Kate Pond, Sculptor

Mapua School, Mapua, on the South Island was the last stop on the time capsule opening tour of the World Sculptures. It was warm and sunny in December 2015 and very near to the time of summer solstice there in the southern hemisphere.

When I arrived at the school, the teachers and the Principal, Neil Chalmers welcomed me. Children were running barefoot and wearing the blue school hats that they are required to wear because of the thin ozone layer in the summer.

Sixth grade teacher Sharon Prestidge introduced me to two sixth grade girls, Millie and Tyler, who were organizing plans for the ceremony to open the time capsule.

It was a unique and special ceremony. I was struck by the attention to the Maori culture. Millie described the planned performances of haka (dance) by 30 students and mentioned to me that she was one of the dancers and that she and her mother were Maori.

Just before the ceremony Sharon Prestidge gathered all the visitors or guests into a group saying, “We are on the waka (boat) together, (remembering the Polynesian canoes that brought the original people to Aoteraoa or New Zealand) and we are joining in a common purpose. Think of those who came before us, and of the sacredness of the earth under the sculpture.”

We moved slowly toward the sculpture and heard the school children singing a welcoming song to us.

Soon after, a group of 30 students began haka performances, a Maori cultural dance performed in a line. (For rugby fans, the All Blacks, New Zealand’s World Champion rugby team performs a haka facing the opposing team using loud and tough warrior moves meant to challenge the opponent.) Mapua School boys perform their own challenge.

When the girls did their performance it reminded me Hawaiian hula performances I had seen.

And the capsule is carried back into the Mapua School’s front lobby to rest for twenty-five years until 2040 when it will be opened again.

Children's artwork from the Mapua time capsule
Below are a few selected pieces of artwork made by Mapua children.

New Zealand’s signature bird, the kiwi, is flightless and is vulnerable to extinction.

Fred Stetson begins sawing the ½ inch thick water pressure pipe we used for the capsule.

On equinox, September 23, friends and Canadian students gathered at the sculpture ZIG ZAG in front of the Colby-Curtis Museum in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada.

ZIG ZAG is the third of Kate Pond’s sculptures in her World Sculpture Project that she has visited to open time capsules in 2015.

The Colby-Curtis museum is housed in an Italianate style heritage home built in1859. It contains the collection of the Stanstead Historical Society, contents of a 1900th century home and Museum archives.

Chloe Southam, director of the museum and Kate discuss the exhibit at the Museum that documents Pond’s five sculptures in the World Sculpture series.

Friends, teachers and students from the Sunnyside Elementary School in Stanstead gather and dig under ZIG ZAG to find clay artwork and painted stones buried here on equinox in 1995.

Director Chloe and Kate use a Skype connection with Deputy Director Dag Andreassen at the Norsk Museum of Science in Oslo, Norway. Dag smiles while standing beside the SOLEKKO sculpture in the late afternoon sun.

We poke with dowels so as not to harm clay artworks.

Young boy in blue finds foot long tube in the hole and is ecstatic!

The clay artifacts are carefully washed as they are found. Stanstead College student says: “Maybe I can become an archeologist!”

Virginie takes the clean clay pieces into the museum exhibit room.

Suspense gathers as we prepare to open the tube.

We find a pair of earrings, a film canister and along with mildewed papers, a photograph of the Essex High School students in Vermont who created the clay pieces in 1995.

We set the sodden papers to dry in the sun, and plan to have photographer Grant Simeon’s black and white film developed later.

Stanstead College students and Kate look at photos taken earlier at the sculpture ZIG ZAG.

Time for a relaxing moment in the sun.

Stanstead College is an independent boarding school for boys and girls in Grade 7 through 12. International students make up a good portion of the student body.

Immersed in the Japanese culture for two weeks was a peak life experience for me! I stayed with the interesting and very generous family, Chizuko, Maiko and Koichi Hamada. The Mitsubishi Jisho people organized and sponsored a perfect event, and the people at the Meysen Academy attended to all the details making the time capsule event happen like clockwork.

Meysen Academy kindergarteners, students from Tohoku International School and the rest of us eagerly await the unearthing of the time capsule. The Mitsubishi engineers first open the concrete vault and then remove the capsule covered with a fabric sac.

At last, we have a look inside!

And we find ceramics made by Tohoku International School students in teacher Sasaki’s class, and pieces made in Milton, Vermont, both made in 1998. Other artwork is two-dimensional drawings by children from twelve schools in Izumi Town, and children in Quebec, Canada; Vermont and Hawaii, USA. Some of the paper art work is damp but the colors and drawings are exciting to see.

Three mothers who found their children’s artwork and a grandmother pose with me. “I am glad to be alive on this special day” says the grandmother.

