[Monthly Report] January 2024 | 2024.01.31
It has been one month since the earthquake occurred. Here is a summary of activities during this period.
1. What we did this month
After the earthquake occurred on 1 January, we contacted the Suzu City Hall to confirm the safety of people who had been associated with the Triennale and the damage in Suzu City; from mid-January, we went to the affected area to understand the issues and current condition facing the Suzu City Hall, inspect the art festival’s works and facilities, carry out emergency conservation and coordinate with external organizations.
2. Activity report
▽ Confirmation of the safety of people who were associated with the Triennale
The safety of City Hall staff, Support Suzu staff, local collaborators and supporters has been confirmed and all are safe. However, there are many people who have evacuated away from Suzu.
▽ Inspection of Triennale artworks and facilities
On 14, 15, 20, 21, 27 and 28 January, Art Front Gallery staff went to the site to inspect the Triennale artworks and facilities. However, Kodue Hibino’s 'Suzuka' in Shoin Iizuka community, being used as a shelter, and Masanori Koyama’s 'Bottle Ship' in Wakayama Kitayama community, which was closed to traffic, could not be inspected.
▽ Emergency maintenance of Triennale works and facilities.
🔳Suzu Theater Museum and Annex
From 28 January to 1 February, artist Yoshitaka Nanjo, National Museum Museum curators, Kiyoshi Kawamura and Sakiko Kawabe, and Art Front Gallery staff inspected and preserved artworks and folk artifacts at the Suzu Theatre Museum and Annex.
Concerning the Suzu Theatre Museum, artefacts inside the building were scattered and partially damaged, and some window panes were broken. Outside, the work by Hitoshi Ushijima's artwork fell down a cliff due to a collapse of the ground, and the Medu Garden was damaged. In the Annex, the building was compressed by the collapse of a warehouse on the adjoining warehouse, and display shelves were also collapsed. As an emergency measure, we boarded up broken windows and organized and treated the folk artifacts and artworks.
🔳Hiraki Sawa’s artwork
On 28 January, we worked with artist Hiraki Sawa at the former Hiki Community Centre where his work is located. Cracks appeared on the exterior wall of the building; the pillars at the entrance were displaced; the interior wall of the community room, where goods were sold during the exhibition, collapsed; some of the exhibited works fell over or were damaged. In order to preserve the artworks, we removed as many flat works, reliefs and objects as we could carry in our vehicles.
▽ Evacuation center cookout
On 21 January, in response to the request of Nobuko Sakamoto, owner of the old private house restaurant Tenzo, Art Front Gallery staff cooked meals for evacuees, mainly from the Misaki Fushimi refugee center. We cooked 50 coconut curry meals and delivered.
▽ Coordination of external organizations.
🔳 Water outage measures in Suzu City
We coordinated with Suzu City Hall regarding an offer from PEAD（Platform for Emergency Assistance in the Disaster）to provide water purifiers for water outage measures; since 6 January, water has been available for 3,000 people per day. PEAD board members are official supporters of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale.
🔳 Mobile supermarket operation
We coordinated with the Suzu City Hall in response to Oixis ra daichi’s offer to distribute the mobile supermarket 'Tokushimaru' around evacuation centers. Oisix ra daichi has supported Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale since 2015. Vegetables and other items began arriving at the evacuation center on 10 January.
🔳 Support from Japan Association of Corporate Executives, (JACE)
We coordination with the City of Suzu in response to an offer from JACE regarding its reconstruction assistance efforts using the corporate version of Furusato Tax Payment, including a scheme. JACE organized a tour to visit Oku-Noto Triennale last fall. Moves by companies to support Suzu have begun.
🔳 Shelter partitions and temporary housing by Shigeru Ban Architects
We coordinated meetings between Suzu City and Shigeru Ban Architects for the installation of partitions at evacuation centers and the construction of temporary housing. Shiberu Ban designed the Shiosai Restaurant, adjacent to Suzu Theatre Museum and is an architect who has built temporary housing in disaster areas and refugee camps around the world. On 14 January, partitions were installed for evacuees in the gymnasium of Midorigaoka Junior High School in Iida Town. As for temporary housing, the lack of site area is a problem, so container temporary housing deployed in Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture, which was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake, is being considered.
3. Impressions
There are approximately 4,000 people remaining in Suzu, while approximately 1,500 people (as of 31 January) are living in evacuation centers (more than 8,000 people at peak times). As nearly half of the houses have been totally or severely damaged, and as the evacuees are burdened with running the evacuation centers, including the provision of supplies, the construction of temporary housing is being rushed forward.
Temporary housing will be completed one by one from mid-February, but there is still a shortage. Deemed temporary accommodation is also being prepared around Kanazawa City, but many people do not want to enter it. The number of available properties near Kanazawa seems to be decreasing.
Ishikawa Prefecture will start accepting volunteers from 3 February. However, as there are no accommodation options in Suzu, volunteers will have to travel to and from Kanazawa for the time being. Activities are likely to be limited, as time on site is quite limited.
4. Activities in February
With no water supply and unstable lifelines, it seems that immediate housing and work, including evacuation centres for residents will be important.
One month has passed since the disaster and many people are looking for a little distraction.
While cleaning up the works and providing first aid, we will continue our activities in response to local support needs by listening to the voices of the residents.