Exhibition/event has ended.
Shengzhe "Drifting on a Boat Flowing East"
Cohju Contemporary Art
Finished
SHARE
Artists
Shengzhe
COHJU is pleased to present “Drifting on a Boat Flowing East,” a solo exhibition by Chinese-born photographer Shengzhe, currently based in Tokyo, on view from April 18 to May 16, 2026. This exhibition is presented as part of KG+, the satellite program of the KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival, and marks the artist’s first solo exhibition.
Shengzhe’s photographic practice draws inspiration from postwar Japanese culture, as well as the urban and underground cultures that emerged in Japan during the Shōwa period. Yet these references function not simply as cultural quotations. Rather, the artist reinterprets these visual and cultural motifs through an internalized sense of the “East,” constructing a distinct and personal photographic world.
As suggested by the exhibition title Drifting on a Boat Flowing East, the journey “toward the East” can be understood both as a physical movement—from China to Japan—and as an imaginative voyage across layered cultural memories and aesthetic sensibilities. Instead of positioning Western value systems as the primary reference point, Shengzhe’s work reflects on Japanese visual culture from within an Asian perspective. In doing so, the exhibition raises timely questions about how images and cultural identities circulate within the region.
Like drifting aboard a small boat without a predetermined destination, viewers are invited to move quietly through the works, navigating between past and present, self and other, memory and imagination. The exhibition presents a selection of works from Shengzhe’s ongoing photographic project.
Shengzhe’s photographic practice draws inspiration from postwar Japanese culture, as well as the urban and underground cultures that emerged in Japan during the Shōwa period. Yet these references function not simply as cultural quotations. Rather, the artist reinterprets these visual and cultural motifs through an internalized sense of the “East,” constructing a distinct and personal photographic world.
As suggested by the exhibition title Drifting on a Boat Flowing East, the journey “toward the East” can be understood both as a physical movement—from China to Japan—and as an imaginative voyage across layered cultural memories and aesthetic sensibilities. Instead of positioning Western value systems as the primary reference point, Shengzhe’s work reflects on Japanese visual culture from within an Asian perspective. In doing so, the exhibition raises timely questions about how images and cultural identities circulate within the region.
Like drifting aboard a small boat without a predetermined destination, viewers are invited to move quietly through the works, navigating between past and present, self and other, memory and imagination. The exhibition presents a selection of works from Shengzhe’s ongoing photographic project.
Schedule | Apr 18 (Sat) 2026-May 16 (Sat) 2026 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Apr 18 (Sat) 2026 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.cohju.com/exhibitions/62-drifting-on-a-boat-flowing-east-shengzhe/overview/ | ||||
| Venue | Cohju Contemporary Art https://www.cohju.com/ | ||||
| Location | 1F Cohju Bldg., 557 Bishamon-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 604-0981 | ||||
| Access | 5 minute walk from exit 1 at Jingu-marutamachi Station on the Keihan line, 10 minute walk from exit 1 at Marutamachi Station on the Karasuma subway line. | ||||
| Phone | 075-256-4707 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it  |
Back to Articles
SHARE
No comments yet