Satellite exhibition: Thoughts on "Into the Atomic Sunshine in Sakima"

By: Shinya Watanabe (Exhibition curator)

In conjunction with the "Atomic Sunshine in Okinawa" exhibition at Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum, a satellite exhibition “Into the Atomic Sunshine in Sakima” will be held at the Sakima Art Museum.

Sakima Art Museum, which is Okinawa’s first private museum, was built by the museum director Michio Sakima to exhibit "Okinawasen no Zu" (4mx8.5m) by the husband and wife team of Iri Maruki and Toshi Maruki, well known for their work "Genbaku no Zu." After a long and persistent negotiation, Michio Sakima, who is also the land owner, managed to have part of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma reverted to his ownership in 1992, when the contract with the U.S. military was about to expire, in exchange for renewing the contract for the military land which he also owned, and opened the museum in 1994.

Located on the hilltop, the museum is designed to harmonize with the turtle-back tomb in the garden of the Sakima residence which has 270 years of history, and from the stairs leading to the rooftop, it is possible to look down towards the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

In 2004, the artist Chikako Yamashiro produced one part of the three-part video works "Okinawa Tourist" called "Hakaniwa Eisa (Tomb garden dance)" in front of the turtle-back tomb at the Sakima Art Museum (The other two works will be shown at the Atomic Sunshine exhibition). Yamashiro has produced and exhibited her works in Okinawa by asking herself what she should express in her works as an artist born in Okinawa, and for this exhibition, she will be exhibiting her photographic works called "Virtual Inheritance" which came to fruition through her own body expression by questioning whether it is possible to inherit war experience by those who have not experienced war. She will also be presenting her new video works as well.

The American and Cuban artists Allora and Calzadilla, who reside in Puerto Rico and are exhibiting for the Atomic Sunshine exhibition, will be presenting a video work on the theme of Vieques Island. Allora and Calzadilla have been taking part in the civil disobedience demonstrations from 1941 to 1992 against the use of Vieques Island as artillery practice ground by the U.S. and NATO forces, and succeeded in recovering part of the military land. In their video work "Returning a Sound" which they will be presenting, music from trumpets mounted on the mufflers of motorbikes driven by the residents of Vieques Island celebrating the return of their land can be heard. When those sounds reverberate across Sakima Art Museum, what will we perceive from them?

My hope is that this exhibition will become an opportunity for the Okinawans, who have experienced ground battle and are forced to carry the burden of 75% of the functions of the U.S. military bases in Japan, the Japanese citizens as well as people from all over the world to reflect upon the themes of Article 9 and post-war art and to smooth the way for the coming future.

(Translated by Harutaka Oribe)