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Cai Guo-Qiang and Iwaki

Cai Guo-Qiang lived in Japan for almost nine years, starting from December 1986. Iwaki, a coastal town in Fukushima, has had a special place in his life and art—almost a second hometown. Cai and his wife, Hong Hong Wu, possess a vibrant charisma that has deeply moved the people of Iwaki. Many of them had never set foot in an art museum, yet they felt a resonance with Cai’s youthful dreams and artistic romance. They said to Cai, “It looks interesting, let's give it a try!” and “Leave it to us!” and wholeheartedly offered their help with sincere enthusiasm. With a determination to ensure the realization of Cai's artworks, they formed a group called “Jikkou-kai” (The Executive Committee).

Over the past thirty years, Cai and his friends in Iwaki set sail together, starting from a small fishing village and on to the world. Over the years, Cai and his friends in Iwaki have grown together through their collaborative efforts, and have witnessed each other’s hair becoming grey and their movements less nimble. This long-lasting friendship, conveyed through art, has transcended the political and historical differences between nations.


Even after Cai moved to the distant New York City in 1995, the publication of Cai Newsletter, created by his friends in Iwaki, continued periodically, keeping the people of Iwaki informed about the artist’s latest developments. They were fortunate to have each other as invaluable companions throughout their lives. Cai’s story with Iwaki continues.

“To create work here, to have a dialogue with the universe from here, to create a story of the era with the people living here.” —Cai Guo-Qiang


1. Iwaki: A Revolutionary Base Area, 1988–1994

In 1988, art critic Akihiko Takami introduced Cai to Fujita Chuhei from Gallery Iwaki as “the artist who was painting with gunpowder.” This marked the beginning of a friendship of over thirty years between Cai and the people of Iwaki. The residents welcomed the young artist couple from China, appreciating their simple warmth—and the fact that they spoke a bit of Japanese. From then on, Iwaki became Cai’s “Revolutionary Base Area”: people began to collect Cai’s and Hong Hong’s paintings, acquiring their work for a few thousand to tens of thousands of yen. This formed a bond between them and the couple. It also supported the couple’s livelihood, giving Cai the confidence to “encircle the cities from the countryside” and embark on his own “Long March,” as Mao Zedong once did.


2. The Horizon and From the Pan-Pacific, 1994

In 1993, Cai moved to Yotsukuramachi in Iwaki. Together with his friends from the “Executive Committee,” led by Shiga Tadashige, and numerous local volunteers, he began preparations for his explosion event The Horizon from the Pan-Pacific: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 14 and his solo exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: From the Pan-Pacific at the Iwaki City Art Museum.

From the Pan-Pacific (1994) was Cai’s first solo exhibition at a public art museum in Japan, for which he mobilized local residents to help fill both the inside and outside of the museum with his artworks. Peaceful Earth was displayed in the elevator, which represented his conceptual plan for a global moment during which everyone on the planet would extinguish their lights at the turn the millennium. The nine tons of crystals inserted into the gaps of the museum's staircase later became the installation Crystal Tower (2000), an artwork currently held in the National Gallery of Australia’s collection. San Jō Tower was displayed at the museum's outdoor plaza and subsequently showcased in the inaugural exhibition Japanese Contemporary Art 1985–1995 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo the following year. It then traveled to the Venice Biennale in 1997 as The Dragon Has Arrived! Additionally, it has been exhibited in Houston, United States; Lyon, France; and the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent, Belgium. It is now in the collection of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art in Athens, Greece.

The explosion event The Horizon: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 14 featured a 5,000-meter-long line of fire, realized with five gunpowder fuses, on the surface of the sea in the pitch-black night. The flash from the gunpowder explosions outlined the contours of the earth. The spirit of the artwork’s dialogue with the universe resonated with the local community, and they were inspired to participate in the artwork by purchasing the gunpowder fuse (at a rate of 1,000 yen per meter). They also initiated a collective action of turning off lights in every household during the event, to make the earth’s outline more beautiful for the universe to witness.


