2021 Giant Waves
The Coventry Cathedral (Japan - UK Season of Culture Event)
After the successful interactive installation work: Making Waves - the official event of ‘Hokusai, Beyond the Great Wave’ in the Great Court of the British Museum in 2017, Imada was approached by Rebecca Bollands, the Deputy Head of Howes Primary School of Coventry in 2018 to create an interactive installation work together with pupils from Coventry schools, initially planned for 2020. This was then planned to be a part of a big Japan Festival event to celebrate the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. However, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the event was postponed until 2021 and the event had to be adjusted in various ways. However, the core part of this project remains the same and most of the elements initially planned are still there.
The Making Waves project is formed in 3 parts and this interactive installation is the last part of this project. Imada runs 4 Japanese woodblock printmaking workshops with 40 pupils of Coventry in mid June for them to create prints expressing ‘Waves’ and from these 40 carved blocks more prints produced by other pupils who weren’t able to participate the workshop to add on to the main installation work created by Imada.
Imada created a giant paper installation represent “Waves’ as a starting point, then through discussion with selected pupils who participated in the workshops pupil’s prints will be added onto the main installation work. The ‘Waves’ here is to represent ‘Hope and Future’ and to celebrate life itself.
During the pandemic we all have experienced some kind of loss - loss of family, friends, possessions, property, jobs, health, strength, hopes, etc. It could have been a mental loss or physical loss but surely there is no one who hasn’t had a feeling of loss since the lockdown back in March 2020. Now is the time to overcome as people can physically come together again to support each other. It is such a pleasure to finally see this interactive installation forming and taking shape. This is all about working together and creating together and making things happen together. It will be great if the viewers feel their spirits lifted up by seeing this interactive installation work.
