Category Archives: Art

The 7th Kyoto Photo Walk with Javier Montano!

Posted on September 12, 2016 by | Leave a comment

It’s happening again! Wait – I think I recognize these two…

photowalk

Here’s our friend Javier Montano with the details:

The 7th Kyoto Photo Walk:

– Meet new friends and learn about photography in beautiful Fushimi-inari Taisha.

– All you need is a camera or a smartphone

– Let’s Take the biggest selfie in Kyoto!

– Please register now, It is FREE! You have 2 options:

Join just the photo walk or
Join the photo walk and the after party at a Japanese izakaya for food and drinks (about 3.000 Yen per person which is paid on the day of the event).

FAQs

Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?

No. Anyone can come. If you can walk and go up stairs you can come!

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?

Your options:

– Come by train to Fushimi-Inari Station (伏見稲荷駅 Fushimi-Inari-eki) a railway station located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, on the Keihan Electric Railway Keihan Main Line.

– Come by train by JR Inari Station, the second station from Kyoto Station along the JR Nara Line.

– Buses are available too but it depends where are you coming from.

What can I bring to the event?

Please bring a camera. Any camera will do. Other gear such as tripods are welcomed as well.

Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Send me a message at info@javiermontano.net

When: Sunday, September 25, 2016 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (JST) – Add to Calendar

Where: Fushimi-Inari Station – Fushimi Ward, Kyoto Prefecture 612-0007

Register here: Kyoto Photowalk (7th!)

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The 6th Kyoto Photo Walk with Javier Montaño

Posted on April 14, 2016 by | Comments Off on The 6th Kyoto Photo Walk with Javier Montaño

Here’s our friend, Javier Montaño, with news of The 6th Kyoto Photo Walk. All queries regarding this event should be sent directly to Javier at info@javiermontano.net

photowalk

Date & Time: 24 April at 14:00–19:00
Meeting Place: Takaragaike Park, 国際会館駅 , Kokusai-Kaikan-eki. In front of Entrance No. 3 (train station on Subway Karasuma Line), Kyoto, JP

Spring has come and it’s time to shoot again- Meet new friends and learn about photography in beautiful Kyoto.- All you need is a camera or a smartphone- Let’s Take the biggest selfie in Kyoto!- The Photowalk is FREE of charge but you have 2 options:

Join just the photowalk or
Join the photowalk and the afterparty at a Japanese Izakaya for food and drinks (3000 Yen per person which is paid on the day of the event).

FAQs
1. How do I make a reservation?
Easy! Go to the Eventbrite Photowalk event page. Click on “Register”. Select one of the 2 options: the photowalker ticket or the photowalker + afterparty ticket.
2. What if it rains?
We photograph in rain. In the event that there is a weather cancellation because of a Typhoon or something similar, I will do my best to contact and let you know. If, however, you are unsure, feel free to call or text 090-9889-1640 to see if the photowalk is still running.
3. What if I don’t have a DSLR or PRO camera?
It does not matter. Any camera will do!
4. What should I bring besides my camera?
Enthusiasm to meet new people. Friends or family are also fun to bring with you.
Dress appropriately for the weather, as we will be outside for the most part.
A tripod could be handy too, but it is not indispensable.
A bottle of water is a good idea too.
5. Where do we meet?
In front of Entrance No. 3 of the station at 2 PM
6.How long are the photowalks?
Normally they will last until around 6:30 PM or 7:00 PM. After that, we will move on to the afterparty.
7. Is everyone in the group at the same skill level?
Not at all! People come with different levels of photography experience but we all learn from each other.
8. How do you accept payment?
The photowalk is and will always be free! During the after party we will start receiving cash in order to pay for the food and drinks served.
9. Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?
Send me an email at info@javiermontano.net
Remember, the photowalk is and will always be free!

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Kyotographie 2016 – Masterclass & Tour

Posted on April 5, 2016 by | Comments Off on Kyotographie 2016 – Masterclass & Tour

Kyotographie is Kyoto’s annual international photography festival, this year being held at various venues around the city from April 23rd Sat to May 22nd. In addition to the regular exhibitions and events, this year there will also be a tour and a masterclass. Find out more below!

Shinichi Suzuki II, Tea Ceremony, 1880’s © MNAAG.

Shinichi Suzuki II, Tea Ceremony, 1880’s © MNAAG.

Kyotographie Tour

This full day tour costs 7,000 yen.

“For its fourth edition, April 23rd – May 22nd, 2016 KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival returns with 14 exhibitions, in 15 venues with two associated programs. These major exhibiting artists are presented inside historical buildings (Old tea houses, tradtional artisan buildings, temples and garden). This year theme is « CIRCLE OF LIFE ». The Festival, with more than 60,000 visitors last year, is now considered a major international artistic event in Asia, gathering both photography lovers, professionals and the general public. We offer you an intimate chance to discover a selection of KYOTOGRAPHIE exhibitions. The KYOTOGRAPHIE passport (included in the visit fee) gives you access to all the exhibitions.”

