Kiri-edo

is a major new site-responsive installation at the Japanese House, Ingham, created by Japanese Australian artist Elysha Rei as part of PUNQ Festival 2024. Honouring traditional Japanese aesthetic principals around light, shadow and pattern, this site-specific paper-cut installation captures the essence of Japanese aesthetics and the history of Japan and Australia dating back to the late 19th century.

As the oldest traditional house outside of Japan, the “Yeddo” house (or Edo in Japanese), is an architectural archive of the Shoin-Zukuri style of architecture traditionally built by the Samurai class. This poignant connection to Rei’s own Samurai ancestry provides a powerful site for cultural contemplation and representation that honours the 136-year history of the house.

Kiri-Edo, 2024, hand-cut polymer paper and enamel paint installation, displayed at the Japanese House, Ingham as part of PUNQ Festival 2024.

Photography: Elysha Rei, 2024