Yasumichi Morita Art Works

In October 2023, Yasumichi Morita will present “Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows)｜Ise Jingu”, his fifth photo exhibition in Paris.
Ise Jingu has a deep connection with the birth of Japan and is home to a unique aesthetic sense, tradition and culture.
We hope you will enjoy the art works created by Yasumichi Morita from his unique point of view.
　

■About the Photo Exhibition
The Ise Jingu is unique in the world in its culture of renewing the main sanctuary, divine treasures, and everything else taking every twenty years in what is called “Shikinen Sengu” while keeping the ancient techniques intact. The materials from the old main sanctuary that were rebuilt during the shrine relocation will be reused at shrines throughout Japan, and the planned planting of trees is also a symbol of coexistence with the natural environment.

It is no exaggeration to say that Ise Jingu, which is considered the cornerstone of Japan, is a place where historical cultural heritage is concentrated and a center of culture, art, science, and international exchange where many people gather.
Yasumichi Morita continues his creative activities as an opportunity to transmit Japanese culture, creativity and sensibility to Japan, the rest of the world and more to the next generation through his lifelong activities as an artist.

In this exhibition, he will present his expressions through the daily morning and evening Grand Offering Ceremony, the rituals performed at the Jingu and architecture of the Naiku and Geku, the Shinto priests, the rituals, and the people involved in them through Yasumichi Morita’s own filter.
　

■About the Art Works
It is said that 1500 Shinto rites are carried out each year at the shrines of Ise Jingu. Rice is offered, salt carefully shaped, and blessings of land and sea presented to the gods. These day-to-day rituals, unchanged over 2000 years, hold mysteries of Japanese beauty and virtue; secrets the photographs of Yasumichi Morita unravel and reveal. Morita’s eye is caught by rice husks scattered over earth, exquisite motions of the Shinto-priests, and minute features of the buildings. The layering of these minimalist fragments brings out the centuries of time accumulated within Ise Jingu. “The details no one sees are what I want to shoot,” he says. The time he communed face-to-face with Japanese beauty, while savoring the luxury of capturing the “everyday” that has been repeated over and over again, has become Morita’s lifework. Late at night, on the deserted white-pebbled-covered grounds of this sacred place, what is it that Morita sees?

Yasumichi Morita Photo Art Works 2023
“Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows) | Ise Jingu”
Dates: 18 – 22 October 2023
Opening Hours: 12:00 – 19:00 (The first and last day close at 17: 00)
Opening Reception: 19 October 2023
Reception Hours: 17:00 – 20:00
Venue: Hôtel de l’Industrie
Address: 4 Place Saint Germain-des-Prés, 75006 Paris, France
* Admission free, open throughout the duration of the exhibition, no reservations required.
* We decline flower arrangements, etc. due to the convenience of the venue.