Japanese people have had a long relationship with cats. There are shrines that worship cats as gods across Japan and the popular Japanese cat figurine maneki-neko is believed to bring good blessings. Also in Japanese art and literature the cat has played a significant role. At the initiative of cat lover and author of books on Japanese contemporary art and photography, Sophie Cavaliero, the Neko Project was initiated. The project team, consisting of a number of people involved in photography and Japanese art, among others IBASHO, invited Japanese photographers to participate in a photography project on the theme of cats. This open invitation has resulted in over 80 photographers submitting their work. With this rich material a cat photobook will be published and a number of exhibitions will be held.
In a large group exhibition on the cat theme IBASHO will exhibit works by photographers already connected to IBASHO, among others Mika Horie, Kumi Oguro, Yoshinori Mizutani, Naoyuki Ogino, Hiromi Kakimoto and Shinji Otani. And photographs of lesser known cat photographers , as well as vintage photographs by Masahisa Fukase of his beloved Sasuke, will be shown.
The book on The Neko Project will also be available at IBASHO.