Celebrated Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi leads Arnolfini Autumn programme

Marking her first major UK exhibition, Arnolfini will be showing selected work made over 20 years of practice from the internationally acclaimed Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi.

Showing as part of the international biennial Bristol Photo Festival which is set to return for its second edition – The World on a Wave – on October 16, At the edge of the everyday world will open on October 19 and run until February 2025.

Kawauchi’s aesthetic is heralded for its ethereal quality. Like snapshots of a dream, mundane elements of everyday life are elevated with a lyricism and beauty that allows the images to transcend into something otherworldly.

Image 1. Untitled. From the series M-E – photo: courtesy and © Rinko Kawauchi

Image 2. Untitled. From the series M-E – photo: courtesy and © Rinko Kawauchi

In particular, its curators characterise this collection for the “explorations of the natural world’s fragile beauty to the gentle rhythm of domestic scenes,” with the artist “capturing the connections and continuity of life”.

The images shown centre on the letters M/E, representing both ‘Mother’, ‘Earth’ and ‘Me’. They range from Iceland’s volcanoes to the snowy landscapes of Hokkaido, contrasted with domestic scenes caught during the COVID-19 pandemic, when notions of home became more complex for so many.

Image 5. Untitled. From the series AILA – photo: courtesy and © Rinko Kawauchi

Image 6. Untitled. From the series AILA – photo: courtesy and © Rinko Kawauchi

Alongside the photographic prints, visitors will be able to peruse text and video works from the M/E series, as well as elements from previous series, Ametsuchi and AILA, and the “eternally unfinished” film installation Illuminance.

Kawauchi has exhibited around the world, producing over 30 photobooks across her illustrious career, and her work is now held in institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, and the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.

This will be her first major solo exhibition in the UK for 18 years.

Image 3. Untitled. From the series Illuminance 2009 – photo: courtesy and © Rinko Kawauchi

Rinko Kawauchi portrait – photo: courtesy and © Rinko Kawauchi

Elsewhere at Arnolfini, twin summer exhibitions Adebayo Bolaji: In Praise of Beauty and Nengi Omuku: The Dance of People and the Natural World continue until September 29.

There are musical nights from Eliza McCarthy and Marlo De Lara, Phaedra Ensemble and more; a work-in-progress performance from Karen Christopher, Tara Fatehi and Jemima Yong, and a number of screenings including the welcome return of contemporary dance royalty Siobhan Davies, showing two pieces of dance on film.

And the extensive programme of ongoing workshops includes AIM for Art School, Latinas in Bristol Art and Craft, Adult Portrait Club, life drawing and adult craft workshops from CreativeShiftCIC.

Women’s Craft Club at Arnolfini – photo: Lisa Whiting for Arnolfini

At the edge of the everyday world is at Arnolfini from October 19-February 16 2025 at 11am-6pm daily (closed Monday). The exhibition is supported by The Japan Foundation. For more information about all exhibitions as well as the rest of the Arnolfini programme, visit www.arnolfini.org.uk.

Bristol Photo Festival second edition: The World on a Wave will have its opening week on October 16-20, and will then be at venues across Bristol this autumn. For the full programme, visit www.bristolphotofestival.org.

All photos: © Rinko Kawauchi (main photo: image 7 (cropped); Untitled, from the series of Ametsuchi, 2013)

Read next:

• Bristol Photo Festival announces full exhibition programme
• SERCHIA announces exhibition from new artist-in-residence Pia Paulina Guilmoth
• Major retrospective for Bristol-born Stephen Gill

]