Osaka-born artist Ichi Ikeda believes that water is the earth’s most precious resource. He has dedicated his career to raising global awareness around issues of water conservation through international conferences, community activism, public performances and interactive installations. Ikeda encourages his viewers to consider the larger context in which they live, and to see how their current actions can affect the earth’s future. He views the conscious networking of concerned individuals as a key to sustainability. His art serves as a catalyst for change and an inspirational focal point for the exchange and circulation of information related to water conservation. Ikeda addresses these issues through both large and small scale interventions. During his Big Hands Conference in 2002 (Thailand), Ikeda orchestrated an educational symposium in Bangkok which featured an interactive gallery installation with images of large cupped hands holding water, factual information and a recording of poetry by the artist. Other projects have included Arcing Ark (1997) which was developed as a joint project between two sites with different cultural backgrounds: the island cities of Kaseda, Japan and Taipei, Taiwan. Groundworks will feature documentation of Ikeda’s recent Water Ekiden-Manosogewa River Art Project, (1999-). Manosegawa River, with an overall length of approximately 26km, flows across the south of Kyushu Island, into the East China Sea. The river, which runs through a rural region of Japan, looks clean, but in fact, is quite polluted by waster water runoff, factory pollution and pig farms. Over the past several years Ikeda has organized a series of talks with people in four local communities located along the Manosegawa and its tributaries, focusing on the collective responsibility for the river. This led to the creation of a series of “water stations,” produced in collaboration with the residents of four different districts, and related to the storage and transfer of rain water, spring water, purified water and water for agricultural irrigation.
