SHIMA Kuniichi

1935–2018, born in Tokyo. Shima participated in the formation of Group Print in 1958, and graduated from the Department of Painting at Tama Art University the following year. He exhibited in printmaking exhibitions both domestically and internationally, earning widespread acclaim. Focusing on production methods and actions themselves, he explored the meanings of experiences and relationships with objects. In this work, commissioned by the museum, he linked the method of “tracing” (copying an object by touch) with the theme of memory. He combined the acts of dismantling, reconstructing, and copying actual wooden boxes to create a “mechanism for memory,” a visible representation of a system designed to ensure that tragedy is never forgotten.