障がいのある子ども達と作るアート絵馬神輿を芸術祭に出したい！

こんにちは！アートパラ深川おしゃべりな芸術祭実行委員会です。
この挑戦も残すところあと少しとなりました。最後まで見守っていただきありがとうございます！

 

最後のタイミングですが、地元のインターナショナルスクールのご協力により、本プロジェクトのページの英語バージョンを作っていただきました。より広くこの芸術祭のことが伝われば嬉しく思います。

 

 

We ,“ArtPara Fukagawa”, are trying the crowdfunding campaign Introduced below until tomorrow.

 

https://readyfor.jp/projects/artpara-fukagawa

 

 

(English translation) -----------------------------------------

 

It all began with the words expressed by a mother.
“I wish there were activities that even my child with disabilities can participate in…”

 

One day, in the midst of an Executive committee meeting, a statement popped up: “アートパラ深川おしゃべりな芸術祭 “*1, a festival aiming to disseminate the awareness towards artworks created by individuals with disabilities to the global community.
*1… Hereinafter abbreviated as “ArtPara-Fukagawa”

 

The strong passion of the mother had provoked and touched the hearts of the other executive committee members, ultimately fostering the formation of the “Min’na no Art Ema Mikoshi “idea.

“Min’na no Art Ema” is a mikoshi comprised of a collection of votive tablets with pictures freely drawn by children with disabilities, making the mikoshi one of a kind. Although the community art festival started without a budget, the mikoshi is aligned with the objectives of the Paralympics—to envision and work towards achieving a society accepting of diversity.

 

As a part of this challenge, the crowd funding has begun with the desire of establishing “Min’na no Art Ema Mikoshi” as a symbol of the “ArtPara-Fukagawa” which aims towards achieving the same objectives held by the Paralympics.

 

 

Even today, there are very few opportunities to experience art created by artists with disabilities,and for them to be able to promote their works in Japan. In our Arts festival “ArtPara Fukagawa”, we hope to provide new opportunities for such artists by showcasing various artworks across the Fukagawa city area, allowing the public to enjoy and learn more  about creativity and craftsmanship within the disabled community.

 

Initially, we were planning to hold the festival at the same time as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to face the unexpected reality of Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics being postponed. Because of this, we had no choice but to consider postponing our festival as well…

 

But as we continued discussing and exploring alternative possibilities, we have finally reached the conclusion that we cannot postpone “ArtPara Fukagawa” and its unique concept even if the Paralympics had been postponed.

 

Naturally, we also had the possibility of indefinitely postponing this event considering that the near future concerning the pandemic was totally unforeseen. However, if we had done so, that would be an almost identical situation as cancelling the festival completely. We believed that if that happened, we were at risk of losing sight of our goals for this festival.

 

“ArtPara Fukagawa” is not a one-time event. In fact, this is our first step to continue this initiative each year in the future.

 

This is rooted in our strong belief that sustaining this effort for an arts festival shedding light onto artists with disabilities and their works will support them and ultimately lead to new artistic careers. It is important to value our connections all of us have built together as a community,especially during these challenging times.

 

Our hope is that the efforts in holding a sustainable arts festival should not be wasted and must stand for the benefit of the people. This is why we have made the decision to continue taking steps forward with “ArtPara Fukagawa”.

 

 

「Everyone's Ema Art Mikoshi」As a Symbol
Borrowing the Power of Art for a 「Symbiotoic Society」

 

In the entertainment business of Japan, there are categories for Outsider art or for Earl Brut but there are no categories for art by individuals with disabilities. Even the welfare industries have only been able to take limited action for art by disabled individuals from the perspective of welfare.

 

In the administrative body, welfare and cultural art falls under different branches. There are no specific means to connect these two branches. Even though there has been an increase in recognition of arts by the disabled individuals amongst the welfare industry, there is still the lack of awareness of the public audience. The efforts to establish this value as art is still falling behind.

 

From this situation, it is an undeniable fact that the artists with disabilities are not given the opportunity to showcase their talents and values to the society. There is not a system in which their art could be consolidated as an occupation that could lead to earnings.

 

The pieces created by the artists must not be constrained to the label.”Art by the disabled”,but must be recognized solely as “Art”. There needs to be an environment that exhibits the intimate charm of their artwork.

 

“Art Para Fukagawa” is one of those places that has the potential to solve these issues.

 

We believe that the Art created by the individual with disabilities must not have a special classification.Through the interaction with their talents, we are overwhelmed with the strength, freedom, delicacy, skill,kindness and uplifting human nature from their artworks.

 

We borrow this power of art to try and open the door to a “Symbiotic Society”

The project of “Everyone’s Ema Art Mikoshi”, started with a word from a mother. From now on,alongside “Art Para Fukagawa”, it has been decided that it would be held every year.

 

A society where people with diverse talents and uniqueness accepts one another, supports each other and lives together.

 

“Art Para Ema Mikoshi” is created through the support of everyone including the children with disabilities, our executive committee, the participants of the art festival and the supporters through Crowdfunding. This is the representation of the “Symbiotic Society” and would become the symbol for“Art Para Fukagawa”.

 

The commemorable first unit of “Ema Art Mikoshi”, that was made possible thanks to your support,would carry this compassion to the coming years. In the close future, we hope that it would be recognized and accepted as a symbol of a “Symbiotic Society”.

 

 

 

 

Addendum: August 11th, 2020

 

[Our gratitude towards accomplishing the project and outlook for the Next Goal]

Following the countless support received by our patrons, we were able to achieve our goal just within 5days after the publicizing of our project. Thank you! We, the executive committee members, would like to express our sincere gratitude and thanks for your continued support.

This project will be ongoing until September 30th, 2020, 11:00 PM. In regard to the remaining 50 days,we will set an additional +2 million yen as our next goal and challenge to reach our ultimate goal of 4.5million yen through this period. The funds received will be used for securing suitable equipment/systems and outsourcing technology (1 million yen allocated for each), in order to bring the art festival online.

 

Initially, the Next Goal had aimed to increase the number of art pieces displayed and created by our community members with disabilities throughout Fukagawa as a part of our “Machinaka Art Exhibition”. However, as the measures against COVID-19 has currently posed as our top priority in order to safely execute the project, this has brought us to the situation we are in today.

 

Thank you for the continued support, enthusiasm, and dedication during these difficult times.

 

 

アートパラ深川おしゃべりな芸術祭
Executive member