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Frida's personal effects in the Ishiuchi Miyako’s exhibition "Belongings" at Les Rencontres d’Arles
19 July 2024
Ishiuchi Miyako's "Belongings", displayed in Salle Henri-Comte, is a powerful close examination of the impacts of other people's personal effects. She reconstructs the lives of her mother, the atomic bombing victims, and artist Frida Kahlo in Mother's (2000–2005), ひろしま/hiroshima (2008–present), and Frida (2013). The photographer was born in Gunma Prefecture in 1947. She won the 2024 Women in Motion Award for Photography after curating these three series, which highlight women's lives, for the exhibition "Belongings" at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, which runs until September 29, 2024. An honor she accepted on behalf of a group of Japanese women photographers who have long been marginalized in the history of their field and who are being recognized this year in a significant group show.
From heirlooms with sentimental and nostalgic value (like her mother's lipstick) to objects with a darker allure, like gloves that belonged to a Hiroshima bomb victim or a bodice worn by Frida Kahlo that had a built-in spinal corset to support her injured back. The Japanese photographer clarified in a statement about the series that "All that has form will eventually vanish. Once the human body is lifeless, it cannot continue to exist in this world. This is an obvious fact, yet I sometimes find it impossible to accept. This was the case with my mother’s death, even though it is only natural for a parent to die before their child. Her body was nowhere to be found. The belongings she left behind, which once adhered to her, had become useless without their owner. Before disposing of them, I decided to take photographs." (taken from the Exhibition link below).
Read here an interesting review of the "Belongings" exhibition.
Ishiuchi Miyako was asked to photograph Frida' personal effects - more than 300 pieces of Kahlo's life - on 2004, that Diego Rivera had hidden in the bathroom of "The Blue House" with the instructions that this room should remain sealed until fifteen years after his death. In fact, it was sealed until 2004, when the museum made the decision to organize and catalog the items.
An exhibition of these pictures was organized on May 2015 in London: "Frida" by Ishiuchi Miyako - Michael Hoppen Gallery, London. Get detailed info here.
