Miya Kosowick Mawatari
Index
Works 2023
Yumedono 2023
Concrete, incense stick
Approx. 30 x 30 cm
Reimagining a heritage site
The octagonal maquette references Yumedono, a Buddhist monument in Horyu-ji, Ikagara, Nara Prefecture. Also known as the Hallway of Dreams, it is one of the oldest surviving wooden Buddhist temples in the world (dating back to the 8th Century). Instead of wood, the maquette is a concrete cast, taking on a brutalist connotation. Yumedono is a UNESCO heritage site deemed worthy of preservation. To ‘heritagise’ a building is to eternalise its space. The power dynamics of accessibility and maintenance, and the arbitrariness of preservation of a building is a point of interest to me. Having fragmented memories of visiting this monument with my mother and brother to connect us to our heritage, we were not allowed inside the building. Heritage is an interesting phenomenon, the place that is being conserved dramatically shifts its usage in order to preserve it. It is no longer a used place, it is a place to be observed from the outside, and place to be commodified through ticket sales. To cast this place in concrete is to reimagine and bring attention to the value of a building. Like many brutalist buildings, it is now neglected, forgotten about in the public consciousness. It is to bring attention to what building are preserved and why.
Images Courtesy of St. Saviours Church, London 2023