Sandy beach art museum in Kochi, finding beauty in the natural landscape

Kuroshio Town in Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku, is a small town with a population of 10,000 located along the Pacific Ocean. Despite not being easily accessible, this town attracted a remarkable gathering of 23,000 people from all over the country in May this year. They came together to participate in the T-Shirt Art Exhibition.

The organizer of the art exhibition is the nonprofit organization NPO Sunabi Museum, which operates under the concept of ‘Our town doesn’t have an art museum. The beautiful sandy beach is our museum.’ The director is a whale, the ceiling is the sky and the background music is the sound of waves. The philosophy of the Sunabi Museum lies in finding beauty in the town’s unadulterated landscape, and it is filled with hints towards sustainable living.

T-shirt Art Exhibition held under the blue sky

The T-shirt Art Exhibition is an art event where artworks are printed on T-shirts, symbolizing canvases, and displayed along the beach. It is open to people of all ages and genders, and this year, there were over 1,000 submissions from various parts of the country. The lined-up T-shirts, reflecting on the sandy beach as waves approach and swaying with the wind, create a magnificent contemporary art piece, a grand spectacle.

“The theme is the interaction between humans and nature, focusing on creating new value from local resources,” says Kentaro Murakami, the director of the NPO Sunabi Museum, which is hosting the T-shirt Art Exhibition.

“The Sunabi Museum is a place where visitors to the town perceive the entire town as an art museum and enjoy the untouched landscapes before them as artworks. To convey this concept in a clear manner, we organize planned exhibitions such as the T-shirt Art Exhibition.”

Embracing town development that deliberately turns away from the times

“Our town doesn’t have a museum. The beautiful sandy beach is our museum.” This concept, which has become the fundamental principle of the current town development in Kuroshio Town, traces its roots back 34 years.

During the peak of the bubble economy era, the young people of the region began discussing the image of a town where they could live happily, saying, “Instead of chasing after the city, let’s deliberately turn away from the times and engage in town development.” Among the members were individuals who had previously worked as officials in the Oogata Town (currently Kuroshio Town) municipal office, responsible for town promotion plans.

In May of the same year, they organized the T-shirt Art Exhibition for the first time as a municipal project. Collaborating with designers from Kochi, they transformed a 4-kilometer stretch of sandy beach into an art museum, where they regarded the sand formations shaped by waves, washed-up driftwood and bird footprints as “artworks,” generating a new philosophy.

Since then, the T-shirt Art Exhibition has been held annually, and with each passing year, it has gradually gained resonance among the local community. Starting this year, efforts have also begun to collect old T-shirts and transform them into new resources such as thread and paper.

More unique events! Plant Watching and Sea Breeze Quilt Exhibition

Since 1991, the Sunabi Museum has been organizing the Drifted Objects Exhibition, showcasing art created from items that have washed ashore from around the world. Starting from 1995, they have also held a patchwork quilt contest during November, when visitors can enjoy viewing the flowers of the Japanese pickling radish plant.

In the following year, 1996, the staff of the Sunabi Museum took the lead in establishing the Ecotourism Research Society. They are actively engaged in initiatives to utilize tourism resources while preserving the local environment and revitalizing the region.

In 2003, the Sunabi Museum took over the management from the local administration and merged with three organizations: the Tourism Association, Ship Owners Association and Park Management Association. It also registered as a nonprofit organization and grew into the largest town development organization in Kuroshio Town.

Currently, the Sunabi Museum employs over 20 staff members who are involved in various activities. They manage the designated public park adjacent to the sandy beach, handle program production for the local cable television station, promote tourism and undertake the planning and sales of local specialty products and travel goods.

On May 27 of this year, an event called “Abundant Spring on the Sandy Beach: Plant Watching” was held, where participants observed seeds and beach plants that washed ashore on the sandy beach. This event is a collaboration of staff members from both the local and outside areas.

Tips for simple life from Kuroshio Town

A town where one can find happiness in the simplicity of everyday life – that is the charm of Kuroshio Town, and the Sunabi Museum teaches us “what truly matters.” It reminds us to appreciate the beauty of the natural landscape and find joy in the simplest of things.

Originally published on Life Hugger.