About the artwork

Since 2004, Kiyokatsu Matsumiya has been hosting “Shake Hands with the Earth Workshops” at various locations across the country. Participants grasp a piece of clay and then etch their name on it. The artist collects and fires them unglazed. In this arrangement there were more than ten thousand participants, and to their contributions an object for the residents of Higashi Shimo Gumi district was included. The installation was entitled “From Restoration to Development.” “The red conical object at the center symbolizes the energy of the earth, and the more than ten thousand objects radiating out across the school ground represent the fault lines left by the earthquake.” (Kiyokatsu Matsumiya)