Delighted to announce the next exhibition at the ‘KIOSK’ from local photographer and videographer Cathal Carolan. The images for this exhibition come from The Sanja Matsuri festival, the largest in Tokyo, one which holds a unique tradition – the involvement of yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicates. For decades, members of the Takahashi-gumi and Nakamura-kai families have participated in carrying the festival’s mikoshi (portable shrines). Show opens 6pm on the 14th of Feb, running over two weekends , the 15th & 16th , 22nd & 23rd.
“I live for traveling and exploring new cultures with my camera. For the past decade, photography has been my way of discovering the world and expressing myself. Last summer, I moved back home to Ireland after living in Japan for a few years. Japanese art and culture always resonated with me. Photographers and filmmakers like Daidō Moriyama and Akira Kurosawa really inspired me as a teen. It was a dream of mine to photograph Japan so I moved there in 2022.
‘Matsuri’ are Japanese festivals, deeply rooted in the country’s Shintō traditions. I attended many across Japan, but none compared to Sanja – Tokyo’s largest and wildest festival. This exhibition captures a single day at Sanja Matsuri 2023 – its long-awaited return after the pandemic, drawing in a whopping two million people. The heart of the festival is at Sensō-ji Temple, but the massive crowds made it hard to reach. After parking my bike in a far off neighborhood, I was surprised to find myself among heavily tattooed men preparing to carry a shrine. When I noticed their distinct tattoos, it dawned on me that they were the yakuza. The next hour was the most unexpected and wild experience of my time in Japan.”
