Kyo Takemura: An Exhibition That Sews a World in Motion

Running until October 12, the exhibition "Kyo Takemura: Moving World" (うごくせかい) is on view in the contemporary art gallery of the Mito Art Tower, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Curated by Sakurako Gotō, curator at the institution's contemporary art center, it brings together works by artist Kyo Takemura, born in 1975, from her major pieces of the 2000s to recent installations and performances.

Takemura, who studied painting at Tokyo University of the Arts and then at the Berlin University of the Arts, developed a unique artistic language based on the practice of sewing. One of her foundational works, <A.N.'s Living Room, Premonition of an Earthquake> (2005), captures the everyday life of a friend at actual scale and partially sews it with silk threads, a gesture imbued with prayer for safety in the face of Japan's earthquakes. Its companion, <There and Now, Kimi shini tamou koto nakare 2> (2006), recreates her contribution to the Sydney Biennale, inspired by the tragedy of the Iraq War, showing her commitment to confronting global upheavals.

The exhibition also includes the origins of her "Restoration" series, born from a domestic incident: a washing machine exploded in her Berlin apartment, shattering dishes. Takemura then wrapped the shards in thin cloths, following the fracture lines, as if to heal wounds of history and memory. This approach, blending sewing, collage, and found objects, offers a poetic vision of the precariousness of lives amid the large movements of the world.

The artist, based in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, since 2015, continues an international career. The Mito exhibition, by bringing together works from various periods, allows us to measure the coherence of a practice that, beyond contemplation, questions our capacity to repair and weave connections in a world in perpetual motion.

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Written by the ADM desk based on 美術手帖. Read the original article for the full story.