Leonid Tishkov on Shamijima

Golden Week has come and gone, and some Setouchi Triennale attendance records may have been broken. Finally, there’s some time to breathe and to blog.

Today I want to introduce an artist whose art is located on Shamijima, which means that it will only be available for the Spring Session of the Triennale and will be gone after May 26th! That is,

Leonid Tishkov

Here are a few things about him and a few questions that he kindly answered.

First of all, may I advise you to read his biography on his site.

And here is a little something that he shared with me for the blog about his involvement with the Setouchi Triennale and his art:

I took part in Ichihara Triennale twice – 2014 and 2017 (I made five installations there: The moon of Matsuo Basho, The moon of Taneda Santoka, The moon of William Blake, The moon of Garcia Lorca and The Moon of Giorgio de Chirico). Mr. Fram Kitagawa invited me to Setouchi this year to make something for it.

I’m showing my work in the school as my parents were teachers in a small town in the Ural mountains. This school became empty and after some years it was demolished. I suffer a lot when I see an abandoned school and I want the voices and souls that have disappeared to return.

The idea of my work is to return poetry to places where it is no longer possible. I am a romantic artist of the post-industrial society, recalling important poetic statements. I remind people that there is still hope. I want poetry to replace politics because poetry unites people. I’m wandering around the world and everywhere I go, I bring back the poetry that was lost in these places.

I wrote a picture book for children published in Japan in 2017. A few days before the Triennale started I had two master classes with local children in the city library of Sakaide. Children and their parents drew and composed stories and wrote poems because I believe that children can save poetry for the future.

On Shamijima, Leonid Tishkov has three installations all located in the same building from the former school:

• The Moon and the Sun in empty bookshelves
• Solvejg, background of a memory
• The lunar vessel, dedicated to Kakinomoto-no-Hitomaro

You can read more about them from the artist himself on his personal blog.

“The Moon and the Sun in empty bookshelves“. 2019. Acrylic glass, salt, LED, wood.

Leonid Tishkov’s works on Shamijima will only be available until May 26th, so do not waste any time to enjoy them, they’re truly beautiful. Actually, I should go back before they’re gone.

And a great thank you to Mr. Tishkov for his work and for helping with this article / interview.

Picture sources: all the pictures in the article were kindly provided by Leonid Tishkov and remain his property. Do not reproduce without his explicit authorization.