Welfare Artistic Mosaic Project in Ukraine

In April 2022 the NPO Eco Mosaic launched an anti-nuclear project, which consists in the creation in Ukraine Kiev(if effects of war,will be another country)of artistic mosaics made by Japanese people with disabilities.
To create the mosaics, 1,500 parts in the shape of small bells and flowers have already been made in Japan by people with intellectual disabilities, and we expect to reach the total amount of 18,000 parts. We would also like to invite children and people with disabilities, citizens from areas involved in the war and supporters from all over the world to participate in the production. Once the parts are completed they will be transported to sight, where will be assembled into a large mosaic installed on a city sidewalk.

The mosaics parts SUNFLOWERS

The design of the mosaic is inspired by two bells: the bell of Nagasaki-the city devastated by the atomic bomb-and the one of Ukraine dedicated to the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. The installation site will be one of the sidewalks . The mosaic will be approximately 10m long and 4m wide.

The next steps of the project will be to gather supporters and participants on an international scale, hold meetings with local collaborators, define the design of the mosaic, finalize the budget necessary for the execution of the project, send the necessary materials on site.

Construction work will be carried out on site together with the Japanese staff. On the day the mosaic is completed, the bells of churches and temples around the world will be rung, including those of the Russian Church.

Finally, we will gather new supporters and launch a new project to beautify the city of Kiev with a large number of bell-shaped mosaics.

Our activities
Since the foundation in 1999, we collect waste building materials such as rocks and tiles from construction sites, and we fragment them into small parts that we reuse in the creation of floor or wall mosaics, giving the possibility to people with intellectual disabilities to become autonomous and independent. To date, we have carried out 230 mosaic projects in public areas, establishing ourselves as innovators in the field of art created by people with disabilities. In 2006 in Kabul (Afghanistan) we conducted a project to teach people injured during the war how to create mosaics, a project that also involved the Afghan ministries and which led to the creation of a floor mosaic in the central park of Kabul. In 2009 in the Kingdom of Lesotho (Africa), we conducted a mosaic project in support of AIDS orphans. In 2012 we started and conducted a ten-year project in the areas affected by the Tohoku earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear accident, working in 12 social welfare laboratories alongside people with disabilities. These people, frightened by the earthquake, could no longer go outside; nevertheless, by stimulating them through art, we were able to bring them back into society and complete 12 projects in disaster areas together.

Eco Mosaic President Takaaki Hashida (Architect,Ph.D of Engineering)
NPO Eco Mosaic 134-167 Kita Nagareyama-shi 270-0117 Japan 090-3225-4303 ecoheiban@docomo.ne.jp
Communications Liason Diego Martina (Doctor of Japanese Studies)　shizukani@hotmail.it

Nagasaki Oura Cathedral immediately after the bombing