The exhibition of nine photographic works selected from photographer Mariko Asayama’s approximately 3,000 photographs of the passing of the seasons at Meiji Jingu Shrine, taken over a year and three months starting in August 2019. The exhibition was held in the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery in Meiji Jingu Gaien.
"Setsusetsu Shishi” - The Power of Encouragement
Held at the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery in Meiji Jingu Gaien, "Setsusetsu Shishi - The Power of Encouragement" is an exhibition of nine photographic works selected from photographer Mariko Asayama’s approximately 3,000 photographs of the passing of the seasons at Meiji Jingu Shrine, taken over a year and three months starting in August 2019. Mariko Asayama began her career in mountain photography, and has a deep understanding of the trees and plants of the Jingu forest based on her knowledge of gardening learned during her research in England. For over a year she turned her sensitive lens on the man-made forest at Meiji Jingu Shrine, which was planted one hundred years ago. It seems to me that the appeal of photography is all about angles. Mariko Asayama's eyes captured Meiji Shrine in the early morning, the first spring snowfall in Tokyo in 32 years, and the torii gate at the entrance to Harajuku Station. The familiar Meiji Shrine takes on a new appearance in her photographs, leading us to a new tradition for the next 100 years.
Mariko Asayama
Born in Kumamoto, Japan. Graduated in art (oil painting) at the junior College of Art and Design Musashino Art University. Graduated in landscape design at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. Graduated in environmental design at the Postgraduate School of the Kyoto University of Art and Design. Kyoto University of Art and Design, part-time lecturer. Took up photography in 2010 and her love of mountaineering led to a career as a mountain photographer. Her knowledge of landscape and gardening informs her landscapes based on the beauty of Japanese nature.
"Setsusetsu Shishi" (切切偲偲)
"Setsusetsu Shishi" (切切偲偲) is an idiom that means to encourage one other with sincerity. As the Corona Virus continues, the future is uncertain and the situation remains difficult around the world, perhaps it is precisely in times like these that art can be a source of hope.In 2020, the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery was the venue for the "Setsusetsu Shishi” exhibition. Construction of the museum in the outer garden of the Meiji Shrine began about a hundred years ago, in 1920, and the museum survived both the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II, and continues to protect valuable works of art connected to Emperor Meiji, and to serve as a center of art and culture.
The "Setsusetsu Shishi” exhibition was divided into four sections. In the first section, valuable photographs from the time of the construction of Meiji Shrine a hundred years ago were borrowed and displayed. The second section was an exhibition of photographs taken by photographer Mariko Asayama during her year-long visit to the Meiji Shrine, showing the current state of the shrine. By viewing both exhibitions together, we hoped that visitors would be able to feel the changes that have taken place over the past 100 years. The third exhibit was a fan-shaped work created using "StareReap 2.5," Ricoh's latest 2.5D printing technology, to give a glimpse of the possible shape of art in the future. Lastly, there was an exhibition of the popular Nippon TV program "Akashiya Sanma Gallery," in which Akashiya Sanma personally discovers and produces artists from all over Japan.
Mariko Asayama’s photographs of Meiji Shrine through the seasons showed off her unique perspective and composition style, deriving from her wealth of knowledge about plants and work as a gardening instructor. Particularly memorable was the photograph of the snowy torii gate in e
"Setsusetsu Shishi” brought the works of living artists to the world at a venue, the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, with a long tradition as a center of art and culture. We sincerely hope that all the messages of support and encouragement the artists received during and after the exhibition will provide the energy to live in the post-Corona era, and in turn, shape the art of the next hundred or even thousand years.
Meiji Jingu Forest - Festival of Art
Centennial Celebration of The Establishment of Meiji Jingu
Reference Page:
Meiji Jingu
Meiji Jingu Forest - Festival of Art
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