As part of its partnership with KYOTOGRAPHIE international photography festival,
which celebrates in 2022 its 10th anniversary, Kering is proud to support the exhibition
“10/10 Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Women Photographers”, presented at the
HOSOO Gallery in Kyoto, Japan, from April 9th to May 8th 2022.
Through its support to this special exhibition with KYOTOGRAPHIE, Women In Motion is further developing its activities and commitments to concretely advancing women photographers’ visibility in their artistic field. It is also encouraging a debate about their contribution and recognition in both this discipline and culture and the arts in general, as inequality is deeply rooted in all areas of the creative arts – whereas they are the by essence profoundly rich of their diversity, and one of the most efficient levers for change.
The exhibition, presented at the occasion of the 10th edition of the festival, is co-curated by Co-founders/Co-directors of KYOTOGRAPHIE, Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi, and Pauline Vermare, independent curator and photography historian, who is one of the contributors to the key Worldwide History of Women Photographers, to be published in English in June 2022. Through the works of 10 Japanese women artists, we have a reflection and perspective distinctive to each photographer, whether they are living and working in Japan or elsewhere. The powerful images of Yukari Chikura, Noriko Hayashi, Mayumi Hosokura, Ariko Inaoka, Ai Iwane, Momo Okabe, Harumi Shimizu, Mayumi Suzuki, Hideka Tonomura and Tamaki Yoshida, will be presented in a scenography that embodies the KYOTOGRAPHIE spirit and gives each artist her own very particular space, thanks to a structure mixing contemporary and traditional materials with distinct Japanese aesthetics, conceived by Kyoto-based designer and architect Hiroyasu Konishi. These structures and the artwork can travel or can be replicated and/or altered as desired by other venues.
From our partners:
“This exhibition is a manifesto for women photographers in Japan and for all Japanese women.” – Lucille Reyboz, Co-founder and Director of KYOTOGRAPHIE, co-curator of the exhibition
“This exhibition resonates with the theme of this year’s KYOTOGRAHIE, ‘One’. It is a celebration of the individual, but also a celebration of each and every one of their communities”. – Yusuke Nakanishi, Co-founder and Director of KYOTOGRAPHIE, co-curator of the exhibition.
“For a long time, we have seen Japan through the eyes of men, as if we had never fully seen it. As a historian, and because I am personally very attached to Japan where I grew up, I thought it was very important to rediscover their work and bring it to the world.” – Pauline Vermare, photography historian, co-curator of the exhibition.
“We are happy and proud to continue our collaboration with KYOTOGRAPHIE with this celebratory edition which felt like a natural move. Kering pursues its commitment in favor of women in the arts and culture – in Japan, as everywhere where it is necessary to shine a light on their talent”. – Valérie Duport, Chief Communications and Image Officer at Kering.
Launched in 2015 with the aim of shining a spotlight on women in cinema, Women In Motion has become a platform of choice for helping to change mindsets and fight inequality between women and men in the field of culture and the arts, notably photography.
In March 2019, Kering and the Rencontres d’Arles announced a partnership, launching the Women In Motion program at Arles. The partnership aims to contribute to the recognition of women photographers and to reach gender equality in the field. While continuing to support talented young women through the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles that it has supported since 2016, Kering launched the Women In Motion LAB and the Women In Motion Award for Photography at Arles. The latter celebrates the career of an emblematic woman photographer and includes €25,000 in prize money for the purchase of works by the winning artist for the Rencontres d’Arles Collection. The award went to Susan Meiselas in 2019, Sabine Weiss in 2020 and Liz Johnson Artur in 2021.
In Japan, Kering supported the exhibition “Women Artists from the MEP Studio”, presented by the Maison Européenne de la photographie (MEP) at the 2021 edition of KYOTOGRAPHIE, in Kyoto.
