Kazuhito Kawai will participate ‘Ethnography of the Body and Material — Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society’ at Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina in Venice, Italy

Kazuhito Kawai will participate in ‘Ethnography of the Body and Material — Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society’ at Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina in Venice, Italy from May 9 – November 22, 2026. 

This exhibition aims to restore a different sense of time and physical perception inherent in the act of “making” back into today’s world of ever-accelerating information and consumption. Here, “ethnography” refers to an approach to interpret the practice of artists—a slow process of creation involving commitment to materials and manual labor—in cultural and social contexts. 

 

The world we live in is marked by a focus on immediacy and efficiency. It prizes “easy-to-understand” and “ready-to-use” qualities, while increasingly neglecting the “slow pace” and “silence” that nurture the depth of our senses and memories. The artists involved in this exhibition will present their “sensory fieldwork,” taking place in the margins of such an accelerated society via different materials such as fire, water, earth, fiber, urushi（lacquer）, and glass, as well as the body. 

Takuro Kuwata sculpts the contingency of ceramics, Kazuhito Kawai breathes between clay and gravity, and Takahiro Komuro physically reshapes cities and subculture. Yoca Muta, Junko Oki, Yui Wata, and Mayu Nakata interweave layers of memory and emotion through handicrafts such as painting on ceramics, embroidery, fiber, and urushi（lacquer）. Ritsue Mishima uses transparent glass to encapsulate the process of time, and Shige Fujishiro captures the memory of consumption in his work. Moreover, Noritaka Tatehana reconstructs the layers of time and rituals associated with the body and attire, shuttling between traditional decorative culture and urban senses. 

Their works are not “instantly comprehensible,” but instead invite viewers to spend time appreciating and developing a tactile relationship with the work. This exhibition considers this creation and appreciation process itself as a form of quiet resistance to challenge an accelerated society. It is an effort to reconstruct our senses and reconnect with the world. This micro-ethnography, woven at the intersection of body and material, excavates forgotten strata of sensitivity and reveals new meanings of “making” in the modern age. 

 

【EXHIBITION DETAILS】
Title: Ethnography of the Body and Material — Slowness and Depth in an Accelerated Society
Venue: Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina
Period: May 9 – November 22, 2026
Hours: 9 May – 30 September, 11:00 – 19:00
            1 October – 22 November, 10:00 – 18:00
Closing day: Tuesdays
HP: https://venice.goforkogei.com/
Organisers: NPO Syuto Kanazawa
Supports: Japan Creator Support Fund
Curator: Yuji Akimoto