In response to the voices saying "I can't wait until September!", we will hold an emergency stone polishing workshop by sculptor Atsuya Tominaga for the "Love Stone Project EXPO 2025" on Sunday, July 13th from 5pm to 7pm.

This stone polishing workshop, themed on "love and peace," is part of the "Love Stone Project" being exhibited at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.

Please join us for this special experience of polishing stones, calming your mind, and sharing your thoughts about peace. Participation is free of charge.

■Stone polishing workshop schedule (tentative)

April 19th (Saturday) File #80
April 20th (Sunday) File #80
May 10th (Saturday) File #200
May 11th (Sunday) File #200
May 24th (Saturday) File #400
May 25th (Sunday) File #400
June 7th (Saturday) File #800
June 8th (Sunday) File #800
July 13th (Sun) 17:00-19:00 [Emergency event]
September 6th (Saturday) File #1500
September 7th (Sunday) File #1500
September 20th (Saturday) File #3000
September 21 (Sunday) File #3000
October 4th (Saturday) File #6000
October 5th (Sunday) File #6000

How to apply and where to apply:
Please come directly to the exhibition site in front of the West Gate at the opening time (no prior registration required).
Time: July 13th (Sun) only, 17:00-19:00
(Normally from 10:00 to 15:00 on each day)

*The event may be canceled or suspended due to weather conditions.
*The dates, times and number of sessions may be subject to change.
*This is a workshop held within the Expo site. To participate, you must purchase a ticket for the Osaka-Kansai Expo separately.
Participation in this workshop is free of charge.
*We have prepared a super rare stamp hand-carved by Mr. Tominaga. (Participants only)

■ Stone polishing process

The stones will shine brightly after being polished with seven levels of files (80, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 3000, 6000). For the duration of this project, seven levels of files will be prepared at the venue, and participants will use the files to polish the stones with water while touching them. The polishing period will run from the start of the Expo in April until the end of October, and the five stones will start out rough, but by the end they will be shining and reflecting the sky of Yumeshima. Each stage of the process will give off a different charm, pleasing to the eyes of visitors.

■About the Love Stone Project

The Love Stone Project is an art project by sculptor Atsuya Tominaga, who carves stones into the shape of hearts, polishes them together with the people he meets in each area, and makes them shine with the thoughts of everyone. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, sculptor Tominaga visited the affected towns in Tohoku and touched the stones that had witnessed everything that had happened, and realized that both stones and people are part of nature. Hoping that the world could become one through stones, he began polishing heart-shaped stones. In 2013, his work Our Love, in which he polished stones in Italy, Iran, and the former Yugoslavia with the help of local citizens, won the grand prize at the 25th UBE Biennale (Contemporary Japanese Sculpture Exhibition), which became the catalyst for him to take on the project in earnest around the world. To date, the project has been held in about 300 locations, including Japan, the United States, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, and Ethiopia, with over 30,000 people participating.

■Love Stone Project EXPO 2025

In the "Love Stone Project EXPO 2025", five stones carved into the shape of a heart will be placed at the EXPO 2025 venue. The five stones will be excavated from the five continents of the world (America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania). By placing these stones in one space, it signifies that the Earth is one. By having people from all over the world visiting the Expo come together to polish these stones, we hope to express "love" and "peace", which are universal human desires that transcend countries and cultures. The stones polished by people from all over the world will continue to shine forever and become a memory of EXPO 2025 for the future. <Stones from the five continents>・North America: American granite (H350 W390 D550)・Europe: Finnish granite (H400 W570 D740)・Africa: South African granite (H350 W670 D420)・Asia: Japanese (Osaka Nose) granite (H480 W650 D800)・Australia: Australian granite (H400 W390 D900) *Unit: mm*Weight: 200kg to 500kg

Profile of Atsuya Tominaga

TOMINAGA Atsuya
Born in Osaka in 1961. Graduated from Kanazawa College of Art, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture in 1984. Completed graduate studies at Kanazawa College of Art, Graduate School of Fine Arts and Crafts in 1986. Started creating at Nose Black Granite Quarry (Osaka). Won an award in the 1988 Osaka Nakanoshima Greenway Sculpture Competition. 1997-98 Stayed and created in Italy with the Pola Art Foundation's overseas training grant. Won the Grand Prize at the 25th UBE Biennale (Yamaguchi) in 2013. Since then, polishes stone with citizens all over the world. Major solo exhibitions include Ippodo NY (USA) in 2008, Tokiwa Museum (Yamaguchi) in 2015, Toyonaka City Cultural Arts Center (Osaka) in 2017, and Nagano Prefectural Museum of Art Art Lab in 2024. His main activities include "Open Production 74" at the Fuchu Art Museum in 2018, "Manazuru Town Stone Sculpture Festival" (Kanagawa) in 2019, and "Museum Name Stone Creation" at the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka in 2024. His main group exhibitions include "Universal Museum - Touch! A Great Exhibition of Touch" at the National Museum of Ethnology (Osaka) in 2021, "Everyone Needs Stones" at the Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum (Shizuoka) in 2021, and "Beautiful Books: Books and Prints from Yukawa Publishing" at the Museum of Modern Art, Kanagawa in 2023.
Public collections: Nagano Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Tokiwa Museum (Yamaguchi), Asago Art Forest Museum (Hyogo), LongHouse Reserve (NY)