Where does art belong in a gallery or museum or a private residence; framed under pristine glass? What should art be made of? Who should enjoy art? These are just some of the questions that Japanese artist Yusuke Asai’s recent project murals made of mud on the walls of two schools in rural India have raised.
Just calling the materials Yusuke worked with as “mud” is a bit of a simplification, however. He used seven different types of soil with cow dung, water, ash and straw to create these impressive, intricately detailed murals that cover every square inch of the walls of a classroom at the Niranjana School in the village of Sujata, Bihar, and one in Maharashtra. Yusuke’s murals were part of the Wall Art Festival organised by Tokyo-based not-for-profit organisation called The Wall Art Project. The group’s aim is to bring art into classrooms in India and Tibet.
The WAP website says that funds raised by 50 Japanese schoolchildren were used to help build the school in Sujata village, and Japanese artists are often invited to work on projects for the school. Yusuke’s has undoubtedly been among the most talked about especially since it ended with the artist and the children of the village wiping away all of the murals, returning the soil to the places it was taken from demonstrating to the students the meaning of the cycle of life.
Yusuke said that his other intentions in creating these murals were to emphasise on the importance of the earth, soil and land that the farmers in these rural communities depended on for their livelihood, as well as to bring art into the lives of these children who live so far away from “cultural centres”, India’s metropolises. Embedded in the stunning visuals was also a lesson for the students in preserving ecology and the importance of local customs like using cow dung as fuel and fertiliser.
The murals, which have been documented in extensive photographs, are mainly composed of intricate patterns abstract depictions of people, and the flora and fauna in their environments.
His mural in the Niranjana School was called Earth Painting: The Forest of Vows while the Maharashtrian one is called Sprouting Life in the Forest, Fatherly Tree and Motherly Mountain.
Yusuke is well-known in Japan for painting huge installations that make use of “found material” like tape, leaves, pen, mud and dust.
