Japanese Glass Artist's Crystal Balls Celebrate Asean-Japan Partnership
Jakarta. Japanese glass artist Mieko Noguchi presented one of her creations — commissioned to celebrate 45 years of partnership between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean — to the organization's secretary general, Dato Lim Jock Hoi, at the Asean Gallery in South Jakarta on Friday (19/01).
Noguchi’s work, "10xm — Where Are You?," shows how planet earth might look like from different places outside of it, from inside our solar system, another galaxy or the deep universe.
Noguchi said the differences in how the earth looks when seen from these different vantage points will prompt audiences to question the origin of existence itself. "What is the world?" or "Where do I stand [in the universe]?," they may ask. All are questions that inspired Noguchi's commissioned piece, the artist said.
The artwork consists of five crystal balls with different "fillings." Inside one of them, Noguchi had engraved the organizational structure of Asean. This crystal ball is the centerpiece of the artwork.
Secretary general Hoi said the artwork symbolizes the strong partnership between Asean and Japan and is a great addition to the Asean Gallery's collection.
"Art can always help strengthen the link between the people of Asean and Japan," he said.
Asean and Japan first established informal dialogue relations in 1973. The two sides cooperate in various sectors under the three pillars of Asean Community, where Japan is Asean’s fourth largest trading partner and its second largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI).
Japan's ambassador to Indonesia Kazuo Sunaga said Noguchi's work will help other Japanese artists gain more recognition in Asean and strengthen cooperation between Japan's and Asean’s creative industries.
"It's a pleasure to see an artwork from Japan is now part of the Asean Gallery collection on the anniversary of our friendship," Sunaga said.
"I appreciate Noguchi's kind offer to donate the work, and hope many visitors will be charmed by the beauty of her glass art," he said.
Noguchi's works have been exhibited all over the world in the past 20 years. She also has an exhibition on the first floor of Plaza Senayan in South Jakarta from Jan. 12 to 21.
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