” Scholar ” Cultual Exchange Program Between Sister Cities and Friendship Cities

Fujisawa City Art Space is located on the 6th floor of the building name Coco Terrace Shonan. It is in Tsujido, Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa. This small one floor art gallery was mainly built to encourage and to nurture young artists in SHONAN area. This exhibit “Scholar” introduces and exhibits one artist from America and four young Japanese artists from SHONAN area. By observing their artworks make us think of how cultures trace back our past, connect our present and create our future.

Gabriel Delponte born in Buenos Aires, Argentina is an artist based in Florida, America and Japan. His works displayed are the products of the bicycle journey he took called Bridge Me Japan. He started making a bike tour of Japan from 2014 and came back to Fujisawa in 2017.

Delponte calls Bridge Me Japan Project as a multi-dimensional conceptual art. The artworks displayed at the Fujisawa City Art Space are paintings, photographs, documentary films and mixed media sculptures. The most intriguing project is called “Hikyaku letter” which he started collecting from 2014. It is the accumulation of the letters written by individuals Delponte had met at the journey. Now he asks the visitors of the exhibit to participate writing letters to continue the legacy.

Other artists who display their works are followings:
Sayaka Osaki, a poet trying to collaborate writing poem with other artists.
Rentaro Kawamoto, an artist mostly creating tapestry and sculptures through weaving.
Kohji Fukunaga, a designer taking Japanese culture and concept as the base of his design.
Mika Mizuno, an artist showing the borderline of reality and imagination by using photographs, films and installation.

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