KYOTO GRAPHIE International Photography Festival

KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival

returns from the 19th of April until the 11th of May

The annual KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival will open again in Kyoto this month. This event runs for three weeks and welcomes 13 exhibitions held in 15 venues across the city.

The theme this year is Our Environments, this direction highlights the different stages in our lives, our interactions and our relationships with each other and our world, it explores a variety of perspectives and reaches out into the universe visiting new frontiers.

This year exhibitions, allow us to consider our values and take action to protect our world, outlines Lucille Reyboz Founders & Co-Executive Directors of KYOTOGRAPHIE. In Japan, and around the world we, all at times become passive observers. It is up to all of us to act in a more proactive and positive way creating lasting change. /Kyoto is the perfect place, continues second Founders & Co-Executive Directors of KYOTOGRAPHIE Yusuke Nakanishi. Here, we celebrate nature in our everyday life. We need to reflect on our city’s inhabitants cultural importance and embrace the understanding they shared with nature, using this wisdom in our own lives. Photography is one of the best mediums to express this diversity and strength; it creates a dialogue, and awakes the consciousness”

Exhibitions include, Mars, a Photographic Exploration Presented by Xavier Barral in partnership with NASA x with video installation by Shiro Takatani – featuring mind blowing, never before seen images of the red planet, the 2014 HSBC winner Akiko Takizawa with her series Where We Belong, Werner Bischof’s contemplative post-war Japan, Stanley Greene’s Shadows of Change – showing both climate change in Greenland and a selection of the personal work, Black Passport, Tim Flach’s incredibly moving More Than Human portraits, as well as the Japanese landscape of nuclear power with Taishi Hirokawa’s work STILL CRAZY nuclear power plants as seen in Japanese lanscape.

These exhibitions and many more will be presented in iconic locations like, The World Heritage Shimogamo Shrine, Government protected Mumeisha, The Museum of Kyoto, SHIMADAI Gallery, Institut Français du Japon – Kansai, Murinan and Kyoto JR Station, to name a few.

Part of the festivals appeal is its commitment to challenge the traditional models of gallery space, the exhibitions and venues offer a unique opportunity to experience contemporary art in a variety of locations. The venues all have specialised scenography exclusively done for each exhibition, allowing the architecture and artwork to work in harmony. This festival is a truly international event that seeks to bring a new attitude toward photography as a medium and a new paradigm for showing art in Japan.

An extensive Public Program will run in conjunction with the exhibitions including, live events with Daisuke Yokota and Satoshi Machiguchi, children’s photography workshops, live improvisational story events with author Shinji Ishii, talks with photographers Rinko Kawauchi, Akiko Takizawa, Stanley Greene, among others. Events with special guests, including, Xavier Barral, Ivan Vartanian, Simon Baker the Curator of Photography and International Art at the Tate, London, and Pascal Beausse the Head of Photographic Collections at (CNAP) Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris.

This festival creates opportunities and events that bring people together of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds, uniting ancient history and contemporary art.

KYOTOGRAPHIE will be accompanied by KG+ the festival’s satellite program, which supports the growth of emerging artists, this year KG+ will hold around 45 exhibitions by 60 plus photographers.

KYOTOGRAPHIE and KG+ aim to foster an appreciation of photography as a medium and art form and actively seeks out innovation and true collaboration.

About KYOTOGRAPHIE

For full listings and event information in English and Japanese please got to the KYOTOGRAPHIE

website: www.kyotographie.jp. KG+ FaceBook page will also give daily updates during the festival.

www.facebook.com/KGplusevent/info.

For public programs registration must be done at: educationinfo@kyotographie.jp

Single entry tickets can be brought at each venue on the day. Passport can be purchase on line

(www.eplus.jp or www.t.pia.jp ) or at the main venues.

It allows entry into all 13 exhibitions for 2000yen.

Press contacts:

National: press@kyotographie.jp

Kansai: kansaipress@kyotographie.jp

International/2ème bureau:

m.girardon@2e-bureau.com

KYOTOGRAPHIE

Kyoto-shi, Kita-ku, Kuramaguchi-dori

Teramachi-Nishi-iru,

Shingoryoguchi-cho 270

Kyoto, 603-8146, Japon

Courrier : info@kyotographie.jp

Tel / Fax : +81 (0) 75 708 7108