Gunkanjima is an approx. 3 hour-trip from the town MAKIKO was originally from. Since she had a glimpse of it many years ago, the island image has been haunting her.
As her project was self-motivated, not part of well-known media or film agencies, getting permission to land and shoot in the restricted zone on Gunkanjima was not easy. Above more, when she was trying to get it summer in 1995, Nagasaki City was waiting for UNESCO’s final decision for World Heritage site and this slowed the application process. However, luckily enough, she was granted three days after it became one of the World Heritage sites.
Two days after Typhoon #12 passed the area, MAKIKO managed to land and shoot on the restricted zone. She made a photo essay from children's eye-level.
Her first solo exhibition was produced in collaboration with Nagasaki City and Nagasaki University, was sponsored by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and in association of LSE Arts. It has been showcased from May 3rd to June 10th for 6 weeks at the Atrium Gallery, London School of Economics.
The three photos from the exhibition are being permanently exhibited at the Gunkanjima Museum, Nagasaki, Japan.
In October 2017, MAKIKO held the PARADISE REVISITED exhibition commercially at Bunkamura Box Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo. Just after having an exhibition in Bunkamura, Tokyo, MAKIKO exhibited at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. During the 13 days period of exhibition, approx. 1730 visitors came.
As of July 2019, the entire exhibition set is officially in collection of Nagasaki City, Nagasaki, Japan.
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