WALES x GREEN BIRD HIMEJI Art Collaboration 2025
つなぐ Tsunagu〜CONNECT〜CYSYLLTU
Connect People with Nature on Our Planet 「自然と人をつなげよう、私たちの地球で」
Artwork photos are shown in PORTFOLIO. 作品の写真は、PORTFOLIOにあります。（準備中）
（日本語文は、スクロールダウンしてください）
Common Theme: Connect People with Nature
Animals, plants, microorganisms—all living things are connected. Have you ever thought about this?
The Earth is blessed with beautiful nature. It’s true that some of it has been damaged or lost by humans. The Earth belongs to everyone. Humans are just a small part of nature. The Earth would not exist without humans alone. Let’s consciously connect nature and people. This is the theme of our collaboration.
Another Theme: Connect People with People
This year marks the “Wales-Japan 2025” initiative promoted by the Welsh government.
One of the themes is to introduce Wales to Japan, particularly the people of Himeji. It would be wonderful if this art installation could connect Wales and Himeji through culture and language, leading to a connection between the two countries and a shared concern for the Earth.
“Cysylltu” means “to connect” in Welsh.
About the collaborative art:
I brought a papercut of the iconic red dragon, featured on the Welsh flag, from Wales to Japan.
On the Japanese side, the leader of the Green Bird Himeji team took the lead and collected a variety of works, including green birds, through workshops and other activities.
In this project, everyone is a creator. We were delighted to receive such wonderful works, not only from Himeji but from all over Japan.
This project was made possible by Wales Japan Culture Fund by Welsh Government, Wales Arts International, Arts Council of Wales and British Council of Wales .
共通のテーマ：Connect People with Nature
動物や植物、微生物、すべての生き物はつながっています。みなさんは考えたことがありますか？
地球には素晴らしい自然があります。人間によってダメージを受けた、失われた自然の一部もあることは事実です。地球は、みんなのもの。人間は、自然のほんの一員。人間だけでは地球は存在しません。意識をもって、自然と人をつなげよう。これが私たちのコラボレーションのテーマです。
もう一つのテーマ：Connect People with People
今年は、英国のウェールズ政府が推進する「ウェールズ・日本2025」の年です。
ウェールズのことを日本、特に姫路の人たちに紹介することもテーマに含まれています。今回のアートインスタレーションを通して、文化や言葉に触れ、ウェールズと姫路がつながっていき、国を越えてみんなで地球のことを考えていけたらこんなに嬉しいことはありません。
「Cysylltu」は、ウェールズ語で「つなぐ」という意味です。
コラボレーションアートについて：
Mari Wirthヴィルト マリは、ウェールズの州旗に入っている象徴的なレッドドラゴンの切り絵作品をウェールズから日本へ持ってきました。
日本では、グリーンバード姫路チームのリーダーが主導し、ワークショップなどを通して、緑の鳥をはじめとする様々な作品を集めました。このコラボレーションでは、一人一人がクリエーターです。嬉しいことに、姫路以外の全国からも、素晴らしい作品が寄せられました。つなげるという思いが伝えられたでしょうか。
このプロジェクトは、ウェールズ政府によるウェールズ日本文化基金、ウェールズ・アーツ・インターナショナル 、ウェールズ・アーツカウンシル、ブリティッシュ・カウンシル・オブ・ウェールズからの後援によって実現しました。
Workshops run by green bird Himeji
Himeji team was founded in 2016 by Kaori Takeo (Take-chan), which belongs to a nationwide NPO green bird. With the spirit of “Keep Clean, Keep Green,” they spread the message that “littering is uncool!” as they energetically clean up the streets, rivers, ocean, and forests of Himeji. Anyone can simply join, regardless of nationality, gender, disability, or occupation, and it’s a great way to meet new people. The Himeji team members are made up of regular members as well as anyone who gathers at a certain location on a given day.
In collaboration with the Himeji team, we held an art workshop in Japan alongside the cleaning activities, mainly in the Himeji area. Many artworks were submitted, featuring the green bird that symbolizes green bird and environmentally conscious messages.
