Home Participants 24th Biennale of Sydney (2024) Sachiko Kazama

Sachiko Kazama

Left to right: Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum, False Flag, 2021-23. Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund, the Etxepare Basque Institute and assistance from Accion Cultural Español. Courtesy the artists. © Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum. Magdalena Meak, Tais mane (Men’s ceremonial cloth), 2022. Courtesy the artist © Magdalena Meak. Sachiko Kazama, Pavilion – Earthly Fart, 2020. Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the National Center for Art Research, Japan; Pavilion – White Elephant (MONJU), 2020. Courtesy the artist and MUJIN-TO Production © the artist and MUJIN-TO Production. Installation view, 24th Biennale of Sydney, Ten Thousand Suns, 2024, Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Christopher Snee.

Sachiko Kazama is a woodblock print artist who explores the past and present of society through black humour and satire. She creates fictional stories based on extensive research on historical and contemporary events, using black and white to express various shades of meaning. Her works are filled with manga-like motifs that depict absurd and nonsensical human actions, revealing the dark and hidden aspects of reality. She uses sharp lines and gradations to convey risky themes with delicacy and wit. Kazama does not directly engage in society, but rather observes it as a bystander, exposing the lies and truths that are hard to see.

Rover Joolama Thomas, Cyclone Tracy, 1991. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1991 © Rover Thomas/Copyright Agency. Installation view, 24th Biennale of Sydney, Ten Thousand Suns, 2024, Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Document Photography.

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Pavilion – Earthly Fart 2020
woodblock print on paper

Presentation at the 24th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the National Center for Art Research, Japan

Pavilion – White Elephant (MONJU) 2020
woodblock print on paper

Presentation at the 24th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the National Center for Art Research, Japan

The 2nd Sun Island 2023-24
woodblock print on paper Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the National Center for Art Research, Japan

Courtesy the artist and MUJIN-TO Production

In Hindu mythology, Earth is supported by four elephants standing on the back of a turtle; in Sachiko Kazma’s Pavilion – Earthly Fart, the ‘world turtle’ is reimagined as a group of Nissan Skyline cars and the world as a series of factories, recalling the Keihin industrial area stretching from Tokyo to Yokohama in Japan. A highly skilled woodblock printer, Kazama utilises the centuries-old medium to probe contemporary issues. Mining both recent and historical events, her often satirical pieces present grim predictions for the future.

In 2016, Japan’s Monju nuclear reactor closed after only 250 days of operation. Projected to cost the Japanese government US$3 billion to fully decommission by 2047, the project can be seen as a testament to the hubris of contemporary faith in new technology. In White Elephant (MONJU), Kazama presents Monju – a symbol of failed progress – as the literal elephant in the room. In the artist’s vision, the utopian promises of industrialisation are little more than dangerous fantasy.