One mother whose child was in kindergarten in 1998 searches for her daughter’s art piece and later succeeds in finding it.

Mr Fujioka, president of Mitsubishi Jisho, and I meet for the first time.

Wakako Sato greets me after 16 years. She is a city representative in Sendai and is a well known personality. She was my host in 1998 and 1999. Mr Fujioka and Mr Yoshida from Mitsubishi Jisho look on.

Children from Meysen Academy and Tohoku International School place “blessings for Peace and the Wellbeing of the Earth” back into the blue ceramic vessel. The children made scrolls and drawings that will remain buried in ceramic vessel for an undetermined amount of time. Appropriate, because of the great east Japan tsunami on March 3, 2011.

Mitsubishi engineers seal the concrete vault holding the blue ceramic vessel with the “Blessings” inside.

Tsunami waves in Natori city near Sendai reached the height of this monument destroying everything in its path except for a line of tall strong pine trees along the beach. I visited the site with the Hamada family. Fishermen lost homes and boats; farmers lost homes and farms.

The Canadians built a Pavillion building on the Nartori beach to be an anchor for an open air fish and farmers market.

Stark black calligraphy covers one wall of the building, roughly translated, “ The waters came in but cherry blossoms will bloom again in the spring”

A woman selling her fish smiles in recognition when she sees my long braided hair. Happy people jostle each other as they thread through the crowds to buy produce and fish. Life goes on.

Rubble from the destruction covers the parking lot of the market.

We travel home to Izumi Town and have a delicious cook out. Koichi makes his okonomiyki , a huge concoction of cabbage, shitake mushrooms, slices of ham and other delicacies.

Ceramic artist Jun Iwai explains the Japanese tea ceremony to me. His elegant work is exhibited internationally, most recently in Florence, Italy. Some of his glazes sparkle with crystal or with bits of gold. Using magnifying glasses, one of his techniques includes brushing subtle fine lines of glaze emanating from the center of a vessel. Exquisite work.

Kate, known to me as Grandma Kate, arrived in Sendai, Japan on Tuesday and was greeted at the airport by a rare rain, her homestay family from 17 years ago and myself. After slurping through mountains of cold soba (buckwheat noodles) we returned to home base, where we recharged. Jetlagged brain + inundation of the Japanese language = rest required.

But there’s no moss growing on this baachan (grandma). Amidst the jetlag and exhaustion, we planned and gathered thoughts for a meeting at Tohoku International School (TIS) and “Grape City” – a playfully named company that is connected to many of the project partners.

Her first night here we were treated to an impromptu performance by a lively neighbor who stopped by. She specializes in Japanese kids songs and didn’t hold back when we requested a demonstration. I recognized the classics and joined in.

While we were singing and chatting, Chizuko’s husband, Koichi, worked on dinner.

Over the past few days we’ve connected with school staff who will help to connect current students to the project, as well as corporate partners who are helping to orchestrate the time capsule opening ceremony. We finally got everything settled for the ceremony, so now it’s time to invite people who contributed artwork 17 years ago and spread the word!

Angela Robins lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and you can learn about her work building a traditional boat in Japan at: http://angelarobins.com/blog

On June 4 we opened the time capsule inside the sculpture SOLEKKO at Norsk Teknisk Museum in Oslo. It was 19 years ago that Solekko was built and installed at the museum.

Removing the stainless steel cone protecting the capsule inside.

In June of 1996, during a residency at the museum, I worked with ten and eleven year old children to make art work at the museum. We filled the capsule with their artwork and that of children from Quebec, CA and from Vermont and Hawaii, USA.

Around fifty of these "children" were present and eagerly scrambled to find their artwork on the table.

One young woman showed me a drawing of a small animal hidden in tall grass. "He was my friend but he killed himself when he was seventeen".

Other stories are happy ones. "This one was done by the son of the mayor of Oslo; he now loves with his heiress wife in Bergen."

And the granddaughter of famous Norwegian playwright and illustrator Egner Thornbjorn had drawn a picture of happy animals and birds living in nature very similar to her grandfather's illustrations.

Included with the drawings were clay artifacts. Some were made at the museum workshops and others at Milton and Essex, Vermont schools.

The small clay pieces and drawings are part of an exhibit at the museum now and will be safely included in their archives later on.

Norwegian Sculpture Projects

As the World Sculpture Project connects people and cultures with five sculptures around the world, the following projects commemorate and connect people in other unique ways.

Photo journalist Mimsy Moller takes a picture of Nico Widerberg's sculpture commemorating the terrorist attack in Oslo in 2011.

Children had come from all over Norway to attend a summer camp on the island where the attack occurred.

Widerberg is installing an exact replica of the sculpture in each of the regions around Norway from which children came who were killed.

If the regions have approved having a sculpture, over fifty pieces could be installed throughout Norway.

