Meet Up ECoC!European Capital of Culture

Meet Up ECoC!European Capital of Culture

WATANABE Koichi

Contact person :
WATANABE Koichi
Position :
Photographer
Link :
https://watanabekoichi.myportfolio.com/
In the scene covered by thicks, the individual plant's history as a series of innumerable events continuing from the past is concealed. My works capture the ephemerals within those histories and visualize the processes of changes inherent in the landscape. Photography serves as the apparatus to make these hidden histories visible and to contemplate the symbiosis between human beings and plants. In 2015, I published the book featuring the photography and text project 'Moving Plants,' in which I explored the Japanese knotweed, a common weed found throughout Japan. Introduced as an ornamental plant in the 19th century to Europe, it has now become an invasive species. I portrayed its presence in various places and situations in Europe and North America, where it has been out of control, between 2005 and 2016. In my next project, titled 'Contrayerba in Dreaming - detox plants history,' I narrated the entwined story of an old medicinal plant, contrayerba (Dorstenia contrajerva). Traded as medicine globally since the 16th century through the European trading system, it has now been forgotten. I traveled in search of this plant, from Asian streets and European botanical gardens to its homeland forest in Mexico. I researched botanical and medical books published over the last 500 years. This project was published in 2022.

Last update : 12 Mar. 2024

Works

Moving Plants #301, Katowice, Poland 2011 / (c) WATANABE Koichi

Moving Plants #502, Maplecrest, New York, USA 2007 / (c) WATANABE Koichi

Contrayerba in dreaming #709, Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico 2019 / (c) WATANABE Koichi

Curriculum vitae