Le jardin “de montagne et d’eau” – OBI TO NIWA, 2024

The garden “de montagne et d’eau” is thought of as a bridge between the natural and cultural heritage found in this region and the faraway fantasy heritage of Japan.

The exhibit is based on the observation that there are landscape similarities between the slag heaps of Northern France and Mount Fuji in Japan. The same iconic shape, the same structure of stony materials and a similar dark, shimmering colour. Another astonishing similarity is their origins. The first is the exhumation of ashes, slag and stones from the bowels of the earth then the omnipresence of fire with coal for burning on the French side and molten lava on the Japanese side. Lastly, an obvious graphic similarity in the imagination because the cone is a symbol of regional identity for one and a registered national trademark for the other.

The choice of the Hortillonnages where peat was extracted from the marshes and used as a fuel is undeniably in the symbolism of the project. To illustrate this cultural bridge, the exhibit resembles a space for walking. At the entrance, a woven willow fence partially hides the landscape to reveal a door opening onto a pond. A path leads the visitor to a mountain, planted hills, a peninsula, rocks and a waterfall. At the heart of the exhibit, a terrace invites the visitor to rest, contemplate and meditate.

*The city of Amiens will host Japanese sports delegations this summer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In this context, this landscape work was commissioned by the Amiens Metropolis and the Hortillonnages Association..