What is Energy Field?
We are doing various projects with the theme of “making towns nice through art”.
We have already achieved success by hosting the BIWAKO BIENNALE in 2001, 2004, and 2007. We are using the house of a merchant family which was built 180 years ago and faces Hachimanbori as the main place for our project right now. We call the place “Tenraikyu” which means “the sound which can harmonize all relations” (it is quoted from the work of Geyu Sokyu, who is the famous writer and has won the Akutagawa Award). Now the house is currently being used for many purposes such including as an art gallery, a café, and a community centre. Children are also involved in projects such as doing workshops and concerts in our group.
In addition, we are preparing for the fourth BIWAKO biennale which is going to be held in this year. The theme is “Tamatebako-Magical World.”
[About Our Projects]
Our aim is to communicate with people of all ages and nationalities through art and culture by:
☆Creating and disseminating the global standard’s culture and art
・Hosting the BIWAKO BIENNALE
・Creating a worldwide network
・Making opportunities for communication with international artists
☆Projects for local residents
・Hosting workshops and concerts by artists regularly
・Studying how to make better towns by holding symposiums
・Holding many seminars by local residents
・Offering opportunities to experience traditional agriculture and food from the region
[History]
Oumihachiman was remade as a castle town by Hidetsugu Toyotomi in 16th century. Then, it was thrived as one of the first places of inhabited by Omi traders. The areas around the old city of Omi and Hachimanbori still show traces of what they were used to be. However, many traditional Japanese houses have been taken down because they have been getting old. Instead, people try to build new buildings there or they use the space for parking lots. Or, some of the houses are not old enough to be destroyed and have no owners, so they have been left abandoned. As a result, they are rotted. There are more than 70 of those vacant houses in the city of Omihachiman right now and it is said that the number of these houses is going to increase in the next 10 years.
[Purpose of Our Projects]
Using Tenraikyu as an example, and let us try to make the best of those vacant
houses.〜
We would like to restore and save almost all the areas of the old city of Omihachiman, and make them as
valuable and important area. We would also like to take them over from generation to generation. We do
not want to make the town like a fancy theme park, but we do want to create a vibrant city, in other words,
the city which is kind for locals, safe enough, and suitable for the areas. Therefore, our mandate is to
emphasize local traditions and art. We try to harmonize traditional cultures with art, and try to make a new
stream. We hope to revitalize our city by drawing upon traditional art and culture.
We are eager to make the city of Omihachiman international and cultural city by holding international art festival, the”BIWAKO BIENNALE”. Our vision is to raise children who are proud of their own city and have a broad perspective on the world.