Musée Légitime

Object in the shape of a heart made of coal, which the artist received as a gift from an ex-miner in the mining city of Yubari, Japan. Mariko stayed for a period in this city, which nowadays faces the dilemma of an aging population and the possibility of becoming a ghost town. Part of her interest was in the coal balls made by ex-miners as souvenirs. She did not want this heart carving, but after Mr. Ito’s insistence she reluctantly accepted it. It became the least desired object in her collection of carved coal objects and the only one that was not a sphere. This was the criterion used to give it to the collection of the hat museum: what is a burden in one collection might become a gift in another.