It is a project that has been carried out since 2009 with a community support organization formed to perform a ‘Making cultural community’ task that is the business goal of ‘Sarangmaru’, a support center consisting of artists, activists, and researchers for the town-making project. We helped residents to be the main agents of their town and provided things with various possibilities that they can do in the town through cultural art as a medium. With ‘Alleyway with dreams – ceramic walls of alleyway’ as the subtitle of the project, we started the project of revitalizing the town. Meeting them and communicating with them in person was not easy, but it was worth doing so. It was a little different from other public projects in that the project gave prominence to the works of artists who participated in it. I thought that providing residents with an opportunity to see public art in their everyday lives would be good as I expected that the pieces of work by the artists would be able to play another role in the public space. With the hope that dreams of residents and artists, which were drawn in the alleyways of Sujin-dong, would overlap, I took part in the project.
Another hidden fun thing is ‘picture puzzle’. Recently, many young people visit alleys with cameras in their hands. It is because there is precious value in the scenes of the alleys, which is inseparable from our lives. However, it started disappearing. The value of alleys with long memories gradually falls. The reason why many places are being redeveloped can be interpreted from this respect. Working in the alleyway itself is a great pleasure.
Making ceramic walls between alleys, I install pieces of work on the walls or on low roofs as if I am playing a treasure-hunt game. The works are installed in the narrow and dry alleys, respecting the way they are and avoiding the works being centered in a certain point. Using the alleys as an exhibition hall, I expect that this would be a small episode that helps residents find it interesting to discover pieces of work unconsciously, rediscover alleys that are part of their everyday lives, and make precious memories.