Borderline Project, Shiro MASUYAMA

Monday, 5 October 2026

Borderline Project @ Ballina Fringe Festival 2026 (The 2nd & the 3rd Day)

Borderline Project @ Ballina Fringe Festival 2026 (The 1st Day)

Ballina Fringe Festival 2026 is underway!

Day 1 brought relentless rain, easily among the top 3 worst conditions I’ve ever had exhibiting the caravan. Water even leaked through the window seals! Visitors were at zero for the first two hours, but once the rain eased in the afternoon, people slowly began to arrive.

Ballina Fringe Festival 2026がスタート！

初日は猛烈な土砂降り。キャンピングカー展示史上「ワースト3」に入る天気で、窓の隙間から雨漏りまで…。午前中の2時間は観客ゼロだったけど、午後に雨が止むと徐々にお客さんが来てくれた！

Because I’m Japanese, people often ask if there’s anything Japanese inside, even though the project focuses on cultural differences between Ireland and the UK. For years my answer has been no.

This time I tried something new. Road vibrations inevitably damage pieces inside the caravan, so I repaired some using Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending with gold lacquer. Rather than forcing a Japanese element into the concept, it enters naturally through the artwork’s own history of travel and repair.

この作品は「アイルランドとイギリスの文化の違い」を見せる展示だけど、僕が日本人なので「日本のものはないの？」とよく聞かれる。その度に「ないよ」と答え続けてきた。

でも今回、前から考えていたアイデアを試してみた。移動中の振動で落ちて破損した展示物の一部を、日本の伝統技法「金継ぎ」で修復。無理に日本の要素を詰め込むのではなく、作品の移動と修復の歴史として、自然な形で日本的な要素を取り入れられる。

The caravan suffers too! This morning the lock on the front gas bottle compartment had fallen off from the vibrations. Driving like that was too dangerous, so an urgent repair made me late to the venue!

ちなみに車もトラブル続き。今朝、会場への移動中にガスボンベ収納スペースの蓋のロックが振動で抜け落ちているのに気づき、危険なので急遽修理。到着が遅れるハプニングも（笑）。