A Barrier Against the Pacific

Photos by Alice F. Martins | A Barrier Against the Pacific documents the wall and Hudai’s beach, the village and its surroundings, in forty-six black and white photographs.

Hudai is located in the coastal region of Sanriku, Iwate Province, one of the areas of Japan most affected by the Great Earthquake of 2011. In addition to the destruction caused by the earthquake, the magnitude of the quake generated a tsunami that swept the Japanese northeastern coast. Unlike neighboring villages, however, Hudai survived almost untouched.

The explanation for this exception lies on an infrastructure built between 1972 and 1984, consisting of a system of seawalls and floodgates that work as an anti-tsunami barrier.

This type of construction is common in Japan. Characteristic of this wall in particular is the way the project was designed – its size, its adequacy regarding the topography of the region, and the lessons drawn from similar catastrophes in the past.

The wall is not discernible upon arrival, as the village is surrounded by mountains. To see it, it is necessary for us to distance ourselves from the centre and the train station, following the river, until we reach the valley that allows access to the beach. Here, was built the barrier that extends 200 metres long and 15.5 metres high. On foot, it is possible to climb up, walk along the wall and descend towards the sea. The level reached by the water in 2011 is signposted, and between the barrier and the beach there is a sprawling meadow, divided by the river, where traces of the earthquake and tsunami have been preserved.

Kotoko Wamura, mayor of Hudai between 1947 and 1987, was the person responsible for the construction of this barrier. The village, like the rest of Japan, has suffered throughout its history the devastation wreaked by earthquakes that occur often on the island. In particular, the earthquakes recorded in 1896 and 1933, which gave rise to tsunamis and ravaged the Sanriku region. In the thirties, Kotoku Wamura was a young man, and he witnessed the destruction that the tsunami left in its wake. Certain that such a catastrophe would happen again, he fought to move forward with the construction of a larger and more expensive anti-tsunami barrier, one that would prove capable of protecting the village and its population. Despite the voices raised against the project at the time, following the disaster of 2011, the residents began to visit his grave as a form of appreciation.

A Barrier Against the Pacific documents the wall and Hudai’s beach, the village and its surroundings, in forty-six black and white photographs.

The drive to carry out this work arose from an interest in understanding how Japan prepares and goes about its life under the permanent threat of destruction caused by a natural disaster. This contrasts with Portugal, which shares the same risks, with known cases in its history, but whose population lives practically oblivious to the possibility of a similar tragedy striking once again.

Based on the subject of protection against natural hazards, this exhibition falls into the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in the 2030 agenda, namely the SDG 13 on Climate Action and the importance of taking urgent measures to fight climate change and its impacts.

This project was developed under a short-term grant awarded in 2019, which results from a protocol between Fundação Oriente and Ar.Co - Centro de Arte & Comunicação Visual.

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Einzelheiten

  • www.foriente.pt
  • Museu do OrienteAvenida Brasília, Doca de Alcântara (Norte)1350-352Lisboa
  • Ab 09 Fev, 2023 bis 21 Mai, 2023
  • Kostenlos