Ikuru Kuwajima (b. 1984, Japan) is a Moscow-based artist working with photography, video, and installation. Originally from Japan, Kuwajima studied photojournalism at the University of Missouri and has lived in Romania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. He has been working in Russia for the past 8 years. In his practice, he works closely with local contexts, creating both documentary and art projects.
Recommended by Alexandra Kuznetsova
Dneprodzerzhinsk, 2015. From the I, Oblomov series. Is Oblomov just lazy or does he possess some kind of stoic wisdom? Kuwajima looks to the book for keys to decipher the Russian mentality and wonders if its ideas still apply nowadays
Repatriation exhibition, 2019. Peresvetov Pereulok Gallery, Moscow. The project shows an unexpected connection between the Siberian gulags and driftwood in Iceland
Repatriation, 2019. The concept is based on biographies of gulag prisoners in the Krasnoyarsk region as well as on dendrochronology research that proves the route of the driftwood from the Yenisey river to Iceland
Kokpar (near Shymkent, Kazakhstan), 2012. From the Eurasia series. The artist actively travelled around Central Asia and the Volga region from 2010 to 2015
Shorykyol (Mari New Year), Shorunzha village, Mari El republic, 2014. From the Eurasia series
Chickens. Priozersk region, Kazakhstan. From the Eurasia series
Pamir Mountains, 2012. From the Trail series. Kuwajima travelled around the Tajik Pamir mountains along the Afghan border and was able to photograph a long trail on the other side of the river separating the two countries
Trail exhibition view, 2016. Montpellier, France
