Installing Art Exhibitions into Non-Art Schools vol.4｜Speaking the Unspeakable: 15 Years of Dialogue on Okawa Elementary School

Yasushi Noguchi, Tomoko Niwa, Hideto Miyuki, Masaki Komori

2026/03/10

2026/03/22

Tokyo Polytechnic University, TPU

Fifteen years after the disaster, the tragedy at Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki has come to be regarded as an unspeakable incident, shaped by lawsuits questioning administrative responsibility and their aftermath. This exhibition reconsiders that unspeakability and explores multilayered forms of memory and narration.
The exhibition presents archives of memorial and storytelling activities by bereaved families, together with newly developed interactive dialogue-based programs. Notably, university students without direct memories of the disaster participate as co-creators, engaging with difficult heritage through dialogue from their own perspectives.
Through the participation of diverse people, including generations with no direct experience of the disaster, this exhibition aims to become a space for intergenerational dialogue that re-weaves an unspeakable incident into speakable stories.

Director: Yasushi Noguchi

https://r-dimension.xsrv.jp/okawa/