Photo exhibition of flowers, beauty underway at Yocado Kagoshima, with 31 works on display
Photographer Kiyotaka Shigehisa and floral artist Aiko Yuasa
A photo exhibition of flowers and beauty, “Hanabi (華美),” is currently underway on the second floor of Yocado Kagoshima in Kinseicho, Kagoshima City.
The exhibition is a joint project of Kiyotaka Shigehisa, a professional photographer from Kagoshima, and Aiko Yuasa, a floral artist from Sapporo. It features photographs incorporating an abundance of flowers, including works such as “Hana Ningen (Flower People),” which portrays a person with fresh flowers on the head, and images of people in a forest-like environment arranged with flowers.
The two artists formed the artist group “0 → 1 (Zeroichi)” this year and planned the exhibition with the hope of “igniting the art spirit of Kagoshima citizens.” Starting with their collaborative work “Light and Shadow (光と陰),” also used in the exhibition poster, they began the project with the idea of “creating works that affirm not only the beauty of people but also their negative aspects and struggles.” The group has received a grant from AFF2, a subsidy program by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, which was launched in the wake of the pandemic to support organizations engaged in cultural and artistic activities.
The exhibition presents 31 photographic works. Shigehisa worked on all of the photographic works. It is the first photo exhibition for Shigehisa, whose field of work is commercial photography for advertisements and magazines. Yuasa, who moved from Hokkaido to Kagoshima in 2019, handled the floral arrangements. She chose to become a floral artist after the experience of modeling for “Hana Ningen” in Hokkaido.
In addition to five professional models, ten individuals were selected from the general public to participate in the project. When they announced the audition on social media this October, they received 100 applications. They chose ten people, envisioning the type of work they hoped to create.
Calligrapher Saori Takemaru worked on title letters to match the style of each work. There is also a display of flower arrangements by ikebana artists, a photo booth with an arch decorated with flowers, and a section where exclusive T-shirts and other items are for sale at the venue.
Shigehisa added: “The exhibition is unconventional in some ways, but I hope visitors will enjoy the new creative venture of producing something new from scratch. I will be at the venue throughout the exhibition, so please feel free to ask me anything like how I approached or how I feel about my work.”
Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (Final admission is 30 minutes before the closing time.) Admission is 2,400 yen for adults, 1,100 yen for university and high school students, 600 yen for junior high school students, and free for elementary school students and younger. The exhibition is open until December 25.