Japanese artist celebrates Olympics with symbolic artwork

Yesterday, 8 June, a Japanese paper installation was unveiled at The Wave.

The paper installation – ‘Making Waves’ – is part of an interactive project of three stages. The installation of Making Waves will be the first step, followed by a further two that incorporate the help of Coventry school children with woodblock printing and an installation of a final piece of interactive art in July at Coventry Cathedral. The final piece will be a giant wave that incorporates the children’s art, too, signifying hope, future and a celebration of life itself.

The artwork has been created by Japanese artist Hiroko Imada and was produced primarily for a Japanese Festival for Coventry Schools that celebrates the Tokyo Olympics.

Laura Williams, Centre Manager at The Wave, said: “It’s an honour to have the piece of art by Hiroko Imada placed inside The Wave. We love that the artwork was inspired by the shapes of our rides and features in the waterpark, amongst many other things.”

Howes Primary School approached Hiroko Imada to create the project and art pieces in both The Wave and Coventry’s Cathedral.

The artwork is inspired by the spirals of the waterslides inside The Wave, so Imada travelled to Japan in summer 2019 to research the Naruto whirlpools and water motion to enhance her art piece. 

Miss Imada herself added: “I am so happy to see my artwork displayed inside The Wave. During the lockdown, we all had the feeling that we had been trapped and everything was out of our control. Those feelings are reflected in the movement of a giant whirlpool.

“This project continues with the interactive installation at Coventry Cathedral where ‘waves’ are represented with woodblock printing as a symbol of the way out of the pandemic and our hopes for the future.”

Take a look at The Wave’s Twitter and Facebook to view photos of the paper installation.

To see more of Hiroko Imada’s work, head to her Instagram page.