To find out more about the tour please visit the Japan Experience website.

Kyotographie Masterclass: DREAMS TO REALITY
With Arno Rafael Minkkinen

Fosters Pond, 1989 ©Arno Rafael Minkkinen courtesy PUG OSLO

Fosters Pond, 1989 ©Arno Rafael Minkkinen courtesy PUG OSLO

“Improve or find your personal visual language and style. Developing a personal & recognisable style is key to photographic practice, it also allows a photographer to change subject matter, maintaining identity.
Arno Rafael Minkkinen is a Finnish-­‐American photographer, educator, curator, and writer with over 100 solo shows and nearly 200 group exhibitions in galleries and museums worldwide.”

Date : April 23rd 10:00-12:00*
25th, 26th 9:00-17:00
Fee : 20,000JPY (tax inclusive)
Venue : Ryosokuin (Kenninji Temple)
Language : English with Japanese translation
Inquiries : public.program@kyotographie.jp

For application details please visit this page: http://www.kyotographie.jp/en/2016portal/event/masterclass-with-minkkinen

To find out more about the various exhibitions and events, you can visit the official website or download a presskit.

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Miksang Contemplative Photography; Kyoto Workshop: May 4th – 15th 2016

Posted on March 18, 2016 by | Comments Off on Miksang Contemplative Photography; Kyoto Workshop: May 4th – 15th 2016

Thanks to Lisa Allen for sharing the following course information:

miksang

Photo by Julie DuBose

Kyoto Journal and The Miksang Institute are co-hosting a special ten-day intensive Miksang Contemplative Photography workshop in Kyoto from May 4-15, 2016.

The course will be taught by teachers, Michael Wood and Julie DuBose, and will include the first three levels in the Miksang training curriculum: Opening the Good Eye, Making Contact, and The Heart Of Perception.

Instruction will be in English with Japanese translation. Cost for the entire 10-day course is $1000 USD. The workshop will be held at Kyoto International Community House. This special workshop will begin Wednesday evening, May 4th and end at 5:00pm on May 15th, 2016. Monday May 9th will be a day off.

For more information, please email: info@miksanginstitute.com

For more workshop details and registration information: http://www.miksang.com/miksang-in-kyoto/

What is Miksang?

Miksang is a form of contemplative photography that asks us to see our world in a new way. In some ways it seems very simple, but it is not always easy.

If we can place our mind’s attention, our awareness, in our sense of sight, we will see vivid, mind stopping perceptions fully and completely, without distraction. And when that happens, we can connect with what we see deeply and intimately.

This requires stillness of mind, patience, and the desire to really see what is there, so that we can understand how to express what we are seeing with our camera simply and precisely.

Miksang is photography in which we use the camera to express our visual perceptions exactly as we experience them. Because we know how to prepare ourselves to receive perceptions when we see them, and we know how to understand exactly what we have seen, we then know exactly how to express what we have seen with our camera. The resulting image is an exact expression of our eye, mind, and heart as it connects with the perception.

Miksang means ‘Good Eye’ in Tibetan. We all have a Good Eye as part of our human makeup. This means we have the ability to see the world in a pure way, without overlays of meaning and value, pleasure, dislike, or disinterest.

When we can see with our Good Eye, the world is always fresh, because everything we see is as for the first time. There is no memory, no association, only the world manifesting to us, as it is, out of nowhere.

These perceptions are vibrant and vivid, pulsating with life. The visual world is our feast, our playground.

Seeing in this way brings us joy in being alive.

Through our images we can express our experience of seeing. Our photographs will carry within them our heart, our mind, the blood of our experience.

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Posted in Meditation, Photography, Up-and-coming...

Geiko & Maiko of Kyoto by Robert van Koesveld now on sale at Maruzen Bookstore

Posted on March 16, 2016 by | 2 Comments

Last week I was very happy to catch up with photographer Robert van Koesveld while he was in town. Robert was kind enough to give me a copy of his new book, “Geiko & Maiko of Kyoto” which he self-published after an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign.

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If you are at all interested in the world of geiko and maiko then I would happily recommend this book. Robert’s beautiful photography and insightful text provides a wonderful pictorial guide to the world of Kyoto’s geisha. And I particularly like the part of the book that also introduces those people who work behind the scenes; the footwear makers for instance, the kimono artists, and the shamisen teacher etc…

Robert and his book in Maruzen bookstore.

Robert and his book in Maruzen bookstore.