About the curators
Lucille Reyboz
Born in 1973, Lucille Reyboz began her journey with photography in Africa, where she spent most of her childhood, and discovered Japan in 1999 to collaborate with Ryuichi Sakamoto’s opera Life. A portrait photographer, she produced numerous record covers for labels such as Blue Note and Verve. While developing a prolific photography practice, she exhibited her works in Visa pour l’image (2001), Phillips de Pury in New York (2007) and CHANEL NEXUS HALL, Tokyo (2011). She published several books, including Batammaba by Gallimard, Source, Belles de Bamako and Impressions du Japon with Keiichiro Hirano by Editions de la Martinière.
Yusuke Nakanishi
Yusuke Nakanishi was born in 1968 and is a lighting artist who travels the world and expresses his impressions of light and shadow from his memories. He has worked as a director for feature films, stages, music concerts, fashion shows and interior designs. He also created the Eatable Lights object series, and has exhibited installations at the Hara Museum, the School Gallery Paris, and Nuit Blanche Kyoto.
Pauline Vermare
Pauline Vermare is an independent photography curator. She was formerly the cultural director of Magnum Photos in New York, and a curator at the International Center of Photography (ICP), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, in Paris. She is the author of numerous interviews and essays on photography and is currently working on a book project on Japanese women photographers, to be published in 2023. She sits on the boards of the Saul Leiter Foundation and the Catherine Leroy Fund.
About Women In Motion
Kering’s commitment to women is one of the Group’s core priorities and, through the Women In Motion program, it reaches out to the world of culture and the arts, where gender inequality is still flagrant, despite creativity being a powerful driver of change.
In 2015, Kering launched Women In Motion at the Festival de Cannes with the aim of shining a spotlight on women, both in front of and behind the movie camera. Since then, the program has been extended to include art, literature, music, dance and photography. Through its awards, it recognizes inspiring, established figures in their respective fields, along with talented younger women. Meanwhile, its Talks provide an opportunity for leading personalities to share their views on women’s representation in their profession.
For the past eight years, Women In Motion has been a platform of choice for changing mindsets and thinking about women’s place – and the recognition they receive – in all the arts.
About KYOTOGRAPHIE
KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival is held annually over four weeks in a style that is unique in Asia. Exhibitions are staged creatively in various traditional and contemporary setting with original scenography. The festival creates opportunities, bringing people together of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. Now recognized as one of the world’s leading photography events, KYOTOGRAPHIE has attracted some 1,150,000 visitors from within Japan and overseas since 2013. The 10th anniversary of KYOTOGRAPHIE international photography festival will be held from April 9th to May 8th, 2022, presenting over 10 exhibitions centered around the theme of “One”, shown in iconic Kyoto venues with original scenography.
About Kering
A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin, as well as Kering Eyewear. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: “Empowering Imagination”.
Contacts
Press Kering HQ
Emilie Gargatte | +33 (0)1 45 64 61 20 | emilie.gargatte@kering.com
Eva Dalla Venezia | +33 (0)1 45 64 65 06 | eva.dallavenezia@kering.com
Press Kering Japan
Rie Ubukata | rie.ubukata@kering.com
Eri Tamura | eri.tamura@kering.com
Press KYOTOGRAPHIE
Catherine & Prune Philippot | International Press Contact
+33 (0)1 40 47 63 42 | catphilippot@relations-media.com
From left to right and from top to botton: ZAIDO Yukari Chikura ©Yukari Chikura, Eagle and Raven Ariko Inaoka ©︎Ariko Inaoka, die of love Hideka Tonomura ©Hideka Tonomura, NEW SKIN Mayumi Hosokura ©︎Mayumi Hosokura, sawasawato Noriko Hayashi ©Noriko Hayashi, HOJO Mayumi Suzuki ©︎Mayumi Suzuki, NEW RIVER Ai Iwane ©︎Ai Iwane, Negative Ecology Tamaki Yoshida ©︎Tamaki Yoshida, ILMATAR 2020 Archival color C-print Momo Okabe ©Momo Okabe, mutation / creation Harumi Shimizu ©︎Harumi Shimizu.
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