"島キッチン" Shima Kitchen by Ryo Abe on Teshima

In the Setouchi art festival, a lot of new art spots have been created on many islands, especially on Teshima. This island is of great importance due to the 17 art works created there.
A restaurant, “ Shima Kitchen ” was planned on Teshima as a place, where residents, volunteers and tourists, can talk, enjoy music or watch a play. Shima Kitchen was designed by the architect, Ryo Abe.
http://www.aberyo.com/
He made the whole house over and built an unique terrace with burned cedar roofs. I washed the roofs as a volunteer. It was very hard work. Shima Kitchen is well designed, very simple but successfully integrates the old and new.
Shima Kitchen was built encompassing the living trees around it.
I like that style.
We use a lot of materials, lands, trees, clay, stone, to build a living space. We human beings just consume a lot of things from nature, but I think that we’re usually getting power from nature, I believe we can coexist with nature.
The symbolic tree at Shima Kitchen is the fig. The fig has a meaning of immortality. I hope to live long, and with all living nature.
The main menu of Shima kitchen is a Keema curry, some how, women living in Teshima have been cooking Keema curry, and it has become a local food of Teshima.. To Shima kichen, famous chefs have come from "Tokyo Marunouchi Hotel", and every day they are planning the menu based on the available food. Some local women and volunteers are helping by serving.
http://shimakitchen.com/calendar/
When I’m sitting at the terrace of Shima Kitchen, I remember my old working place, a rural backwoods area where a lot of people had lived at one time. In Japan, due to urbanization, local areas have been suffering from a declining population.
This has caused the change of family form and the loss of their local cultures and demise of local communities. Through volunteering, I became to reflect on thing, what is a good point of our local community, and what I can do for my local area, and I’ve realized that I should decide where I’ll live.
Now, Shima Kitchen is a bustling and hot spot on Teshima, because there are a lot of attractive elements; a well-designed restaurant, famous chefs and the art festival.
During this art festival, I hope that the people living on Teshima gather and discuss Teshima’s future.