Internalized World: Contemporary Photography from Japan

September 24, 2011  |  Exhibitions, In focus 2011

Internalized World: Contemporary Photography from Japan

Third international art photography festival IN FOCUS 2011 (Vilnius, Lithuania) invites to the opening of the exhibition Internalized World: Contemporary Photography from Japan on the 27th of September at 6 pm. at the Vilnius Graphic Art Centre’s gallery “Kaire-desine”. At 5 pm excursion with the artists and curator will be held.

This unique exhibition supported by Japan Foundation and organization “EU-Japan Fest” – is the result of the cooperation between independent curator Mikiko Kikuta and the director of the festival – Eglė Deltuvaitė.

Curator of such projects as “European Eyes on Japan”, “In-Between”, director of Shiogama photography festival – Mikiko Kikuta in Lithuania presents four artists: Daisuke Nakashima, Shinryo Saeki, Karen Sato and Yumiko Utsu. They were born in the end of ’70 to the beginning of ’80. They don’t know the World War II, neither maybe their parents do. They do not know the student movement in 60’ as well and grew up in the period when Japanese economy was going to be stronger and stronger. As curator explains, “the peak of Japanese economy was in 1983-89 and we call it Bubble. We became rich but we lost a lot of good and beautiful things at the same time. After the burst of the economic bubble, many young people could not find the job and could not have the same dreams that their parents had. Many rules of the past were broken and nobody knew what the beautiful and rich life is anymore. We could not have any hope for the society or politics. We had to find new rules and new life. But it was not easy….”

Just a little bit older generation than these four photographers stopped to see something far from them (for example politics or international problems) and started to see everyday life and something very small or fragile just around us: girlfriend, boyfriend or family, animals, peaceful afternoon in the soft light and similar. Something they could feel “REAL”. They don’t go to take a picture of dangerous conflict or war in foreign country. HERE and NOW and FEELING is the most important things for them.

Now young photographers are changing. They have started to look at themselves and try to create art work from the conversation or conflict of own inner world. They collect the fragments around them to look at themselves again to get back their real self. They keep the distance from existing rules, leading ideology or what is happening now but know how to figure themselves and contemporary society collecting the fragments from different places around them.

Sponsors:

Culture Support Foundation of the Republic of Lithuania

Vilnius City Municipality

Media Partners:


Partners


Comments are closed.