Kyoto, the cultural metropolis of Japan, where a famous saying goes: “Throw a stone at random, and you’ll hit a professor.” But when looking at the mural created by the artist JR, that stone might strike a much broader target. Featured in the artwork are geikos, tea masters, artisans, drag queens, musicians, schoolchildren, politicians… a multitude of faces, stories, and destinies that together form a vibrant and living portrait of this ever-bustling city.
JR admits, “It’s a city I passed by for a long time.” So what better way to make up for that than to make Kyoto the new stage for his famous Chronicles series, which he’s been working on for almost ten years? From Clichy-Montfermeil to Miami, via New York, San Francisco, and Havana, these projects are, each time, “an extraordinary opportunity to discover a city intimately, through direct contact with its people.” For several weeks, JR and his teams set up mobile photo studios at key locations. In Kyoto, thanks to support from Kyotographie, they selected eight different sites—from the buzzing heart of the train station to its more secret corners and wooded outskirts.
One by one, each of the 505 individuals were photographed against a green screen, always respecting how each person wished to be portrayed—walking, singing, raising their arms, or simply contemplating. Each portrait was then integrated into a massive collage. The printed and cut-out figures create unexpected interactions, such as the mayor appearing to converse with strangers. The background, a collage of Kyoto’s architectural elements, connects viewers to the city and its many layers, both historic and modern. The result is displayed on the exterior wall of the train station—a monumental mural measuring 22.55 meters by 5.
That the work is exhibited in this pivotal point of a global city without an airport was no accident for JR: “It symbolizes the gateway to Kyoto, where the journey begins.” It’s also a space of exchange, where social groups intersect in a constant flow. Every day, more than 700,000 travelers pass through—a multitude of eyes that might look at the giant mural, a sort of collective and joyful “Where’s Wally.” Except here, the goal is not to find one particular person, but to observe silhouette after silhouette in an attempt to grasp something of the city’s soul.
As Paul Klee once said, “Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes it visible.” That is precisely what this multifaceted artist aims to do—using large-scale photography to highlight often overlooked communities and, if not to spark a dialogue, at least to provoke an interest or a reflection. One thinks of his works in Brazil’s favelas, or at the border between Palestine and Israel, or closer to Kyoto, in the Tohoku region, struck in 2011 by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. There, he had unveiled large portraits of those affected.
Meanwhile, JR’s work is also exhibited at The Kyoto Shibun, a former newspaper printing house. Visitors are immersed in the world of his Chronicles, and the meticulous work behind them. The experience becomes even more immersive in the second part of the exhibition, which takes place in a massive warehouse where portraits are pasted on towering columns that lit up as their stories are told in Japanese, though they can be easily accessed on a dedicated English website. A delightful surprise, seeing this visual fresco enriched by a sound dimension, making the work even more powerful and moving.
Humanity is this year’s theme for Kyotographie. “We hope that through the power of photography, our shared search for what it means to be human will help us better understand one another and offer us a chance to consider what we should be doing in this chaotic world,” write Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi, co-creators and co-directors of the festival. It’s an excellent choice, then, to have selected this project as the emblem of the festival’s thirteenth edition.
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