Call for Participants: Stone Polishing Workshop “Love Stone Project EXPO 2025” by Sculptor Atsuya Tominaga

Starting April 19, 2025, a participatory stone polishing workshop, centered on the themes of love and peace will be held within the EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai site as part of sculptor Atsuya Tominaga’s “Love Stone Project”. The workshop will continue over a period of approximately six months.

This unique experience invites participants to polish heart-shaped stones as a way of fostering mindfulness and expressing a shared desire for peace.
The workshop is free to join, and open to all visitors.

As one of 13 featured public artworks in the “Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival / EXPO PUBLIC ART” program, Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Executive Committee (ARTLOGUE Inc., Head Office: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, CEO: Suzuki Daisuke) will present a participatory stone polishing workshop titled “Love Stone Project EXPO 2025” by sculptor TOMINAGA Atsuya.
This art festival is an international contemporary art festival that will be held from Friday, April 11th to Monday, October 13th, 2025. In addition to the EXPO venue on Yumeshima Island where the Osaka-Kansai Expo is held, installations and exhibitions will be held at Osaka’s iconic locations such as the Osaka Culturarium at Tempozan (designed by Tadao Ando), the Osaka International Convention Center in Nakanoshima (designed by Kisho Kurokawa), as well as the Nishinari and Semba districts, and the National Museum of Ethnology in the Expo Commemorative Park which is the site of the 1970 Osaka Expo.
Now in its fourth edition, the 2025 festival aims to serve as a cultural bridge between EXPO 2025 and the broader Osaka region. Through diverse international art projects, the festival explores the evolving relationship between art, people, and society, a concept embedded in its name: Study.
This year’s overarching theme is “Social Impact”, with each venue presenting exhibitions organized into six thematic chapters that examine the role of art in cultural development, economic revitalization, and the visibility of social issues.
For more details on venue concepts, exhibitions, and participating artists, please visit:
http://bit.ly/3RdaXOL

■The Love Stone Project

The Love Stone Project is an ongoing participatory art initiative by sculptor Atsuya Tominaga, in which heart-shaped stones are polished together with people he meets in each location, allowing the stones to shine with the collective wishes of the participants.
The project began after Tominaga visited towns in northeastern Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. There, he encountered stones that had witnessed everything that had happened which led him to the realization that both stones and humans are part of nature. With a wish to connect the world through stones, he began the act of polishing heart-shaped stones as a symbol of unity and hope.
In 2013, his work “Our Love” created with stones from Italy, Iran, and the former Yugoslavia, polished together with local communities won the Grand Prize at the 25th UBE Biennale (Contemporary Japanese Sculpture Exhibition), marking the beginning of the project’s global expansion.
Since then, the project has taken place in over 300 locations around the world, including Japan, the United States, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, and Ethiopia, with more than 30,000 participants contributing their hands and hearts to the polishing of these stones.

■Love Stone Project EXPO 2025

As part of Love Stone Project EXPO 2025, five heart-shaped sculptures each representing one of the world’s five continents, will be installed together within the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai site. These stones, sourced from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, symbolizing the unity of the Earth, brought together in a single shared space. Placing these stones together in a single space symbolizes the oneness of our planet.
The project invites visitors from across the globe to polish these stones side by side, transcending borders, nationalities, and cultures. Through this collective act, the stones become a glowing testament to two of humanity’s most universal hopes: love and peace.
The polished stones, shaped by thousands of hands will continue to shine as a lasting memory of EXPO 2025 and a symbol of unity for the future.

Stones from the Five Continents
- North America: Granite from the United States (H350 × W390 × D550 mm)
- Europe: Granite from Finland (H400 × W570 × D740 mm)
- Africa: Granite from South Africa (H350 × W670 × D420 mm)
- Asia: Granite from Japan (Nose, Osaka) (H480 × W650 × D800 mm)
- Oceania: Granite from Australia (H400 × W390 × D900 mm)
※All dimensions are in millimeters.
※Weight: approximately 200–500 kg each.

