stress over, exhibition up, opening done!

hello!

It's Saturday here... I can't actually believe we've been away for a whole week! It's actually gone really fast, and thanks to our amazing hosts we've managed to cram a whole lot of stuff in...

some shots of my work...

Yesterday was the first day of the show - we were in there at 10am finishing stuff off and getting the final seal of approval from Takaya, and then we hung around for most of the day, enjoying the novelty of not having anything to do! Ross and I marched off with a map to find some other galleries to drop fliers at, but could only find one, and it definitely wasn't the kind of place that would take them, so we did't bother..We did however end up in a gay district which dates back to the 1600s, and had a look up a very dodgy looking stairwell, thinking there was an art cafe somewhere around, but the fact that the lights didn't work past the first floor put us off...

We did however spot some arty types sitting around by the river, and armed with a note from Kosho, written in Japanese, we attempted to mutely explain ourselves and force fliers upon them... It worked though, and ten minutes later about 8 people came up to the gallery... I think this must be quite an abnormal occurrence, as Massa, the guy who works at Weissraum, came downstairs and stopped in his tracks when he saw actual people looking at the work!

people!

I think the japanese have quite a lot to learn about promotion, although we decided it is very much a cultural thing, as everyone is in their own private space when they are in the street - no one really smiles at you, but when you make an effort it sometimes pays off, so Ross and I spent a bit of time standing outside the gallery handing out fliers, and although not many people took them, all of those that did seemed interested, and nearly all came in for a look...

cheap japanese lager - ick.

opening

It's just a shame that not many more people know about the place, because it's actually a really nice space when it's cleaned up a bit! However, thanks to Kosho, we did have quite a lot of people there, and once everyone had a couple of beers and relaxed a bit we all started trying out our Japanese and English skills! These guys can handle their beer a lot better than Ross and I, but it was good to let loose a bit... Takaya seemed happy, and he's really keen for Ross and I to come back before we graduate, and wants to explore the possibilties of doing more in conjunction with Edinburgh artists, which is great!

So we allowed ourselves a bit of a lie in today - Kosho especially needed it, as he's knackered from translating all our statements and speaking english all the time... we couldn't have done this without him though, so he deserves a lot of love! Today we have just been helping clean the temple and prepare for a big ceremony that is happening here on Tuesday to celebrate the life of the monk who re-established the temple in 918 AD. We are the first foreign people ever to have helped clean the temple, which is a pretty special thing to be able to say, considering that the main hall was built in the 12th Century. This really is a special place, and we are both so lucky to have such generous hosts and so many opportunities to enjoy the real culture of this country with so much history.

Ross and I are just despairing about how silly we sound writing on this thing - I feel like a very bad travel writer or something, so sorry if it sounds silly - it's pretty hard to try and , and it's even harder trying to do it in japanese...express how lucky and grateful to Kosho and his family we are without sounding stupid.

Lots of love to everyone. x