする。

この地に生まれて当たり前のように享受してきた。そこには掛け替えのない価値があると気がついた人たちが、クリエイターの滞在制作プロジェクトを立ち上げて1年と少し。突然、世界に停止がかかった。海外との往来が叶わなくなり、生活も不安に包まれたまま先が見えない。それでも今という時間の中で「やれることを、やりましょう」とプロジェクトは動き出した。

Living in a beautiful environment and creating things.

Those who were born in this area often take for granted the local environment and culture. But a little over a year ago, a group of people who realized that our physical and cultural surroundings are irreplaceable, launched the Artist In Residence project. Then, suddenly, the world ground to a halt. Now we can’t travel to and from abroad, with future life surrounded by anxiety. Still, the project was started, with the concept of, “Let’s do what we can do”.

初めてのオンライン会議。それぞれの機場から、家から、会社から、小さなマスの中に接続して顔を見合わせる。機場で喋り出したら止められない面々がお行儀よく整列して、しんと口を閉じている様が面白い。まるでマスに閉じ込めてしまっているようで申し訳ないけれど、丁寧な司会進行で滞ることなく議題は進んだ。

The first online meeting. From each hataba, from homes and offices, people connected to a small square on a computer and looked at each other. It was interesting that people who often can’t stop talking at the hataba were lined up on the screen, well-mannered, with their mouthes closed. I’m sorry to say they were trapped in a box, but the agenda proceeded smoothly due to the polite moderator.

会議を重ね、生地サンプルをフランスへ送り、デザイナーたちが手にとる。彼らの目と手が捉えたことを言葉で表して、日本語に翻訳して、ようやくボールが手元に返ってくる。その場に居合わせられたら、その瞳がどの糸を追い、その指先がどの糸を感じているのか、膨大な情報量を空気のようにすうっと吸い込むことができるのに。

After repeated meetings, fabric samples were sent to France for designers to pick up. Expressing what their eyes and hands caught in words, translating in and out of Japanese, the plan finally came back to hand. If I was there in person, I could breathe in a huge amount of information like air, which thread the eyes were chasing and which thread the fingertips were feeling.

祭囃子の聞こえない春。寂しいでしょうと声をかけると、「正直なところ、練習も準備もなくてホッとするね」なんて言う。嘘だな。獅子舞の面を外した、あの笑顔が見られないなんて。神輿を下ろしてひと息、御旅所でうどんをすする楽しみもないのに平気なわけがない。穏やかに晴れ渡った青空が恨めしい。のどかな春の日差しが、こんなに虚しい気持ちにさせるなんて。せめて雨か曇り空なら慰めになるのに。

It’s the end of Spring, yet you can’t hear the local festival music. When I say to a man who loves this festival that he must feel lonely without it, he says, “Honestly, I’m relieved to not have to practice or prepare”. But it’s a lie. I can’t see his smile when he takes off his lion mask after the performance. I’ll never believe that people are fine without the simple joy of putting down the ceremonial float they have been carrying, to sip a bowl of udon noodles at the place where they take a break. I feel a grudge against the beautifully clear blue sky. The idyllic spring sunshine makes me feel so vain. At least it would be comforting if it was raining or cloudy!

仰向けに見上げた空に、洗濯物がはためく。何もできなくても時間は流れるし、洗濯機を回して、掃除機をかける。家事をして、眠り、積み上げていた書籍をやっつけて、例年より丁寧に草をむしる。土が柔らかく耕されて、余計に草が生えやすくなってはしないかと考える。草むしりをする度に、植生が変わっていく。この前は、ここにいなかった植物が日向の一等地を占領している。次にはまた違う雑草が領土を広げて、自然の世界は止まることなく更新されていく。スマートフォンを覗くと、屋根の上に登っている機屋の写真を見かけた。これまで忙し過ぎて出来なかったことをやろうと、補修をするそうだ。錆止めの赤色の向こうに広がる青空と、やるせなく見上げる青空が繋がっている。

Laundry flutters in the sky as I’m looking up. Even if I don’t do anything, time goes by. I start the washing machine and do the vacuum cleaning. I do the housekeeping, sleep and read through the books I’ve piled up. I weed more carefully than usual. I think that the soil will be cultivated well, making it easier for grass to grow. Every time I weed, the vegetation changes. The plants, that were not here before, are occupying the best area under the sun. Then, another weed expands its territory. The natural world is constantly updated. When I looked at SNS on my smartphone, I saw a picture of a weaver climbing on his roof. Now he says he will repair it, as he didn’t have time to fix it before, because he was too busy. The blue sky that spreads beyond the red colour of the rust preventive paint

he’s using in the photo and the blue sky above my head seem somehow connected.