Pop into Maruzen bookstore in Kyoto now, and you will see a large display of Robert’s books close by the Maruzen Cafe. Several of his images are also featured on posters there, to give you an idea of the contents of the book. Take a look. I’m sure you’ll be tempted.

Useful links: Geiko & Maiko of Kyoto
Robert van Koesveld Photography
(always) Learning to See: A photography blog by Robert van Koesveld

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Posted in Books, Photography

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Utagawa Hiroshige’s Journey – 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō Exhibition at Museum “Eki” Kyoto

Posted on February 29, 2016 by | 4 Comments

If you haven’t see it yet, the exhibition of ukiyo-e woodblock prints by Utagawa Hiroshige now on at the Museum “Eki” Kyoto is really well worth a visit.

A4表面12_04のコピー

During the Edo period, the Tōkaidō was a major land route between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. The name Tōkaidō means “East Sea Road” because the route mostly followed the coastline, and so there were many well known scenic spots along the way. Utagawa Hiroshige created his 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō print series after traveling this route in 1832, and it quickly became a bestseller. In this exhibition, prints from the original first Hōeidō edition of the series are displayed alongside later editions so that you can see the alterations that Hiroshige made to the pictures over time. All 53 stations are included in this exhibition.

A4裏面_修正1215のコピー

Museum “Eki” Kyoto often has excellent shows, which are very well presented and organized and this is no exception. For each picture there is English information alongside the Japanese, that is extremely informative and really helps to explain exactly what you are looking at, the interactions between the characters depicted and where they are. Viewing the prints like this, in order, with such detailed and fascinating explanations really is like taking a little trip back in time. Mewby and I were both thoroughly absorbed and really enjoyed this show.

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There were also some kimono and a light yukata on display that bore gorgeous designs, taken from Hiroshige’s famous prints.

IMG_6947

歌川広重の旅 or Utagawa Hiroshige’s Journey continues at Museum “Eki” Kyoto until March 27th 2016. Museum “Eki” Kyoto is located on the 7th floor of Isetan department store in the Kyoto Station building. Entry is 900 yen.

IMG_6948

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Posted in Art, Up-and-coming...

Pictures from Enso Watt & Instant Eternity!

Posted on January 26, 2016 by | Leave a comment

2016-01-24 21.47.59

Enso Watt performed Sanka’s 5th Season Ritual at Urbanguild on Sunday night and as always it was a fantastic show. If you are not familiar with what they do, it is a choreographed multi-media extravaganza, of experimental music, pre-recorded soundscapes, live video, art, poetry, heaps of talent, color, and a whole lot of enthusiasm. All of it conducted by classical composer/conductor Yannick Paget, and inspired by the poetry of Chris Mosdell. Sometimes when they are all playing and the lyrics are bubbling from Chris Mosdell’s mouth, I feel like they are just happily playing, that I don’t need to take it so seriously, just go along for the ride. But by the time we got to the 3rd act on Sunday night, I was thoroughly sucked in by the poet’s words, swept up by the music, and Yannick’s pounding drums… enthralled, enthused, moved and inspired.

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“We are elementary,” said the poet, “awakening from a phantasmagorical sleep… We have lived everywhere…”

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Words and music, light and sound were bringing us back to our first beginnings, and to our essential unity: “We have learnt to dissolve in all directions, to transfer identities.”

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“We are an ancient race with an essential innocence, with virginity in our veins–”

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Imagine that; a creed underlying culture that celebrated our essential innocence, rather than the dead weight of original sin.

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I was intoxicated by the energy of this performance. My mind was taking the poet’s lyrics and spinning new mythologies, new litanies of healing, multiplying through “dimensions, strata, levels, layers…”  I imagined the Sanka Rites poured into the common consciousness, overwhelming  terror and trauma, washing away tired philosophies of division and denial! How splendid to be “charged with renegade magic”, to celebrate and build rather than fight and destroy!

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Thoughts like these went through my mind at Sanka’s 5th Ritual.

Many thanks to all the participants in Sunday night’s show. There really is nothing else like the raw mix of talent and adventurous spirit that makes up the Enso Watt collective.

2016-01-24 23.11.34
But will they play again, I wonder? After Eternity, what next?

ensō watt are
{soundscape, spatialization}
Samuel André (aka ieva)

{composer, conductor, percussionist}
Yannick Paget

{poetry}
Chris Mosdell

{piano }
江南泰佐 Taisuke Enami

{accordeon synth}
ryotaro

{contrabass}
岡田康孝 Okada Yasutaka

{guest : trumpet}
Christopher Fryman

{live video mapping}
Andy Couzens & Masato Tokumaru

{drawing}
Hirisha Metha

{translation}
吉村哲幸
noriyuki yoshimura

See also: Images from Sanka’s Winter Ritual

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Posted in Art, Music, Performance, Poetry

Ensō Watt Return to UrbanGuild for Sanka’s Fifth Ritual!

