International biennials beckon Shigeyuki Kihara
International art biennials in Korea and Hawai’i will feature photographic and moving image works by interdisciplinary artist Shigeyuki Kihara this year.
The 2014 Daegu Photo Biennale located in Daegu, Korea will include Kihara’s series of photographs Fa’afafine: In the Manner of a Woman (2005) in its main exhibition, where Kihara is one of 33 artists from more than 20 countries to have been selected for the major exhibition curated by Alejandro Castellote (Spain). Titled ‘Origins, Memories & Parodies’, the exhibition opened on 12 September 2014.
Kihara will also speak at a symposium held in association with the Daegu Photo Biennale. Artists presented in the Daegu Photo Biennale include Wangechi Mutu, Wang Qingsong and Greg Semu, among others. Kihara’s travel to the Daegu Photo Biennale has been supported by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Poised to showcase Honolulu as a leading arts and culture capital on the world stage, the brand new Honolulu Biennial officially opens in 2016. Presented by Honolulu Biennial Foundation, the Honolulu Biennial will focus on art from Oceania, the Asian continent and the Americas. Fumio Nanjo’s appointment as the Curatorial Director for the inaugural biennial was announced this week. Nanjo, who curates internationally, is also the Director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.
In the lead-up, ‘Chain of Fire: The Prologue Exhibition for the 2016 Honolulu Biennial’ will open on 30 October 2014, with a focus on new media, video, photography and multimedia installations. Curators Dr Kóan Jeff Baysa and Isabella Ellaheh Hughes have chosen Kihara’s photographic works depicting the fictitious character ‘Salome’ to be exhibited along with 10 international artists, including Paul Pfeiffer, Arahmaiani and Almagul Menlibayeva.
While in Honolulu, Kihara will divide her time between the Honolulu Biennial Foundation’s opening reception activities including a press conference and panel discussion; and will present a series of lectures and workshops as a visiting artist and critic, hosted by various faculties, among others, including American Studies, Museum studies and Centre for Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawai’i.
Currently based in Apia, Samoa as artist-in-residence hosted by the National University of Samoa and funded by Creative New Zealand, Kihara is spending the three-month residency presenting a series of art seminars at the university while researching future projects to be held in Samoa.
ENDS
Further information for media:
Current highlights for Shigeyuki Kihara:
Mother/Land group exhibition
Kurumaya Museum of Art, Oyama-city, Tochigi prefecture, Japan
28 June to 7 September 2014
Shigeyuki Kihara: Undressing the Pacific mid-career survey, touring exhibition
Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and History, Palmerston North, New Zealand
19 July to 9 Nov. 2014
2014 Creative New Zealand Artist-in-Residence hosted by the National University of Samoa
Apia, Samoa
21 July to 28 October 2014
Shigeyuki Kihara: Velvet Dreams solo exhibition of recent works
Milford Galleries Dunedin, New Zealand
27 September to 22 October 2014
Links to video and artist website:
https://vimeo.com/channels/399804
Image credit:
‘SNPF Plaza, Savalalo’ (2013) by Shigeyuki Kihara. Courtesy of Milford Galleries Dunedin and Shigeyuki Kihara Studio.