プロジェクトが進み、メールのやり取りで不都合がないか尋ねた。「このコレクションを見て」。差し出された写真には、ランウェイを歩くモデルがメタリックに輝くドレスをまとっていた。この機屋が得意とする、薄手の織物で作られたドレスだ。「この前発表された新作だよ」。デザイナーからのオーダーは、一通のメールだった。図案データと、銀糸と黒い糸を使うというシンプルな内容だったらしい。「彼らはうちに来たことがあるから、僕の得意分野を理解している。この依頼で、想定を裏切るような生地を織りたいって気になってね」。完成された生地は、まるで現地で綿密な打ち合わせを重ねたかのようにコレクションの世界観を表現していた。「これまで通りに作り進めただけだよ」。朝飯前とでも言いたそうな表情を浮かべて言った。

As the project progressed, I asked a weaver if they felt it was inconvenient to show their work by email instead of real life. “Look at this collection”, came the reply. In the photo shown, a model on a runway wore a metallic shining dress. It was a dress made from thin woven fabric, which was his specialty. “It’s my most recent work”. The order that came from the designer to the weaver was by email. It contained the data of the pattern, and very simply asked to use silver and black thread. The weaver said, “As they had visited us, they understood what I’m good at. At their request, I was inspired to weave textile that exceeded their expectations”. The finished fabric expressed the world of the collection as if it had been made after in-depth discussions face to face. “I just made it as usual”, he said, his expression suggesting that it had been easy.

ここは半島。周りを海と山に囲まれて、半分を閉ざされてきた土地。東京から一番遠い町だと言われてきた。なかなか人や情報が来られなかった土地だから、物事が便利に進むことなんてこれまでもなかった。停止をかけられたのは、瞬く間にあらゆる事象が進む世界。ここは半分を閉ざされた土地だったから、そんな魔法にかけられることもなかったんだ。

This is a peninsula. A land half closed, surrounded by the sea and mountains. It has been said that it is the remotest town from Tokyo, difficult to get to. It’s a land where people and information were traditionally hard to come by, not like the blink-of-an-eye timeline of the cities. It was a half-closed land anyway, and when the world stopped, it wasn’t the same here.

水田を渡ってくる風が、青い稲を揺らす。無機質な緑色の織機が、ひんやりして気落ちいいと思う季節がやってきた。今年の夏も、呆れるほど暑い。織機の調子を見ようとしゃがみ込むと、埃と錆の匂いでむせそうになる。氷が蒸発するように、土間から立ち上ってくるのだ。ようやく寒さの解けた機場は、冬の間にせっせと蓄えた湿度を惜しげも無く放出している。

The wind that crosses the rice fields sways the green rice plants. The season has come when the green loom feels nice and cool. It is also a very hot summer. When I crouch down to see how the loom is doing, the smell of dust and rust makes me sick. It rises from the dirt floor just like ice evaporates in a frying pan. The hataba, where the coldness has finally gone, is releasing the dampness it has accumulated during the winter.

出穂の頃、海の向こうから提案書が届いた。画面の向こうで、PDFファイルをスクロールしながら機屋の声に熱が高まっていくのを感じる。「うちの生地を見て、かたちを流し込むことができるデザイナーという職業はやはりすごい。そして、彼らのエッセンスを生地に表現できるのは、僕たちの技術だ」。プロジェクトに胎動が生まれていく。焦げそうなほど暑くても稲は実るし、会えなくても糸に託した想いは掬い取られている。停止のかかった世界で、止められないものが脈打っていた。

Around the time the ears of rice begin to appear, a proposal arrived from the other side of the sea. Beyond the screen, I felt the excitement of the weavers growing, as I scrolled through the PDF files. “The professional designers who saw our fabrics and pour shape into them are just amazing, and it is our technique that expresses their essence”. Movement is born in the project. Even though it’s so hot, the rice will grow, and even if we can’t meet, the feelings entrusted to the thread are taken up. In a world that had slammed on the brakes, something unstoppable was now accelerating.

海と山に囲まれて半分を閉ざされた土地から、世界に向かって手を伸ばして20年。その間に出会った人たちが、ロックダウンのかかった町でデザイナーを繋いでくれた。「彼と仕事をするのは初めてなのに、そうじゃない気がする」。それは当然のことだ。世界の停止さえ無視して、20年をかけたバトンが戻ってきたのだ。

It has been 20 years since we first tried to reach out to the world from our half-closed land surrounded by the sea and mountains. Over time, the people who met connected others to weavers, designers, and artists. “It’s my first time working with him, but it doesn’t feel like that”. It seems natural to feel that way.

Ignoring even the world locked down, a baton that began to be passed on some 20 years ago, has returned.

闇に魅かれて車の窓を開けてみる。瞬間、妖艶な香りが鼻腔を通り抜けて肺に満ちた。酔いしれそうな、飲み込まれそうな、圧倒的な存在感。稲の穂が収穫の時を知らせていた。明日は満月。

Fascinated by the darkness, I try to open the car window. At that moment, a bewitching scent passed through my nose and filled my lungs as if I had swallowed it and become tipsy. The ear of rice signalled the time of harvest. It is a full moon tomorrow.

A drop of water 1 – Spring

project team

Project Team Organizer

Project Team Members

National Government