2014.2

Michaël Borremans

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Michaël Borremans, an artist based in Ghent, Belgium-based Michaël Borremans came to Kyoto and utilized the black Chinese ink known as sumi-e to create a unique drawing. The resulting work was shown in a special exhibition at the teahouse of Ryosoku-in, one of the sub-temples in Kenninji Temple in Kyoto. The subject matter of the drawing, kuchinashi (gardenia fruit), was chosen by Borremans and the sub-chief priest of the sub-temple in the Ryosokuin garden.  

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To reach the teahouse, visitors entered Ryosokuin from the gate and walked through the garden, which is maintained with great care on a daily basis by the chief and sub-chief priests. Masatake Fukumori, an Iga ware potter, came to the teahouse three times during the week-long exhibition to place flower arrangements beside Borremans’s drawing.   The drawing was mounted as a hanging scroll by the artisans of Usami Shokakudo.

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The three pieces of fabric used for mounting were chosen by Borremans himself from a wide selection shown to him by Usami Shokakudo at Ryosokuin.  

Taking place at the same time as the artist’s solo exhibition at the Hara Art Museum in Tokyo, this special exhibition at Ryosokuin, for which a reservation was necessary, was full of visitors each day.    

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Date: February 20 – February 25, 2014  

Venue: Ryosoku-in, Suigetu-tei

Organizer: Kyoto University of the Arts  

Cooperation: Zeno X Gallery, Gallery Koyanagi  

Graphic Design: Rie Shimoda  

Mountings: The Usami Shokakudo Co.Ltd.  

Curator: Kayo Tokuda (WATER AND ART)