Kintsugi, Part III.
Creative in Residence Proposal
By Gaby Oshiro & Germano Dalla Pola

“Each Action Is a Beginning”

With this art installation we are trying to hypothesize that day after day the Nikkei portraits would take the place of the Incas Kings, shaking, surprising visitors from the usual state of torpor that we get after looking at different works of art for a while.
With this ludic activity we are inviting people to think that behind each image there are stories to be told, some good, some tragic like the Incas people who have bent the course of history in a certain way.

We are switching the canvas with the 17 Nikkei killed in the 70’s during the dictatorship in Argentina. These people stood up against the military and were abducted and killed, never to be found, relatives right this moment are looking for answers and for the murderers to be brought into justice after 40 years. But the “desaparecidos” (as they are called) are reappearing in a form of art.

When we are born we bring potential, an absolute singularity that opens an unforeseen effect, to act upon it is how we show who we are to the world. In that action there’s a risk because the consequences for each action are limitless, they are out of our control. The people in the Nikkei portraits took a risk, but since the singularity goes into a world of plurality made of possibilities and reactions from other people, they didn’t know what the outcome was going to be.

Taking a risk and an action is not enough though, the action needs to be told by someone to be significative, there must be a witness so the deed is spread to future generations.
With the desaparecidos' actions, we become the witness of their existence, their potential for all the taken actions of our singularity have brought their stories to an American museum, miles away from their country. And people that have never known that the desaparecidos walked this earth, now they know about their brave deeds. With visitors viewing and engaging this installation, they become the witnesses, an active participant.

I got the support of the relatives of the 17 desaparecidos, for them knowing that they are not alone, that other people in the world far away can see what they have been through in their search for their loved ones, especially turning their life commitment to find answers into an art installation makes my work worthwhile. It’s not just art but it has a purpose that touches me personally since my dad was one of them. That’s what excites me the most about collaborating with the DAM’s staff and visitors, that we can all share this experience.

Each day I will start a new painting and put it up on the installation