有田 大貴

米国ジャクソンビル大学にてグラフィックデザインを修めた後、国内のみならずドイツ・イングランド・マダガスカル等海外でも多数作品を発表されています。故郷の広島が第二次世界大戦時に原爆投下による破壊を経験し、復興を遂げた過去をテーマに、国内外から広島へ届けられる千羽鶴やその焼却灰を使った絵画やインスタレーションを制作しています。

『千羽鶴を「生命」や「再生」、千羽鶴の焼却灰は「死」や「破壊」などを象徴する物質と捉え、その二つを使用することで「生と死」「破壊と再生」という広島で起きた事象を表現しています。また、それは万物の普遍性でもあります。この混乱した世界情勢の中で、「ヒロシマ」という記憶をアートという形で伝えていく必要性を感じています』

Every year ten tons of folded cranes, one thousand in each set, are delivered to Hiroshima from all over the world. The thousand paper cranes are filled with wishes such as “World peace” and “Abolish nuclear weapons.”

After they are exhibited, I receive the incinerated ashes of these cranes from Hiroshima City and from a temple in Hiroshima. I use them for paintings and art installations. I regard the sets of thousand cranes as symbols of “life” and “rebirth” and I view the ashes of the cranes as symbols of “death” and “destruction.” By using these two materials, I express the universality of “destruction and regeneration”, “life and death”, and “existence and extinction” of all things. This is particularly poignant when layered with symbols of Hiroshima, a city that has been restored after the destruction of the atomic bomb. Through art, I give the opportunity to think about Hiroshima, peace, war, and nuclear weapons. The A-bomb survivors are aging; it becomes a challenge to convey the memory of Hiroshima to future generations. The world is still in the process of nuclear armament expansion.

In this nuclear era, I want to convey to people the “joy of living in peace.”