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Wind Caravan Ceará Brazil - On the Dunes
Near the Equator |
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It did not arrive today either. The container with
all the sculptures has been stopped at customs for quite a while.
I get reports every day, such as "Today for sure," and then another
day passes. My anxiety is extreme. It is in the morning two days before
the opening that we finally were able to start the installation, and
it was far over the deadline. The site in Brazil is the dunes of Cumbuco,
located between the ocean and a lake, 30 km away from Fortaleza, Ceará
in the northeast of the country. The sand moves like waves here and
transforms in front of your eyes. The constant northeast wind is between
6 meters/sec. and 10 meters/sec., and the change in its direction
is less than 1 degree. The temperature is about 27 degrees Celsius
all year round. The vast dunes burn and there is no shade.
The opening event on 17 November 2001 started at 10:30 in the morning.
When the mysterious rhythm played by UAKTI turned into a whistling
sound made by the spinning tubes; the children holding colorful pinwheels
in one of their hands came sliding slowly down the steep slope of
sand, just like "angels," as Jirí Kylián said. It was
a breathtaking moment with 50 local children, looking dignified and
angelic, completely different from how they looked in rehearsal the
day before. They walked under the green sails of the sculptures, planting
their pinwheels in the sand. Following the disappearing children,
the playing musicians also slowly disappeared over the hill of the
dunes. Then the connected kites with Mongolian children's pictures
flew up into the blue sky. The whole sequence was somewhat like magic.
Jirí Kylián and I thanked the audience's applause. Jirí
Kylián is a genius choreographer who has worked with the Nederlands
Dans Theater, making it one of the best companies in the world. UAKTI
is a group of five Brazilians who create really unique instruments
using ordinary materials such as PCV tubes and balloons. I have been
admiring their music for a long time. Both Jirí Kylián
and UAKTI had not known each other at all, and it was my dream to
have them collaborate. My dream came true on the dunes of Brazil,
the other side of the globe when I look from Japan. They all had extremely
busy schedules but understood the spirit of Wind Caravan and were
happy to participate in this project.
Prior to the opening, we had a symposium at Dragão
do Mar with panelists Frans Krajcberg, the artist, and Yusuke Nakahara,
the art critic, and myself. Jaime Cupertino, the architect, helped
us as coordinator for the project. A lot of friends flew three hours
and half from São Paulo to participate in the opening; among
them were Mr. and Mrs. Umemiya, the director of Japan Foundation.
The people from Hermès, Paris, came to help us as well as many
friends from Japan.
A part of the daily life in Cumbuco is the tourism brought here by
those who visit the dunes. But the main part of the life here is the
fishing by way of simple sailboats called "Jangada." They go fishing
every morning. The life is simple, but people are open and nice. Both
children and adults are full of smiles.
Wind Caravan has finished its tour here on the dunes of Brazil. I
wonder how well I could deliver my message through our activities
-- to connect the children of these six sites and to communicate with
the local people over the period of a year and a half. In any case,
it is enormous how much we have learned during the whole time. I am
really grateful to all those who participated at each site and to
all who helped us with this project in so many different ways. |
December 2, 2001
Susumu Shingu |
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