Dates: Sep 6 – 27, 2026
*Open during the National Holidays: Saturday, Sep 19 – Wednesday, Sep 23, 2026
Location: Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto
Opening reception: Sunday, Sep 6, 17:00 – 19:00

Conversation: Hanayo x Andrew Durbin (Editor-in-Chief of Frieze Magazine)
Date and time: Sunday, Sep 6, 15:00 – 16:00
By reservation only
Book: tigkyoto@takaishiigallery.com

Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by Hanayo from Sunday, September 6 through Sunday, September 27. This is Hanayo’s fifth exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery, marking thirty years since her first solo show in 1996. The exhibition is centered on video and sculptural works inspired by the tale of Hakuga Yama[1], a story connected to the local neighborhood of Yada-chō in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. The exhibition also presents the artist’s calligraphy, dance, and photographic sculpture works that are created inside boxes, a form that she has refined in recent years.

Taka Ishii Gallery Kyoto is located in Yada-chō, a neighborhood that preserves and displays Hakuga Yama, one of the floats used in the Gion Festival, Kyoto’s largest religious event that dates back to the 9th century. Hakuga Yama is decorated with a living pine tree and a human figure representing Hakuga, a master of the qin, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. The tale of Hakuga appears in the writings of the late Ming Dynasty novelist Feng Menglong. For her solo exhibition in Kyoto, Hanayo turned her attention to this story, which has been passed down locally for more than a thousand years.

The Fujifilm that I have always loved was born in 1934 in the foothills of Mount Ashigara. Cameras and color films became common in the 1960s. Yet in less than half a century later, that culture has begun to disappear.

For me, the camera and film are tools for recording everyday life, and photography cannot exist outside of this context of the ordinary.

This video work tells the story of Kintarō, who despairs at the state of the world and appears on the verge of death. At the moment he tries to destroy his own camera with an axe, Hakuga, who once destroyed his own qin, appears from across time and comes to his aid.

Did Hakuga ever come to regret breaking his instrument?

Would I destroy my camera if there was no one left who could understand my work? And what does it mean for someone to understand?

It all began when Yano-san at Shinchosha saw a set of photographs I had taken as a junior high school student. He made them into a photobook, and Taka-san organized an exhibition for me. The same goes for the dance I’ve practiced since before I can remember, and the karyūkai world of geisha, where I trained every day to perform at banquets. The karyūkai where I trained no longer exists, but I still continue to practice Japanese dance.

Perhaps because I have not changed much as I have grown older, I have never quite understood what it means to change. I simply continue the practices that I am tasked with each day. Now, as the culture of photography is disappearing, it has become physically difficult to continue making photographs. Still I continue, even if somewhat uneasily.

The world today also feels incredibly uncertain. Are we headed toward extinction? Every day, I simply dance and pray.

—Hanayo, August 2026 (excerpt from the exhibition statement)

[1] Hakuga is a tale that appears in the writings of the late Ming Chinese novelist Feng Menglong, which tells the story of the qin master Hakuga (Bo Ya in Chinese) who lived during the Spring and Autumn period (8th-5th century BCE). His friend Zhong Ziqi deeply understood the meaning of his music. When Hakuga played the harp while imagining climbing a high mountain, Zhong Ziqi would respond, “Wonderful, just like the cliffs of Mount Tai.” When Hakuga imagined a flowing river while playing, Zhong Ziqi would reflect, “Wonderful, just like the vast Yangtze or Yellow River.” Following Zhong Ziqi’s death, Hakuga felt that no one remained who was worth playing the qin for, so he broke his instrument, cut its strings, and never played again. This tale is the origin of the term chi-in, “one who knows sound,” which describes a true friend.

The video work on display in this exhibition was conceived by overlaying the story of Hakuga with a story about camera and film, which is Hanayo’s own means of expression. Between her emotional unease at the decline of film that is the foundation of her creativity, and the daily repetition of her practice of bodily experimentation within the memory of place and land, Hanayo’s artistic world unfolds at the intersection of anxiety, beauty, and transience. The video work is produced in collaboration with Reiji Saito.

An artist talk with Yuki Kimura will be held on Sunday, September 27 as a closing event.

Further details will be announced at a later date.

Hanayo was born in Tokyo in 1970. She studied in Paris while majoring in sculpture at Tamagawa University College of Arts. Soon after her return from Paris, Hanayo began training as a geisha apprentice in 1989 in Mukojima. She retired from the geisha world in 1995 and moved to the UK in 1995. Currently based in Berlin and Tokyo, she has made works throughout her career as a photographer, geisha, musician, and model. Her photographs and collages capture her daily life in a dreamlike light that colors her surroundings. She has also exhibited installations, in which music and three-dimensional elements are added to her collages and photographs. She performs frequently and has participated in numerous group and international exhibitions in Japan and abroad. Her solo exhibitions include “utsushiyumekuni”, PARCO GALLERY (Tokyo, 2000); “hanayo”, Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2002); “hanayo III” Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film (Tokyo, 2017); “hanayo IV – Keep an Eye Shut I” Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film (Tokyo, 2021); “Hanayo” Scheusal　(Berlin, 2025).

Her publications include Hanayome (Shinchosha, 1996); MAGMA (AKAAKA Art Publishing, 2008); berlin (Getsuyosha, 2013); Tenko (Case Publishing, 2016); Hanayo’s Underworld – Half a Century (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2021); Keep an Eye Shut (Kehrer Verlag, 2021). Her music albums include wooden veil (dekorder, 2009); Gift (DHR Geist, 2000).

Supported by Yukinori Maeda

Press Release Download

• 
• 
•