■Stone Polishing Workshop Schedule (Tentative)

April 19th (Sat) #80
April 20th (Sun) #80
May 10th (Sat) #200
May 11th (Sun) #200
May 24th (Sat) #400
May 25th (Sun) #400
June 7th (Sat) #800
June 8th (Sun) #800
September 6th (Sat) #1500
September 7th (Sun) #1500
September 20th (Sat) #3000
September 21th (Sun) #3000
October 4th (Sat) #6000
October 5th (Sun) #6000

- How to Join / Location:
Please come directly to the artwork site in front of the West Gate during the event hours.No advance registration is required.

- Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (on each workshop day)

※The event may be canceled or suspended due to weather conditions.
※Dates and number of sessions are subject to change.
※This workshop takes place inside the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai venue. A separate Expo admission ticket is required for participation.
※There is no additional fee to participate in this workshop.

■Workshop Process

The stones will be polished to a gleaming shine through a seven-step sanding process, using sandpapers graded #80, #200, #400, #800, #1500, #3000, and #6000. Throughout the duration of the project, all seven types of sandpaper will be available at the venue, allowing participants to engage in water polishing by hand. From the opening of Expo 2025 in April to its closing in October, visitors will witness the transformation of the initially rough stones into radiant surfaces. By the end of the Expo, the five stones, once coarse, will shine brilliantly and reflect the sky over Yumeshima. During the process, each stage of polishing brings out a unique texture and charm, offering a visually engaging experience for all visitors.

■Artwork Overview

- Title: Love Stone Project EXPO 2025
- Artist: TOMINAGA Atsuya
- Sponsor: Osaka Sekizai Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Profile:
TOMINAGA Atsuya
Born 1961 in Osaka City, Osaka, Japan. 1986 graduated from Kanazawa College of Art, and began working at Nose Black Granite Quarry (Toyono-gun, Osaka). In 1997, he received a grant from the Pola Art Foundation to stay and work in Italy (~1998). 2013: Started Love Stone Project in various places in the world. He won the Grand Prize at the 25th UBE Biennale (Contemporary Japanese Sculpture Exhibition) and has held solo exhibitions in Japan and abroad. His major solo exhibitions include Ippodo Gallery in New York (2008), Tokiwa Museum in Yamaguchi (2015), Toyonaka Performing Arts Center in Osaka (2017), and Art Lab at the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum (2024). His notable projects and activities include “Public Production 74” at the Fuchu Art Museum (2018), “Manazuru Town Stone Sculpture Festival” in Kanagawa (2019), and the “Museum Name Stone Production” at The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (2024).He has also participated in major group exhibitions such as “Universal Museum - Touch! A Great Exhibition of Touch” at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka (2021), “Everyone Needs a Stone” at the Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum in Shizuoka (2021), and “Beautiful Books: Books and Prints from Yukawa Publishing” at The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama (2023).His works are held in public collections including the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Tokiwa Museum (Yamaguchi), Asago Art Village Museum of Art (Hyogo), and LongHouse Reserve in New York.

■ Overview of "Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025"

・Official website and social media

Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025 Official Website: https://osaka-kansai.art/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/study_okiaf/
X (old Twitter): https://x.com/study_OKIAF
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudyOKIAF/
Official LINE account: https://lin.ee/YRCAlUD

■Company Profile

ARTLOGUE Inc.
- Representative: ARTLOGUE Inc. CEO Daisuke Suzuki
- Head office location: Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
- Established: July 7, 2017
- Business operations: Planning and management of "Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival" / Planning and management of web media "ARTLOGUE" and "Art Tourism"

■ Contact Information

Artlogue Inc. Public Relations Office Name: Tomimatsu & Ichikawa Email address: study-pr@artlogue.org
Inquiry form: https://osaka-kansai.art/pages/contact