Weekly photo challenge: patterns-Kengiro Azuma sculptor in Matera, Italy 2010

For this week’s Photo Challenge: Patterns I thought I’d take you back in time with me to a wonderful exhibition in the mysterious city of Matera.  The Artist I have in mind is Kengiro Azuma a fellow ex-pat, though he of course was originally from Japan.  We went down to Puglia in the summer of 2010 and couldn’t resist a day trip to Matera, which though in Basilicata was just a two-hour trip from where we were staying.  I’d been in Matera in 1987 and have fallen in love with its primitive beauty!

This exhibition is entitled “Mu“:  in the artists words:

 «Ogni oggetto presenta un dualismo tra gli opposti, come il pieno e il vuoto, il bene e il male. Ciò che ha guidato la mia ricerca è l’interesse per il Mu, che è invisibile, come l’anima, la fantasia, il sogno. Il Mu, pur opponendosi allo Yu, ha bisogno di quest’ultimo per manifestarsi. Alla base di ogni mia opera c’è, infatti, il disegno che, frutto dei miei pensieri, è invisibile. Ma per completare il lavoro, devo andare oltre il disegno e dar forma all’invisibile»

(Every object is a dualism of opposites, like fullness and emptiness, good and bad.  My research was guided by my interest in Mu, which is invisible, like the soul, or imagination or a dream.  Mu is the opposite of Yu, and needs the later to be manifested.  The basis of every one of my works is, in fact, a drawing, which is the fruit of my thoughts and is invisible.  In order to complete the work, I have to go beyond the drawing and give form to that which is invisible.)

The country side near Matera is hostile, dry and pitted with caves:

As you approach the city you notice its peculiar rhythmic pattern:

Entrance of the exhibition in the cave church complexes of Madonna delle Virtù and San Nicola dei Greci:

A close up of the stone work:

Kengiro Asuma’s sculptures:

What is the sound

of just one hand clapping

Mu!

Ciao!

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