Exhibition, film, performance, and book

A larger-than-life story about grief, nature and the magic of imagination.

In October 2016, photographer Anaïs López travels to Japan. Heavily pregnant and grieving the death of her sister, López looks for a place that can offer her solace and room for contemplation. She decides to head to the country’s former capital Kyoto. During a stroll along the city’s Kamo River, she spots a peculiar turtle in the middle of the stream. Its shell is flecked with gold. As soon as the turtle hears the click of López’ camera shutter, though, it dives under a rock. She doesn’t appear again. Back in the Netherlands, López keeps dreaming of the golden turtle, which she calls Kami (the Japanese word for god). Why did Kami reveal herself to her?

A years-long quest follows, during which López travels back to Japan multiple times. What began as a chance encounter evolves into a layered story about grief, control, nature, greed, and the courage to let go. The multimedia project, titled the Turtle and the Monk, is the magical travelogue of Anaïs López’s search for the golden turtle Kami, the goddess of the Kamo River. The project consists of an exhibition, a film, a live performance with an artist’s book, and a special edition book.

Art Book

Together with designer Teun van der Heijden, Anaïs López created a special art book of the Turtle and the Monk. This bilingual publication (English and Japanese) features not only photographic work but also various gyotaku and photopolymer etchings by Anaïs López, as well as ink drawings by Japanese artist Niwa Yuta.

Starting March 1st, the Turtle and the Monk will be available for pre-sale here at a temporary price of €175 .

About the maker

Anaïs López (1981) is a Spanish-Dutch photographer and a natural storyteller. She creates multimedia stories at the intersection of fiction and documentary, using personal stories to explore universal themes.

For each project, López immerses herself in intensive, almost obsessive research, which she then translates into a layered and visually compelling narrative. She invites her audience into mythical worlds that often reveal deeper truths than may be apparent at first glance.

Her previous project, The Migrant, was nominated for a Golden Calf (Dutch Film Festival) and won two other prestigious awards: The Directors Guild Award for Best Digital Storytelling and the Silver Camera Award for Best Storytelling.