ROSA BRUGAT

Description:

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The respectful formalities ingrained in Japanese culture well deserve this title: Arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much).

My curiosity and fascination with Japan—particularly regarding the mysterious geishas, maiko, and oiran—led me to travel there with my daughter, Adriana, whom I thank for her patience and for being an accomplice in this project. During our stay, we observed, sometimes after long waits, a mysterious figure emerging from a teahouse or darting through the narrow alleyways of Gion (Kyoto) only to vanish around the next corner. It was in this city that I decided I had to convey what I was witnessing. The faces of these young maiko, always chaperoned by an older woman, left a deep impression on me; behind their painted masks (their makeup), I sensed an immense melancholy.

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Arigatou gozaimasu not only reminds us that beauty is fleeting, but also invites us to reflect on the role maiko and geishas occupy in Japan today. Are they merely courtesans or companions? It is a land of contradictions: elegant, exquisitely refined, yet cruel and patriarchal.

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The exquisite erotic shunga prints date back to the Edo period and were not published until 1907, only to be subsequently banned under the Japanese penal code. Fast-forwarding to the present, we find figures as controversial as photographer Nobuyoshi Araki—branded a misogynist by some, a genius by others. It is a country where the medieval coexists with cutting-edge technology, and where the collective good prevails over individuality.

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I apologize if my Western gaze has caused any offense.

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Rosa Brugat

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Press:

 

Rosa Brugat presenta su obra Aligatou Gozaimasu – MAV, 2016

Rosa Brugat reflexiona sobre la bellesa a través del món de les ‘geishes’ – El Punt Avui, 2016

Rosa Brugat presenta «Arigatou Gozaimisu» al Museu del Cinema – Diari de Girona, 2016

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Screenings & Presentations:

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LOOP Barcelona Festival

Presentation at Museu del Cinema, Girona