Last Carnival

Doctor’s House is a site-specific exhibition space within the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. Located in Kamou village, it was originally a small clinic and the residence of the village’s only doctor. Once a place where patients and neighbors gathered, it was eventually closed as the population declined. Today, it remains as a significant site that holds the memory of the community.

Kamou village now contains many empty houses left behind as residents moved away. I imagined a quiet festival for these vacant homes. Using a film camera, I photographed the empty houses and recorded their addresses. The images were printed, perforated, and installed over the windows of Doctor’s House. As natural light passes through the small holes, it illuminates the photographed houses from behind, as if lights were being turned on inside them.

During the exhibition, villagers visited the space and looked at the images of the empty houses. In doing so, they recalled former neighbors and quietly remembered the warmth that once remained there.