Photographer and filmmaker Kiichi Kawamura's solo exhibition "Walking Through This Land as if Sewing a Thread" will be held on Saturdays and Sundays from March 16th to April 7th at Gallery Arai Associates in Kinshicho, Tokyo.



Kiichi Kawamura was born in Nishi-Ogikubo, Tokyo in 1990. After graduating from the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School, he moved to Shiretoko, Hokkaido, where he lives with his Ainu dog, named "Upashi." "Upashi" means snow in the Ainu language. Kawamura is relearning life and expression as an artist in Shiretoko, a place overflowing with magnificent nature and intertwined with life.

This exhibition, titled "Walking Through This Land as if Sewing a Thread," uses a new method of displaying photographs printed on cloth, depicting traces of life living through the seasons of Shiretoko.

Unlike conventional framed photographs, these cloth photographs are a new form of expression created by Kawamura, who believes that they "must exist together with life and daily life." This is because photographs exist as something that crosses between Tokyo and Hokkaido, city and nature, or even somewhere not here. With cloth, you can take it with you at any time, along with your clothes or sleeping bag, or even wrap it in a furoshiki if necessary. Kawamura's life in Shiretoko led him to believe that the way his photography should be is not to simply display photographs, but to create a space within them. This was his current conclusion, arrived at through his life in Shiretoko.




“Like a deer surviving the winter, or like a hunter following footprints in the snow, suture the image with the real world. Walk through this land as if sewing a thread.”.

This is the statement for this exhibition. "The world does not exist to become a photograph. Trees do not grow to become materials. Words do not exist to patch up art. They exist so that nature and expression are on an equal footing." We hope you will come to this exhibition to experience his philosophy.


Kiichi Kawamura lives in harmony with nature, and his Twitter updates (@KiichiKawamura), which chronicle his days and thoughts in Shiretoko, as well as the growth of his beloved dog, Upashi, are a source of daily healing.