The photography of AtsushiFujiwara
The Japanese wordtsukurou, which means to mend or patch up, has been in usethroughout the ages, and is suggested to have been formed from two words; tsukuru (to make, put together), and either fu (indicating repetition) or ofu (to combine ormeet).
Tukurohi (phonetically tsukuroi ), the title of this exhibition, attempts to representphotographer Atsushi Fujiwara's quest to identify and approach the fragments of thingsonce considered priceless or cherished but have since been severed from association andmore or less forgotten; and through the act of photography, to quietly invoke, illuminateand reveal them with a spirit of reverence.
A shrine stands at the Barrier of Ausaka (Osaka Check point ) on the border betweenKyoto and Shiga prefectures, which has long been associated with Semimaru, the famedbiwa lute player and poet of the Heian era. The exhibition, featuring pieces from Fujiwara's latest work Semimaru and from his three previous publications, is to be held at theancient Miidera-temple just a short distance from the site.
In the traditional technique of kintsugi (also called kintsukuroi ), the art of mendingcracked or broken pottery and wares with lacquer, the fracture is ornamented with goldand silver to purposely retain those traces. When the vessel reemerges with an airdifferent from its original form, our eyes open to the potential for a new way of being. Insado, the art of the tea ceremony, a title befitting its new "scenery" (as the newlymended form is called) is sometimes bestowed upon the vessel.
There is something much like kintsugi embodied in Fujiwara's photographs. Theembracing of the whole essential being, inclusive of flaws, whilst consistently open to thepossibilities of transformation, it is a quality perhaps akin to prayer.
Ancestors, neighbors, predecessors, homeland... a distance separates us, and this isprecisely why we seek to connect. Photographer Atsushi Fujiwara, who hails from Shiga,has persistently sought after this fundamental dream of humanity. We hope you willenjoy this retrospective of his journey thus far.
Kayoko Masaoka