‘The future is in nature’ art exhibition on shaping a sustainable future

An art exhibition called ‘The future is in nature’ will be held at Kita-Karuizawa, Gunma prefecture from tomorrow, April 18. The exhibition is managed by Kitamoc and will offer an experience for visitors to look back on the present lifestyle and how we can shape the future.

Kitamoc is an LLC based in Gunma prefecture. The company explains itself as a future creation enterprise in the local region and has various facilities on a vast ground in Kita-Karuizawa focused on circularity. Twenty-five years ago, the company planted trees on a wasteland which has grown to become a popular camping site today.

Now, there are various projects and facilities besides the camping site on its ground, that are classified into three areas: Yama gurashi no ki (meaning trees for mountain living); Monogatari no kawa (river of tales); and Ba zukuri no ki (trees of creating places). There is a wide range of facilities in each of these areas; a camping site called ‘Sweet Grass,’ arboriculture practice site, trees adventure, apiary bee farm, hot spring, lilac garden, forestry practice, ‘Asama Stove’ that manufactures firewood, a meeting place called ‘TAKIVIVA’ and ‘Luomu no mori.’ ‘Luomu’ is a Finnish word meaning organic and ‘mori’ is a Japanese word meaning forest. Thus, ‘Luomu no mori’ literally means organic forest, a facility surrounded by 2.6 ha (26446 m2) forest where visitors can learn how to live naturally through art appreciation at its gallery and showroom.

Every year, 100,000 people visit Sweet Grass to enjoy camping in the flourishing forest. Spending time surrounded by nature may inspire visitors on shaping the future in a sustainable way. As a matter of fact, the wide variety of projects implemented on Kitamoc’s ground are derived from nature. Firewood are made from wood produced by the company on its ground, and apiary management is closely related with maintaining forests healthy, which is also part of the company’s business. Kitamoc shows how we can live without changing its mechanism. The art exhibition expresses the same theme: how we can live in harmony with nature.

The art exhibition will be held at Luomu no mori, and exhibitors include:
Inagaki Yutaka, Shimazu Harumi, Naganoka Aya, Nagaoka Daisuke,
Hunai Misa, and Hurusaka Haruka.

There will be workshops for adult and children offering woodcut printmaking and bookbinding experience. Art exhibition ‘The future is in nature’ will be open till July 6 (subject to change).