[Audio Guide]
Large blue umbrellas are scattered amid a tranquil landscape. In 1991, the Umbrella Project by the husband-and-wife team of Christo and Jeanne-Claude was implemented in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, concurrently with one in California. This project featured umbrellas as much as six meters in height and 8.69 meters in diameter, numbering an astonishing 1,340 and distributed over an area of about 19 square kilometers. Realization of the project took six years, and involved the creation of 450 drawings and extensive negotiations to secure cooperation. Funds for the project were raised through sales of drawings and plans, allowing Christo and Jeanne-Claude to maintain their creative freedom by not relying on external financial aid. The umbrellas were installed for only 18 days, making the spectacle a fleeting one. Indeed, the essence of the ephemeral project lies in its brief appearance and subsequent vanishing. The late Christo and Jeanne-Claude believed that art is joyful, beautiful, and transient, like life itself, and they live on in people’s memories through works that temporarily transform public spaces.
