Report from Asia-Link Sketchwalk Taichung 2018 アジアリンクスケッチウォーク報告

日本アーバンスケッチの皆さん、２０１８年アジアリンクスケッチウォーク報告させていただきます。

台湾の台中はきれいな街です。水が溢れている川、緑、自然の豊かのイメージしました。
また、新しい友だちと会いまして、良かった(写真、↓)。生態学者の私に、嬉しいことで、馬のスケッチをできました。３つ目の日にシェーアトークをさせていただき、町並みの古い建築の守りについて話しました。そこで、スケッチは研究や、政策に使うことについて調べて、日本の学者 西山夘三 を紹介しました。
来年のアジアリンクスケッチウォークはベトナム、ハノイで行う予定です。皆さんと一緒に行った方がいいでしょう！

どうぞうよろしくお願いします。

Last Saturday I've returned from my second Asia-Link Sketchwalk, which this time was held in Taiwan, Taichung city.

From my impression, Taichung city was bigger and more spread out then Kuching, where Asia-Link was held last year. So, it took more time to walk around. 

Sketch walks were organized nicely, except the last day when we go to the flora expo area. That location was not prepared to be seen by sketchers and it seems sketchers felt a little wasted. For me, it was totally compensated by the last location in the expo, the horse racing pavilion, where we met real horses. 

Other days it was quite enjoyable to walk around the city, full of green channels, market, and distinctive architecture. The most stunning for me was the amount of clean water. It is streaming, pouring, gurgling, falling from a height and splashing, sparkling, on the streets of Taichung. The Shin Sei river is a perfectly "biophilic" place (loving nature).  

On the banks, there are many birds and even bats. Golden carp fishes were playing in the water. The water is cleaned by the aeration system: little stones make water to bubble and enrich with oxygen. The route book told me, that during the Japanese colonial period this river was a part of the “Little Kyoto” project. Indeed, the stones in the middle of the stream reminded me of the Kamo river’s peaceful atmosphere... I wish every urban river was cared so much.

Asia-link is the most fruitful for meeting old and new friends from other countries and sharing wonderful sketching experiences with them. Tia, Pramot and other distinctive Asian sketchers, whom I met last year in Kuching, were here, kindly patronizing the younger generation. This time I met Lyn from Singapore and Angela from Australia, who became my sketch companions. 

With Taichung Asia-link organizer, 陳志盛. 

With Lyn in the temple in Taichung.

Reflection time with Pramote.

Angela skethed me and Lyn in an "original bubble tea" shop.

Sketched new friend - Eleanor Doughty under the tree.

Horse from the Taichung flower Expo area.

Photo credit: Lyn

This year I was honored to give a talk about my way to urban sketching – the “conservation” movement in my city, where we protect the old wooden architectural memorials on community level. I shared, how my vision changed during recent years, and that I realized how urban sketching can be a better, “soft” way to protect something, instead of common culture of protesting. I mentioned the Uzo Nishiyama, a Japanese scholar, who through detailed sketching advocated the better living conditions in afterwar Japan, by separating the Living, Dining and Kitchen (LDK-standard) areas in new Japanese housing. To my content, a few listeners came to me afterwards and shared their stories about the protection movement in their home communities and how they were a part of it. I hope to collect many testimonies and responses to changes in urban development that could help to clarify the value of an old architecture in the consciousness of citizens and giving these architectural objects greater value to protect them.

Next Asia-Link Sketch Walk 2019 will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam! It would be cool to go as a big delegation from Japan there.