Ni

AAWAA

In ancient times, the large province of Tango occupied most of the Tango Peninsula. I live nearby, in Miyama, which is in the Nantan area in central Kyoto Prefecture, once a part of Tango Prov- ince. Nantan and Tango both employ the character Tan /Ni (丹), as do many other place names in this region. [...]

I've often come across landscapes marked with red; red soil left exposed on eroded mountain slopes, bright red well-water, red-tinged water seeping from the ground, stones in mountain streams stained with red deposits. The land here is rich in iron and it is said that the many place names containing the character Tan / Ni, which refers to "red" or to a "reddish mineral," are de- rived from this red soil. When fired, the soil becomes red iron oxide, which is used as a pigment. It is here that my contemplation of Tan / Ni began. [...]

In Tango, red pigment was once produced by crushing cinnabar, a mineral composed primarily of mercury sulfide. Back in the prehistoric Jomon period, I wonder if cinnabar may have represented life itself ? The Jomon people are thought to have applied red powder to their faces and bodies, much as people did with white pigment in later eras. Perhaps by adorning themselves with cinnabar, they sought to maintain physical and spiritual well-being. In the Yayoi period (c. 300 BCE − 300 CE), as rulers emerged, cinnabar came to be used in rituals and funerary practices.  [...]

Traces of cinnabar unearthed from the Misaka Shrine Burial Mound Group in Tango are housed in a museum storeroom. The soil is still stained the vivid red of cinnabar, imbued with the living presence of ancient times. It was found near the head areas inside wooden coffins, indicating that it had been applied to the heads of the deceased. Tubular glass beads, used as head ornaments, were found adhered to the cinnabar. I am also struck by the many offerings of broken pottery and shards excavated from the burial mounds. These were part of an ancient funerary ritual known as the Offering of Fragmented Pottery, in which vessels were intentionally broken around the wooden coffin during burials. The reason for this practice remains unknown but the shards are unmistakably Yayoi pottery, made from the red soil of this region. Intriguingly, alongside the jars, urns, bowls, pedestaled bowls, and water pitchers, miniature versions of the same vessels were also unearthed.

At the museum, a series of photographs documenting the excavation of the burial mounds caught my eye. I found myself captivated by the beauty of the scenery surrounding the finds. Though the images were meant as archaeological records, seen in a different light, they appeared as red earth spaces, like architecture rendered in red, with each detail precisely arranged. I wanted to bring such spaces into being. I photographed the photographs and then gazed at them for days, reimagining these spaces.

One day in Taiza, Tango, I came across a hill with strikingly red soil. With only a few steps my white shoes had turned red. That same day, I acquired a piece of beautiful silk fabric, woven in Tango using time-honored techniques. I recalled that silk threads had been found clinging to artifacts excavated from the Imai Burial Mound Group, and this was said to be the oldest known silk from Yayoi-period Tango. Silk production had already begun in this region during that time. I bundled the silk cloth and buried it in the red soil of the hill, dyeing it with the earth itself. The fabric bundles, placed into holes I had dug, reminded me of the wooden coffins from the Misaka Shrine Burial Mound Group. I left the fabric underground for a while and brought some of the red earth back with me to make pottery. With detailed drawings of the shattered offerings excavated from the Misaka Shrine Burial Mound Group as a guide, I reproduced nearly identical vessels (jars, bowls, pedestaled bowls, water pitchers, and miniatures of the same) and fired them in the open air to produce Yayoi-style pottery. When the pieces were complete, I raised each one high up and then smashed it into the ground. But who was I smashing it for?

After some time had passed, I dug up the buried bundles of fabric, as if carrying out an archaeological excavation. The silk had absorbed the color of the red earth, and mold had bloomed across its frayed surface, forming patterns of unexpectedly beautiful color. In Kamiseya, in the mountains of Tango, there is a tradition of weaving fabric with wisteria vines. The long tendrils are harvested and, after numerous steps, processed into thread. Kamiseya is also home to papermakers who produce beautiful handmade paper, and one of them mixed my red-dyed silk with paper mulberry harvested from the area and added cinnabar to create a paper pulp. This was then applied to enough wisteria thread to weave a full bolt of cloth. Red thread was spun day after day, and after several months, the wisteria weaver completed the red cloth. Wisteria thread is said to date back to the Jomon period, while silk arrived later on, during the Yayoi period. Wisteria and silk, joined by cinnabar and the paper mulberry plant; all are materials found in this region since ancient times. What emerged was Ni - Earth Fabric, which resembled the rare and precious "otsuzure" fabric.

I used lacquer to mend the vessels that I had broken, restoring them to a usable state. This marked the beginning of my series, Fragmentary Offering Vessels. The shards unearthed from burial mounds were broken as part of funerary rites for dead rulers, and were never to be repaired or used again. However, the vessels I broke were not offerings for them. Perhaps I broke them for myself. And since I have no plans to be buried anytime soon, I want these Fragmentary Offering Vessels to serve a purpose in daily life instead.

A red earth dwelling was built in Taiza. A large quantity of red soil from the hill was carried in, and the space I had envisioned took form. The building was enveloped in red earth, forming a place where the beauty of ancient times could be laid to rest. On a platform of compacted red soil, I placed the Ni - Earth Fabric.

This land, steeped in tan since time immemorial, was once a quietly radiant place where the planet itself glowed red. In an age when those who sought inner stillness let that light shine gently, it was swallowed by the immense might of those who came from across the sea. That delicate light was mined and transformed, giving rise to a vast new domain, which in turn became a nation. I was born into that domain, which lives on in a different form. But quietly, and alone, I slip away here. Taking only the beauty that remains in this land, I shape a new place where that red light can shine softly once more.

Related Exhibitons

AAWAA 個展「丹」 会期：2025年8月30日（土） 〜9月27日（土） 時間：11:00〜19:00 会場：タカ・イシイギャラリー 京橋（ 東京都中央区京橋1-7-1 TODA BUILDING 3F） 日、月、祝 休み AAWAA「丹」刊行記念トーク 日時：8月30日（土）16:00 - 17:00 会場：TODA BUILDING 4階 CONFERENCE ROOM 403 AAWAA（美術家）、徳田佳世（NPO法人 TOMORROW代表）、橋詰隼弥（「あしたの畑」プロジェクト・マネージャー） 予約制（定員: 30名）

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