Posted on January 19, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Oh boy! They are back! This is going to be great!

enso

From Marguerite Paget:

Dear Friends
Ensō Watt is coming back for the Sanka’s Fifth season Ritual !
After completing the “seasonal cycle” (the rites of summer, autumn, winter and spring), honoring the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s revolutionary Rite of Spring, the musical/visual ensemble Ensō Watt will add a fifth season: INSTANT ETERNITY – a journey through the Great Void on “reincarnation runs,” in their mind-feathers and abyss oil, in search of the Lost City of Abstract Hours.
Come along for the ride!

Ensō Watt is an artist collective born in Kyoto from the encounter of artists coming from different countries and raised in entirely different artistic universe, from classical music to electro, improvisation and sound-design.
http://www.ensowatt.org

2016 January 24th (Sunday)
Venue: UrBANGUILD Kyoto

http://www.urbanguild.net/
map : https://goo.gl/maps/wHTfPYvzDEN2

On the door: 2800 yen / In advance: 2100 yen
Students: 1600 yen
+1 drink

ensō watt is
{soundscape, spatialization}
Samuel André (aka ieva)

{composer, conductor, percussionist}
Yannick Paget

{poetry}
Chris Mosdell

{piano }
江南泰佐 Taisuke Enami

{accordeon synth}
ryotaro

{contrabass}
岡田康孝 Okada Yasutaka 　

{guest : trumpet}
Christopher Fryman

{live video mapping}
Andy Couzens & Masato Tokumaru

{drawing}
Hirisha Metha

{translation}
吉村哲幸
noriyuki yoshimura

See also: Sanka’s Winter Ritual

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Posted in Music, Performance, Poetry, Up-and-coming...

Manga in History Exhibition at Kyoto International Manga Museum

Posted on January 15, 2016 by | Leave a comment

2016-01-14 15.49.02

Yesterday, Mewby and I went to see the “Great Manga History Traces from Edo” exhibition at Kyoto International Manga Museum. This is a fascinating exhibition whether you are interested in the early development of manga, or of its role in social history. Manga has a long history as a satirical tool, used broadly to mock social and political trends. The museum displays a great number of original materials to show manga’s development from playful sketches intended purely to amuse, to works of more serious intent, such as the battle scenes that satirized opposing forces during the Boshin War. And happily everything is clearly explained in English as well as Japanese – just as you would expect from this “International” museum!

Here are just two pictures that caught my eye yesterday among the many on show.

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Sequel to “oshinpan moji-e sugata” – Nagahide, 1840s.

Above is an example of moji-e or “letter pictures”, in which hiragana characters are playfully used in pictures. For example the cat or ねこ (neko) in the third picture from the right clearly employs the character ね.

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“Ryuko sannin namayoi” – Three tipsy people nowadays by an unknown artist, 1855.

This picture satirizes society after the Great Ansei Earthquake, a major disaster in Edo (now Tokyo) in 1855. The geisha is grieving over her lost customers. The merchant on the left is an angry drunk because he has lost so much business. However, the construction worker in the middle is laughing at the money to be made in the coming reconstruction. Some things don’t change…

Mewby at the exibition.

Mewby at the exibition.

While photography is generally not permitted inside the Manga Museum, it is permitted in some sections of this exhibition.

Great Manga History Traces from Edo continues until February 7th (Sunday).

The International Manga Museum is open 10:00 – 18:00 (Last entry at 17:50). It is located a 5 minute walk from Karasuma Oike Subway Station. Here is a map.

Entry for adults is 800 yen, for middle school students (12-15) 300 yen and elementary school students (under 12) 100 yen. Entry entitles you to view all the exhibits in the museum. Visit the website to find out more: http://www.kyotomm.jp/english/

See also:
Introduction to Kyoto International Manga Museum
Seika University Manga Faculty Article in Morning Calm Magazine

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Posted in Art, History, Up-and-coming...

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Joel Stewart Painting Exhibition at Hakuhou-doh Gallery, Kyoto; 12/1 – 12/13 2015

Posted on November 24, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Local artist, Joel Stewart, will be exhibiting his very fine works at Hakuhou-doh Gallery in Kyoto from December 1st to the 13th. Be prepared for some thought provoking juxtapositions of both abstract and representational art!

joel

art gallery HAKUHOU-DOH / アートギャラリー博宝堂

Located on the east side of Jingumichi, south of Niomon Dori. Here is a MAP.
Address:〒606-8344 京都市左京区岡崎神宮道東側
Hours: 11:00 – 18:00
Tel: 075-771-9401
URLs: http://hakuhou-doh.com/ / http://blog.goo.ne.jp/hakuhou-doh

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