The Tale of Genji Part II
The Tale of Genji Part II is a multidisciplinary exhibition initiated and convened by Japanese-Brazilian artist Kiyoshi Yamamoto.
Like many artists with cross-cultural heritage, Kiyoshi was constantly fascinated and inspired by the different cultures that he is closely related to, but at the same time, he keeps a certain distance, geographically and strategically, to have room for investigation and reflection.
In this exhibition, Yamamoto invited and collaborated with some of the most talented artists with international backgrounds in Norway. They are South Korean choreography and performance artist Kyujia Bae, Indian-Belgian metal and jewellery artist Shitika Agrawal, Norwegian fashion designer Siv Støldal, and Chinese-Norwegian architect and curator Ben Wenhou Yu. Again, the boundaries between cultures, different material uses and disciplines, art and design are being challenged.
The title of the exhibition, “The Tale of Genji (源氏物語) Part II,” comes from the world’s first novel, written in the 11th century in Japan, by a woman. The name of the protagonist in the original tale is Hikaru Genji (光源氏), with the character Gen (源) meaning source or origin. The exhibition, The Tale of Genji Part II, is a journey towards the origins, the origins of personal identities, of fictional literature and the sense of beauty, of our human nature, and the cultures born from it…
The opening of the exhibition coincides with the first Lunar New Year’s Day of the Dragon’s year.
Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Japanese-Brazilian textile and performance artist Kiyoshi Yamamoto (b. 1983) was born in Japan but grew up in Rio, Brazil. Yamamoto attended Escola de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro and Saint Martin’s School of Arts and Design in London, before he moved to Bergen to attend the Master’s programme at Bergen Academy of Art and Design, which he completed in 2013.
Being highly influenced by the work of textile artist and printmaker Annie Albers, Yamamoto’s own artistic practice is centred around weaving, printing and pigments. His oftentimes large-scale works, and sometimes wearable ones, are consistently colourful. Moreover, they dissolve the lines between art and design; accordingly, to the artist, the materials are autonomous, which turns Yamamoto’s artistic practice multifaceted.
Kiyoshi Yamamoto has had several solo exhibitions at, among others, Soft galleri (2014), Galleri Norske Grafikere (2015), Buskerud Kunstsenter (2017) and Kunstnerforbundet (2022). His work is represented in the collections of Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim, KODE in Bergen and the Embassy of Norway in Brasília.
Siv Støldal
Siv Støldal trained as a menswear tailor in Norway and in 1996 moved to London to complete an MA in Menswear at Central Saint Martins. She has shown her collections in London and Paris and has collaborated with the likes of Fred Perry and Topman. In 2006 the British Fashion Council nominated Støldal as Menswear Designer of the Year. Her idiosyncratic approach to design has incorporated numerous unusual research techniques and displays, such as the placing of a series of scarecrows in Norwegian fields or wrapping up buildings in London. Siv Støldal currently lives and works in Norway.
Kyuja Bae
Kyuja Bae is an interdisciplinary artist based in Norway originally from South Korea. She works in the fields of art such as choreography, dance, performance art, theatre, writing and installation.
She has a holistic approach to dance, seeing dance as a way of living and learning the deeper values/meanings of life. She holds a Master’s degree in choreography at Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo). She also studied theater/acting/stage art/creative writing in various institutions such as Nordic Black Express in Oslo and Norwegian Theater Academy in Østfold University-Collage in Fredrikstad and Korean National University of Arts in Seoul, Korea.
She practices various holistic and spiritual dances and practices such as Butoh dance, Salpuri dance, Contact Improvisation(CI), Zen practice, Yoga, Meditation, Mindfulness and Energy Reading & Healing and more.
Kyuja Bae is a member of PAB (Performance Art in Bergen) and former member of International Dance Council CID, UNESCO, Norsk Dansekunstnere (Norwegian Dance artists’ Organization) and PAO (Performance Art in Oslo).
Shitika Agrawal
(b.1996) is an Indian/Belgian metal and jewellery artist based in Oslo. Shitika has obtained her bachelor’s degree in jewellery design and silversmithing from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. As well as a master’s degree from the Oslo National Academy of Arts. Her works have been exhibited in Galerie Beyond Antwerp (2018), BIDULES Eyewear (2018), Munich Jewellery Week (2019), CODA Museum NL (2019), Oslo Kammermusikkfestival (2021) and Delusions of reality -Oslo(2023)
