Eko - Japan in two visual narratives

Narrative

In a parallel narrative, early photographs of Japan from the gallery’s own collection – including works by Felice Beato – resonate within the contemporary work of photographer and visual artist Anaïs López.

Felice Beato

Photography flourished in Japan after the country opened its ports to international trade in 1859. As gateways to regions still unknown to the West, it is precisely these port towns that are inextricably linked to photography. The photographs collected there by the Dutch consul Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek (1833–1916) are among the oldest of Japan. The influential British-Italian photographer Felice Beato (1832–1909) created a carefully staged image of Japan from a European perspective, one that met the expectations of a Western audience.

Echo

When the artist Anaïs López travelled to Japan in 2016, she too was unconsciously carrying Beato’s images in her mind. In search of the golden tortoise Kami, López followed the Kamo River and ventured into the mountains. Beato’s images resonate in her photography like an echo from a distant past. During her quest, she draws inspiration from a Japanese artist and centuries-old techniques, after which a new visual language unfolds.

Nostalgia

Artist Miyuki Okuyama drew inspiration from the albums of Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek to create Imagined Nostalgia. This visual rhyming poem is based on personal memories of her homeland, Japan. Okuyama made use of Felice Beato’s souvenir photographs and of paintings on paper and silk by Japanese artists. In Imagined Nostalgia, she explores the interplay between these two art forms and the motifs from everyday life that Beato drew from Japanese visual traditions.