Japanese artist Nanako Koyama Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 20: A Japanese art director’s innovative installation, the Surya Project, has shown city residents that artwork can be created by making the best use of sunrays.

Artists and children of the city joined her on the campus lawn of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), for the Odisha Biennale, the international art and craft extravaganza hosted by Mudra Foundation.

A group of 14 small huts, much like kennels, have been painted in the seven colours of the vibgyor. In the wooden huts, there is a square door and a circular window. If one peeps inside the hut, he can find a painting or a photograph there. The huts that have been positioned in a circle have a solar panel in the centre. The bulbs inside the hut are lit by the solar energy in the evening making it a beautiful spectacle.

The Surya Project is the brainchild of Nanako Koyama, who has been an art director for 15 years at an advertising firm. In her earlier attempts, she had prepared such small huts to display artworks but this is the first time she has worked on solar energy. Her inspiration came from yoga where she got the notion of the spiritual energy emitted by the sun.

“The huts are so small that only one person can peep into it at a time. The idea is that the individual gets time to observe the artwork without any distraction,” she said.

Paintings and photographs of Japanese and Indian artists such as Takayasu Hattori, Eisuke Fukumochi, Manas Das and Siba Prasad Patri were displayed inside the huts first two days. On Tuesday, seven teams of school going kids sat down and created their collages themed on a particular colour that was put up inside the hut replacing the artwork of senior artistes.

While Bollywood art director Sukant Panigraphy’s art installations can bee seen at the lawn, the tents have also displayed photographs and paintings sent by various persons as entries for the festival.

The dance performances at the festival have been enthralling one and all. MOPA, the group headed by Japanese Odissi dancer Masako Ono, presented a contemporary dance production titled Trance Samadhi on the inaugural day followed by a visual and music performance by Japanese duo Sengoku and Rokugenkin. On Monday, acclaimed choreographers and dancers Kulli Roosna from Estonia and Kenneth Flak from Norway regaled the audience with their contemporary production.