Susumu Shingu Discusses Sandalino Mystery at Expo 2025 Osaka

Osaka: Japanese artist Susumu Shingu, an ambassador of the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka who was recently awarded the honour of Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic), has recently taken part in an event on the mystery of Sandalino, the character of a pop-up book.

According to Ansa News Agency, the event at the Italy Pavilion included a performance by the Sanda Children’s Choir, directed by Kohei Konaka. Shingu also spoke about his deep connection with Italy and his relationship with Renzo Piano, with whom he has collaborated on various projects since 1989, starting with the oeuvre Boundless Sky created for Kansai International Airport.

The artist in 1960 received a scholarship from the Italian government and spent six years in Rome. Although he is internationally renowned for his kinetic sculptures powered by natural forces like the wind and water, he has also worked on several illustrated books, plays, and songs based on which guitarist Takumi Seino has composed five pieces.

The musical pieces were performed at the Italy Pavilion together with Mikiko, who sang and played the armonica. The duo, together with the Sanda Children’s Choir, performed Universe, Beautiful Things, Song of Sandalino, Sketches in the Sky and Starry Sky.

“I was born in Osaka,” said Shingu, and “I went to Tokyo and enrolled in an art college” but “found the city boring”. “Then, I saw a faraway light: Italy,” added the artist, who was able to travel to the country thanks to a scholarship.

“I was determined to go to Italy and, from the moment I started college, I tried to learn Italian”, although “there were no dictionaries at the time,” he recounted. “I never had so much fun. In Italy, I stopped painting and did what I wanted, like making sculptures. Italy, the country that granted me this freedom, was truly the perfect choice for me,” he concluded.