German artist commentates Jews who were deported to Auschwitz from Norway during World War II.

German sculptor Gunther Demning explains his project to photographer Mimsy Moller before installing seven cubes topped with brass inscribed with names in front of a new Starbucks cafe in Oslo.

Plans for the World Sculpture Project time capsule openings in Norway and Japan are going well! I leave for Norway on May 25.

Here are some Gifts for people in Norway and Japan who are hosting the time capsule openings. I turned to family members to purchase beautiful hand made items.

Hand carved spoons and bowl were made by granddaughter Angela Robins. She lives in Minnesota and uses traditional Norwegian methods for her turning and carving

My sister Sally Cabell’s brightly colored quilts reflect traditional American style.

Per Andreasson at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology in Oslo, Norway is using Facebook to find people in their late 20’s and early 30’s who were students in 1996 and whose artwork is in the capsule. We look forward to some of the original students being present to open the capsule inside the sculpture. The opening at the Solekko sculpture will be on Thursday, June 4.

Mitsubishi Estate Company in Sendai, Japan is sponsoring the capsule opening at the Himeguri sculpture to be held on Saturday, June 20. Mitsubishi paid for the building of the sculpture in 1998.

Tetsuro Yoshida from Mitsubishi is coordinating plans with local schools for the ceremony. Current students from Meysen Academy and Tohoku International School will pair up in twos, one kindergartner to one high school student, to remove the artwork and place it on viewing tables for all to see.

We also plan to replace the artwork with new calligraphy and drawings: “Blessings for Peace and Wellbeing of the Planet” will be put into the two-foot high blue ceramic time capsule and placed back into the vault under earth for posterity.

Student comments: Looking back into the 1998 archives I have found comments from children who created the artwork for the capsules.

Jon Currie, Milton, Vermont: “The experience of making an artifact that will go to Japan has definitely been intriguing as well as a lot of fun. I see it as an opportunity for positive exposure for Milton high School, amidst the aftermath of last year’s infamous bomb threats.”

Sam Lavoie, Essex, Vermont: “It excites me to know that my art could possibly end up in Hawaii or Norway.”

Angela Gagliano, Essex, Vermont: “The whole unity theme is great, especially in this time of confusion.”

Leslie Pero, North Hero, Vermont: “I enjoyed working on this project since it seems to take a piece of our generation (its ideas and thoughts expressed through the arts) and sending it to different places in the world. People will find our artwork and see how we felt.”

Laurel Dugan, Essex, Vermont: “It is very exciting that our artwork may be a part of a project in another part of the world. This is a unique experience.”

J Pierce, Essex, Vermont: “I can’t imagine that my (ceramic) frog is going to be part of a bigger sculpture.”

Ashley Haupt, Vermont: “I am very excited and overjoyed. To know that my little bowl is going to be inside a very important land mark is amazing.”

Trinda Hibbard, Vermont: “It is neat that something we made is going to another country. It would be cool to see what other kids in Japan think of our work and how different theirs would be.”

Can anyone join us in either Norway or Japan? Contact me for more details at [email protected].

Gunnar Nerheim, director of the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology in 1996, is putting the time capsule into the top of the sculpture

Oslo, Norway

On June 4, 2015, at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, we will open the time capsule installed inside the SOLEKKO sculpture in 1996 and we will find postcard-sized artwork made by children in Quebec, Canada; and in Vermont and Hawaii, USA

Sendai, Japan

On June 20, 2015, the time capsule near the sculpture HIMEGURI will be unearthed and the contents seen for the first time since the dedication in June of 1998.

Dedication of Himeguri in 1998

A kindergartener draws insects in his lunchtime bento box

Stanstead, Quebec, Canada

On equinox Sept 23, 2015 at the Colby-Curtis Museum, we will unearth clay artworks placed under the ZIG ZAG sculpture in September 1994.

Students from nearby school in Standstead watching the equinox shadow at the sculpture

Students with their artwork made during the workshop at the Colby-Curtis Museum in Quebec

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

On November 19, 2015 at the Kapi’olani Community College, the time capsule will be unearthed near the ALL ONE sculpture on campus. ALL ONE was dedicated and the capsule filled in November 2002.

Reverend Kaleo Patterson blessing the sculpture with a ti leaf and water at the dedication

The artwork was made by Hawaiian children and also by children in Vermont, Quebec and Norway.

Students in an Arts and Letters class at Punahou School in Honolulu wrote poems illustrated with artwork for the time capsules.

Mapua, Richmond, New Zealand

On December 4, 2015 we will open up the green ceramic capsule at the Mapua School. The sculpture at the school is TELLING STONES, and is a circle of boulders including a sundial and star alignments.

TELLING STONES was dedicated and the capsule filled in December 2007