3. Returning Light: A Global Iwaki, 2003-2009

Iwaki, being located along the Pacific coast, is home to numerous fishing villages and harbors. In 1994, Cai created Kaikou—The Keel (Returning Light—The Dragon Bone), an installation using a large wooden fishing boat that was excavated from a beach in Iwaki with the help of local volunteers. After being exhibited in his solo exhibition at the Iwaki City Art Museum, the artwork remained in Iwaki and became a public art piece.

In 2003, Cai’s friends in Iwaki once again dug out a large boat from the beach, as a gift for Cai’s solo exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. in 2004, also commemorating the tenth anniversary of The Horizon. With a shared dream and romantic flair, the residents of Iwaki transported the boat all the way to the U.S. The artwork was named Reflection—A Gift from Iwaki.

Since then, this artwork has traveled around the world, and has been exhibited at notable institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and Bilbao, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Nice, France. Every time the artwork is exhibited, Iwaki friends would come all the way to participate in the installation of the boat, becoming an integral part of the artwork. “Uninterrupted years of unwavering friendship” is the core theme of the work.


4. From the Great Earthquake and Tsunami to “Ten Thousand Cherry Blossoms,” 2011–present

After the 2011 Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, many residents—including Cai’s friends from Iwaki—were displaced from their homes. Cai immediately auctioned a selection of his artworks to help his friends in Iwaki rebuild their homes. However, to his surprise, they decided to use the funds for the Project to Plant Ten Thousand Cherry Blossom Trees, explaining, “These cherry blossoms represent remorse, as our generation constructed the nuclear power plants, leaving a profound disaster for future generations.” Planting cherry blossoms brought everyone together, and helped initiate the reconstruction of their homes from scratch.

Deeply moved by his Iwaki friends’ love for their homeland and their sense of responsibility in facing the future, Cai joined them in planting cherry blossoms. In 2013, he conceived the Snake Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). His Iwaki friends used the wood that couldn’t be sold due to concerns of radiation contamination to build a one hundred and sixty-meter-long corridor of art that snaked through the cherry blossom forest. SMoCA became a space for adults and children to exhibit, communicate, and dream, and it is still expanding and growing.


5. The Iwaki Garden in New Jersey, 2017–present

In 2017, Cai invited his old friends from Iwaki to his studio and home in New Jersey to envision the construction of the Iwaki Garden. Since then, every spring and autumn (except during the COVID-19 pandemic), the Iwaki team would arrive in New Jersey like migratory birds, to live, build, and cultivate together with Cai and his studio staff. They strive to recreate every single flower and blade of grass from Iwaki, from the cherry blossoms to autumn leaves, and even the fish in the pond resemble those found in Iwaki; the tea house was constructed using timber washed ashore on Iwaki's coastline after the tsunami. This never-ending dream garden symbolizes the enduring bond between Cai and his friends in Iwaki. It also serves as a spiritual home, continuing in the spirit of The Horizon from over thirty years ago.


6. When the Sky Blooms with Sakura, 26 June, 2023

Back again!
From The Horizon to When the Sky Blooms with Sakura
The daytime fireworks event was initially planned to take place on the eve of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony. It was also meant to mark the ten year anniversary of the recovery from devastating earthquake and tsunami in Iwaki. Unfortunately, the event was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the Sky Blooms with Sakura is organized by the Executive Committee of Ten Thousand Cherry Blossom Trees and commissioned by Saint Laurent. The artwork confronts trauma through the Eastern philosophical ethos of "requiem" (镇魂) to inspire an indomitable spirit in the face of adversity, and spread hope.

In the face of coexisting with COVID-19, recessions, deglobalization, increasing cultural conflicts, and more, Cai returned to the Yotsukuramachi coast, where he collaborated with the people of Iwaki over thirty years ago to realize The Horizon: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 14.

Cultivating his artwork here once again—with a gratitude to nature and the local community—Cai continues his dialogue with the universe, reconnecting with profoundly human sentiments. With a cosmic view overlooking terrestrial civilizations, he is creating new stories of our time together with the people here.