The shameful chrysanthemum / 恥菊

In the history of mankind, peace always seems tenuous and ephemeral. We are living in a world that is constantly transitioning from one war to the next, regardless of the scale and range. There are always people, mostly those in leading positions, that seek meanings and purposes in wars, or worse, getting rich and powerful from them, and patriotic youngsters, engaged and incentivized by the propaganda, that turn into soldiers and warriors who are willing to fight to the end for the promised honour. But does honour exist in any kind of war?

When Japanese artist Sayo Senoo visited Norway for the first time as a 10-year-old child, she didn’t yet know how to answer the questions she received about the Second World War and the role Japan played in Asia. She just remembered the sad and remorseful feeling that she was educated to bear, as most people from Japan had. Now in her adulthood, as an artist, she works dedicatedly on inspiration and materials from historical events concerning radioactivity (Fukushima nuclear disaster, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, etc.) She finally found an intuitive but artistic way, though fragmented, to answer these questions.

In this exhibition, Sayo juxtaposes the images of the Japanese Legion of Honour (created after the French Legion of Honour of Napoleon) with “the body’s most embarrassing organ”, which terminologically associates with the flower the order of the Japanese Legion of Honour took shape from.

On Wednesday, the 7th of June, with the opening of the exhibition, Sayo will also give a talk about her research and reflection on the Japanese Legion of Honour, and wars as one of our infamous behaviours. Currently Sayo is producing a new publication in the residency hosted by Pamflett with the accommodation supported by Vestland County. She will launch the publication after the talk.

About the artist:

Sayo Senoo is a contemporary Japanese artist born in 1977, now living and working in Paris. After studying phenomenology at University of Tokyo (Japan), she studied contemporary art at Musashino Art University (Japan) and Université Paris 8 (France).

Her works have been exhibited in various galleries and cultural centres, including La Maison de la Culture du Japon (Paris in 2008), la Galerie Bansard (Paris in 2010), and Lagalerie, (Paris in 2011).

In November 2019, she received the Paul-Louis Weiller Award for sculpture from the prestigious Academy of Fine Art in Paris.

She started her publishing activity in 2019, both to document her ephemeral works, and as a creative medium in itself. All the books and objects are delicately hand-made by the artist, and in limited edition. Some are available at Librairie Mazarine (Paris), Librairie Yvon Lambert (Paris) and 本\hon\books (Paris).
Her publication " Lands that shed tears" (2019) is
represented on the shortlist for the National Gallery of Victoria’s International Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing 2020 (Melbourne, Australia).

Northing Space is supported by Arts Council Norway (Kulturrådet) and Bergen Municipality.
Northing Space's program in 2023 is also supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation.