From February 04 to 16 I am looking forward to welcoming visitors to the Kanazawa International Salon in Kanazawa city, Ishikawa prefecture.
This exhibition celebrates the completion of a nearly five-year long project – the “Eight Views of Kanazawa in Winter” ink painting series – in the very city that inspired the series. It is also my first solo exhibition in Japan, a special moment I am very grateful for.
The details and opening times can be accessed here:
A personal “Eight Views”
“Eight Views” is one of the most traditional ink painting topics, usually searching for very specific atmospheres across the four seasons. My “Eight Views” are inspired by a single city in one season only – Winter. Can it be done?
It is a question I have been asking myself as an artist since January 2020 when the idea for this series started taking shape from my sketchbook records.
Searching for the places and moments which would pay tribute to the beauty and arts of Kanazawa. Also for places which could be authentically connected to the tradition of ink painting in the surrounding area.
The result are eight ink on paper scrolls depicting 7 locations, as follows:
- Evening Glow at Kenrokuen,
兼六園夕照, 2025 - Evening Bell at Honenji in Nanao,
七尾本延寺晩鐘, 2025 - Evening Snow with Ebira,
箙暮雪, 2024 - Returning Sails at Udasu Shrine on Setsubun, 宇多神社帰帆, 2024
- Night Rain at Kenrokuen, 兼六園夜雨, 2023
- Descending Geese at Oyama Shrine’s Eastern Gate, 尾山神社東門落雁, 2022
- Winter Moon at Kanazawa Castle, 金沢城冬月, 2021
- Clearing Weather at Higashichaya, 東茶屋晴嵐, 2021
These eight scrolls are on display across the gallery, each subset matching the atmosphere of a particular area of the Salon.
The full series on display together for the first time
Some of the “Eight Views” have been displayed at the Tokyo National Art Center and at the Japanese International Cultural Center in Bern. Below is an image of “Returning Sails” at Tokyo National Art Center on February 2, 2025.
This year my contribution has been distinguished with a Special Friendship Award, for consistently displaying my love of Japan with my ink artworks. Such an honor to receive this recognition from Kobayashi Tohun Sensei on Setsubun 2025 when my artwork also depicts a very special Setsubun Festival performance at Udasu Shrine.
However, the Ishikawa International Salon exhibition is the first time all the full Eight Views works are displayed together, along with other smaller works of my time spent between Zurich and Ishikawa.
Nearly five years in the making
I have returned to Kanazawa three times since 2020, in winter and early summer of 2023 and then in early summer of 2024 to continue this project and prepare for the exhibition opening this week.
The first four scrolls, painted between 2021 and 2023 were based on imagery and sketches from the winter 2020.
In the winter of 2023 I came back to Ishikawa to search for the second set of four views. I visited many places for a second time, others for the first time, but it wasn’t immediately clear which places or scenes would become “Views”. It took me nearly six months to work out what the next four scenes would look like.
This artistic struggle, of searching for a particular creative breakthrough amidst a thousand competing ideas, was the jumping point for my first short story – “Lotus”.
This book, set in Zurich but with a clear connection to Ishikawa and the painting series will also be on display at the Ishikawa International Salon. Visitors will be able to browse the book and if they wish, take fifteen minutes to read the full story. I think it will add a new layer of depth to the scroll display.
Five years of growth and gratitude
Every view added a new layer of technical challenge. This series documents in a special way my growth as an artist, but also the graceful hospitality of Ishikawa residents.
If the first four views were mostly the result of random winter walks through the city, the latter four owe a lot to the kind tips and support I received throughout.
I would not have been early enough to Udasu Shrine for such a close view of the Setsubun Festival of 2023 if I had not been accompanied by a local artist. I would not have found Hasegawa Tohaku’s family temple, Honenji in Nanao, if a Nanao Art Museum staff had not pointed out a particular area of their display. I could not have painted such a detailed view of Ebira without access to the photographic archives of the Kanazawa Noh Theatre Association. Every small interaction was a small step forward in the series, and my heart is full of gratitude for this. I look forward to welcoming some of the people who made this journey possible in the coming days.
The Ishikawa International Salon and I are also grateful that our exhibition has the nominal support of the Swiss Embassy in Japan and the regional newspaper Hokkoku Shinbun.
Exhibition opening times
The exhibition will be open on Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:00 to 18:00.
The Ishikawa International Salon is located on Hirosaka 1-8-14, just south of the 21st century Museum of Contemporary Art. I will be there on opening day, February 4 and on occasion in the days after.
For the official website announcement in Japanese and English please click below:
https://www.ifie.or.jp/event/event-8513/
About Mafalda Tenente
Mafalda Tenente is an ink painting artist and artist book author. She exhibits regularly in Switzerland and Tokyo. Her book “Autumn in Japan” was nominated for three book design awards. „Lotus“ has been shortlisted for the Fedrigoni Top Award 2025. “Eight Views of Kanazawa in Winter” is her first solo exhibition in Japan.