Last day today#Sculpture & installation
Aiko Miyanaga, “To the Grove of the Water God”
Japanese original:
宮永愛子「水神の杜へ」
Aiko Miyanaga is known for casting everyday objects in naphthalene (the stuff of mothballs) and for installations of salt and leaf veins that make the traces of time visible. Here she researched the area from Sumida River Shrine to the Shirahige-Higashi apartments: 18 blocks about 40 metres high, running 1.2 km, planned by the Tokyo government as a firebreak after the lessons of the Great Kanto Earthquake and built between 1975 and 1982. The work is in three places, next to the Hojo building contractor's, inside the Higashi-Shirahige Daiichi Mansion and at Sumida River Shrine; the apartment part opens only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, booked in advance on Peatix.
Venue taking part: Sumida Art Festival · Higashi-Mukojima
1 / 3 Image: Next to Hojo Construction
- Dates
- Sep 4 – Nov 8, 2026
- Venue
- Next to Hojo Construction (北條工務店となり) · Sumida
- Address
- 東京都墨田区東向島3-22-10Open in Google Maps
- Hours
- 10:00–17:00
- Admission
- FreeOriginal: 無料
Visit planning
The calendar entry covers the whole run of the exhibition. Please check opening hours and closing days before your visit.
Entry notes
The display inside the Higashi-Shirahige Daiichi apartment block (September 4 to November 8, 13:00–17:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) runs in 30-minute shifts and requires advance registration on Peatix; those who register are sent the location details. The official page does not say that registration is needed for the display at Hōjō Kōmuten Tonari (September 11 to November 8, 10:00–17:00) or at Sumidagawa Shrine. The festival is generally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (open when they fall on a public holiday).
- The display inside the Higashi-Shirahige Daiichi apartment block (September 4 to November 8, 13:00–17:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) runs in 30-minute shifts and requires advance registration on Peatix; those who register are sent the location details. The official page does not say that registration is needed for the display at Hōjō Kōmuten Tonari (September 11 to November 8, 10:00–17:00) or at Sumidagawa Shrine. The festival is generally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (open when they fall on a public holiday). (Source: すみだ五彩の芸術祭：宮永愛子「水神の杜へ」, 2026)
From the organizer's announcements and press reports. Arrangements can change; please check the official site before your visit.
Related exhibitions
Same genre · Sculpture & installation
Credits
- Organized by
- Sumida Art Festival Executive Committee, Sumida City
Knowledge cards
Installation ArtインスタレーションThree-dimensional work that does not sit on a wall or a pedestal but changes how a whole space feels, and that visitors walk into.Read moreClose
01About
Installations are often made for one particular site, and visitors move through them, so where you stand is part of the looking. Materials range from everyday objects and natural materials to video and sound, and a work may be permanent or taken down when the exhibition closes. As the name of an art form, “installation” is first recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary in 1969; in 1958 Allan Kaprow called the indoor spaces he transformed “Environments.” The events the Gutai Art Association staged in Japan from 1954 are counted among early installation art, and they influenced Kaprow. Some artists step inside their own installations: Aki Sasamoto builds spaces from string, tubes, household things and sound, then talks and moves within them, so that the work becomes an event that changes over time.
02In the gallery
Look from the entrance, from the middle and from a corner. Notice how the light, the sound, and the path you take change the work.
Wall label terms in Japanese
- インスタレーション
- Installation
- サイトスペシフィック
- Site-specific
- エンヴァイラメント（環境）
- Environment
- 具体美術協会
- Gutai Art Association
- パフォーマンス
- Performance
03Notes
Installations are mostly made for a particular place, and where you stand is part of the looking.
This time, at To the Grove of the Water God —
After moving to a few spots, where do you think the work begins, and where does it end?