姫路グリーンバードチームによるワークショップ
2016年にチームリーダー、タケちゃんによって設立された全国にネットワークを持つNPO green birdの姫路チーム。“Keep Clean, Keep Green”をスピリットに「ポイ捨てカッコ悪いぜ！」のメッセージ発信をしながら、姫路の街・川・海・森と幅広く元気におそうじ活動中！国籍・性別・障がい・職業関係なく誰でも気軽に参加でき、さまざまな人たちとの出会いが生まれます。レギュラーメンバーを中心に、その日その場所に集まったひとが姫路チームのメンバーです。
その姫路チームとのコラボレーションで、日本側では姫路地域を中心におそうじ活動の傍ら、アートワークショップを開催してもらいました。グリーンバードを象徴する緑の鳥や、環境を考えたメッセージを入れたアート作品が多数集まりました。
Workshops
From Initial Meetings to Installation
After I arrived in Japan in early November, I spent two weeks meeting with the team members to prepare, even visiting the venue to meticulously plan the entire process. (We used Farmer’s Kitchen Innuit’s space for these meetings. We’re very grateful.)
On installation day, with the cooperation of Karikari-chan, the venue manager, Take-chan and Nakano-kun from the Himeji team, and Masa-san, the owner of Innuit, we completed a collaborative piece. Numerous environmentally conscious artworks and my own paper cuttings, which have come to focus on environmental issues, were also exhibited at the venue. In total, nearly 150 pieces were submitted.
イベント開催前のミーティングから搬入まで
私が11月初旬に日本へ到着してからの２週間は準備のためにメンバーでミーティングを重ね、開催会場にも実際に行って搬入までの段取りを綿密に計画しました。（ミーティングには、Farmer’s Kitchen Innuitさんのスペースをお借りしました。感謝いたします）
搬入当日は、開催会場のKarikariちゃんに姫路チームのタケちゃんと中野くん、InnuitオーナーのMasaさんに協力いただき、コラボレーション作品が完成しました。会場には、環境を考えた多数のアート作品および環境問題をテーマにするに至った私の切り絵作品も展示されました。総計では、およそ150点近くの作品が寄せられました。
Meetings and Preparation
Setup and Installation
The Exhibition 14th – 16th November and the Talk Event 16th November
The exhibition was held for three days, from 14th to 16th November. At the talk event on the last day, green bird’s Himeji team leader, Kaori, and I explained how the collaboration came about and introduced the activities of Wales and the NPO green bird. Despite the small scale of the event, many people attended over the three days, making it a great success.
展覧会とトークイベント
展覧会は、11月14日から16日の3日間開催されました。最終日のトークイベントでは、グリーンバード姫路チームリーダーと私による、コラボレーションに至った経緯、ウェールズおよびグリーンバードの活動を紹介しました。小さな規模のイベントにも関わらず、3日間、多くの方々に来場していただき、盛況に終わりました。
Submitted Works and People
The works gathered are truly one-of-a-kind, spanning a wide range of materials and techniques. The passion of each creator is evident. The creators come from a wide range of age groups and backgrounds. This ties into Green Bird’s motto of open participation. While we cannot feature all the works (because of the space limit for so many artworks), we will showcase some of them here. (Please slide the photos)
寄せられた作品
材料から手法にわたって、実にさまざまな唯一無二の作品群です。作り手それぞれの思いが伝わってきます。作り手も、幅広い年齢層にバックグラウンドを持つ方々でした。グリーンバードが掲げる誰でも参加できるというモットーにも繋がります。1５0近くの作品の全てを掲載できませんが、ここにその一部を披露します。（スライドしてください）
Artworks and People
PROJECT 2023 For ‘On Loss and Damage’
What a Young Oak Tree Sees in 200 Years
Giclée art prints of this artwork are available in 3 different sizes. If you are interested in an art print, please click here. (This is MADE TO ORDER and the turnaround time is about 10-14 days for UK delivery)
Nature is vulnerable.
Rethink of Loss and Damage,
Reconnect with nature and us, human.
Nature is vulnerable.
And yet nature is resilient.
