Kyotographie 2014 - International Photography Festival - Kyoto, Japan

«The KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival blossoms in Kyoto for its second year in April 2014. This high-end photographic event runs for over three weeks during the height of Kyotoʼs booming tourist season. The festival celebrates art and culture, bringing a distinct dimension to the historic city. KYOTOGRAPHIE creates opportunities and events that bring people together of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. Situated in Kyotoʼs world-class atmosphere KYOTOGRAPHIE unites ancient history and contemporary art.»

Shhh... Shunga sex and pleasure in Japanese art

British Museum
Opens 3 October 2013

«Produced from 1600 to 1900 and banned in Japan for much of the 20th century, these explicit and beautifully detailed erotic paintings, prints and books inspired Toulouse-Lautrec, Beardsley, Rodin and Picasso.

Mostly created by the artists of the ukiyo-e or ‘floating world’ school, these popular works were known as shunga, - literally ‘spring pictures’. They appealed to all classes in Japan for almost 300 years, and to men and women alike. Frequently tender and humorous, they celebrate sexual pleasure in all its forms in brilliantly coloured paintings and prints, culminating with beautiful and explicit works by iconic artists Utamaro, Hokusai and Kunisada.

Within Japan, shunga has continued to influence modern forms of art, including manga, anime and Japanese tattoo art. The exhibition sheds new light on this unique art form within Japanese social and cultural history.

Torii Kiyonaga (1752–1815), detail taken from Sode no maki (Handscroll for the Sleeve), c. 1785.»

newsfromlabiennale201105

Tabaimo (Hyogo, Japan, in 1975) is representing Japan at the 54 La Biennale di Venezia, in 2011