KAB Event - Recollect, Gaze, Material in Common - Czech-Japanese Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition in Kyoto

Recollect, Gaze, Material in Common - Czech-Japanese Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition in Kyoto

Zuiun-an

Image: Aleksandra Vajd ＆ Hynek Alt , “manwomanunfinished” Video Installation

This event has ended.

Presenting works by two Japanese artists who have experience studying abroad in the Czech Republic and six artists living in the Czech Republic. These six latter artists will be introduced to Japan for the first time. The exhibition title “Recollect, Gaze, Material in Common” are keywords that connect Czech and Japanese artists. The word “Recollect” has two meanings: “to re-collect” and “to remember”, which is a shared interest among Peter Fabo, Eva Červená, and Akira Otsubo. Fabo combines fragments of scrap wood into a sheet of wood, using marquetry techniques. Červená paints discarded clothes and commodities with light brushwork and tries to feel the existence or memories of the owners. Otsubo makes collage works by cutting out images or letters from old illustrated books, lithographs by duplicating old portraits, and considers the relationship between representation and name; image and memory. “Gaze” is a common keyword in the works of Aleksandra Vajd & Hynek Alt, Ladislav Vondrák. They consider the relationship between the self and others. Vajd & Alt will project a slide show of their masterpiece “portrait photos which they have taken of each other for 15 years”. Vondrák will exhibit video works which document his performance with his father. His works consider his relationship with his father and suggest the meaning or difficulty of facing the past generation and its history. “Material in Common” is the shared keyword in the works of Patrik Hábl and Tets Ohnari. Hábl makes abstract paintings inspired by the method of Oriental painting. Ohnari makes sculptural works using glass which has a long tradition in Czech. Also, Fabo and Otsubo’s works are suggestive of the connection with Japanese marquetry and “Concrete Poetry” in Czech.
Kyoto and Prague are similar in certain respects: both cities have a long history and have the flexibility to create a new culture by passing down traditions. The exhibition venue, Zuiun-an, is a traditional Japanese house built about 100 years ago in Kyoto. In this historical place, is presented contemporary art works, intended to show a dialogue between history and contemporaneity, between Czech and Japan. Since Kyoto and Prague aren’t the center of the art world, the similarities and differences are found through a dialogue between these “marginal” places, contributing to the promotion of cultural understanding.

[Related Events]

Lecture and Artist Talk (Czech-Japanese interpreting）
Date: Sep.12 (Sat) From 14:00
Admission: Free

Opening party
Date: Sep.12 (Sat) From 17:00

Special lecture
Date: Sep.19 (Sat) From 15:00
Lecturer: Kenichi Abe [Associate Professor of Rikkyo University, College of Arts /Field of Specialty: Czech Literature, and History]
Admission: Free

Please refer to the official site for further details.