Moon over Konohana

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Inspiration
From here On

Inspiration
From here On

Moon over Konohana

The moon has been a central theme of a series by Katja Stuke for several years now. Her series Moon over Konohana include several photographs of ‚fake‘ moons, e.g. illuminated street signs in Osaka and Tokyo, company logos in Düsseldorf or lights at the airport in Paris. A central aspect of her work is the questioning of the supposed reality, presentability and irritation of the seen image, and thus also the possibilities of photography in general.
For the dialogue exhibition at the Japanisches Kulturinstitut/Japan Foundation in Cologne 2020/2021 a new, exclusive dialogue between Katja Stuke and Henguchi Yoshinori between Düsseldorf and Osaka was created, originating from one photograph Katja Stuke has taken in Konohana in 2015.
Konohana is a district in Osaka, characterized by old (partly empty) Japanese houses, various Shotengai in which still small retailers, kissaten, supermarkets, specialty stores or even a pachinko hall are located.
Konohana is the center of Henguchi’s life, where Katja Stuke has lived during several residencies. Konohana feels partly almost village-like, at least in a small town, but is very centrally located on the JR-Loop Line and is known to tourists by Universal City. In 2025 the World EXPO will be held in Konohana.

The Dialogue:
Katja Stuke sent several large prints of Moon over Konohana to Osaka. There Henguchi, who works as a poet and photographer, created videos, photographs and texts for the exhibition in Cologne.
Although – or maybe because of – the exhibition in Cologne was never open to the public the dialogue between Katja and Henguchi still continues.
In a new series Katja Stuke used photographs she took in Konohana during the last years to creat new images of a ‚moon‘ over Konohana. And once a month during the night of the full moon, Henguchi will perform in Konohana.

Collaboration

Katja and Henguchi have been cooperating since 2010, both in joint artistic works and in the organization of artist exchange programs between Osaka and Düsseldorf. Introduced by Goto Tetsuya in Osaka, the idea of a Photobattle was first developed. Based on an idea of „battle“ with reference to Hip Hop, various installations were created in galleries (Osaka), subway stations (Düsseldorf), performances or publications. More and more artists were involved, such as musicians from Osaka and Düsseldorf. Photography has always been a bridge in the dialogue between the two artists in all projects (up to the present day), the handling of the images a method of communication.
From this cooperation further forms of collaboration developed. Meanwhile there is an exchange between Osaka and Düsseldorf, which has already brought other artists from Düsseldorf to Japan and from Osaka to Düsseldorf (including Dunja Evers or Mizuuchi Yoshihito); a network was created, which now also includes the WELTKUNSTZIMMER in Düsseldorf and the BLEND INN / Blend Apartments in Osaka.