by Low Lai Chow in New Art on Friday 13 July 2012

When the kids from one of Ishinomaki’s elementary schools, Watanona, were handed disaster debris from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami to create art from, they sculpted playful inventions such as a cat faced telephone, a cone-hat gnome and a pear-shaped salaryman with pine fruit hair. It shows how even the darkest material can elicit happiness in the right hands. And in this case, they are tiny hands that hold a huge amount of potential.