These two artworks, in the forms of 2D & 3D, are about a story of a young oak tree which sees its surrounded life after 200 years from now on.
As we have seen the drastic climate change in the recent past years, there are a lot of things we lost and damaged. The things we lost will never come back. The things we damaged might retain scurs but perhaps, I do hope, survive the damage, if our action against the climate change works in time. This is my pray and hope for the future.
Oak (pedunculate oak) is a native tree in the UK. Prior to create these artworks, I have walked at the Cliff Top, where Alfred Sisley once visited and painted his beautiful landscape over 100 years ago. A few oak trees in one of his paintings grew old, and yet still stand there now. I have walked along the Salmon-Leap trail, where I saw a stunning blue kingfisher, busy with catching food in the clear water.
Biodiversity of wildlife is complex and delicate. Once it loses the balance, it tries to rebalance. However, if the change is too huge, it struggles to do it. This is what we see now. Besides, each biodiversity is connected next each other on our planet.
A thought came in my mind, what a young oak tree might see our local landscape after 200 years. It must grow mature, but not that old. Oaks have longevity around well above 300-400 years, perhaps 700 years. I hope the landscape will not change a lot, but much more species in our local wildlife. I would like to believe in the strength of nature.
Size: 80w x 104h cm (solid oak frame 99x122cm, wire hook behind the frame)
Materials: Various types of paper (British paper for papercut, Japanese Awagami paper for background, and various Japanese washi paper for other parts), watercolour and black calligraphy ink
Still Connected
No plastic and metal are used for my artworks. The ropes are made with washi paper and dried grass from my garden. This is my respect for our precious wildlife. I use some traditional Japanese craft techniques to be noted.
Chigiri-e （千切り絵）: ‘chigiru‘ means tear in Japanese. (‘e’ means picture. Pictures created with teared paper pieces) I used teared pieces for both artworks.
Ko-yori（紙縒り）: twisted paper. The twisted paper pieces are traditionally used for hanging paper pieces on which wishes and prays are written. No glue used. For my 3D artwork, I used them to hang paper leaves as praying for future.
Shime-nawa （しめ縄）: twisted ropes. Shime-nawa is a symbol of holiness, often seen at the front of shrines and entrance of individual houses.
Size: ca 100w x 90h cm (80cm diameter of the stand)
Materials: various types of paper (Japanese washi paper, manila paper, and other recycled paper), solid oak, pruned branches, grass (ropes) watercolour and calligraphy ink
PROJECT 2022 For ‘Winter Sun’
Giclée art prints of this artwork are available in 3 different sizes. If you are interested in an art print, please click here. (This is MADE TO ORDER and the turnaround time is about 10-14 days for UK delivery)
Winter Morning in the Beech Woods 1
This piece and the installation (below) were created for the ‘Winter Sun’ exhibition at Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre.
Beech trees, large or small, mature or young, have all shed their leaves, which makes the sunlight coming through the bare branches. The sunlight is still hazy in the morning. However, animals, that are not hibernating, already active. Even though hibernating animals and trees are staying quiet, they are preparing for the next season.
- Papercut Collage (60cm diameter)
Card paper (made in the UK) for papercut, Japanese washi-paper for the background, coloured with extract from fallen beech leaves & water colour
Winter Morning in the Beech Woods 2
I created a large paper-cutting piece and an experimental installation piece which links to the paper cut piece. The materials are all natural, sustainable, and biodegradable, no plastic or metal. Paper that I used is various types of Japanese washi paper. The basic structure is made with vines, branches, grass leaves from my garden.
The circle of the object is almost the same size as the paper-cutting piece on the wall. The scene is made as if you looked down the ground from top of the tree, whereas you look up the sky through the woods in the paper-cutting piece.
An experimental Installation
80cm diameter x 60cm hight
Mixed media, only natural material, no plastic, no metal
Various plants (hazel, clematis, ivy, pendulous sedge, montbretia etc.), various Japanese washi-paper (coloured with extract from fallen beech leaves & water colour)
Leaves made from Japanese washi paper dyed with extract from fallen beech leaves
Mari Wirth 