This multimedia project by the rewarded Dutch visual artist and photographer Anaïs López follows the true fairy tale of her search for the golden turtle Kami, the goddess of the Kamo river. In 2016, Anaïs López travels to Japan. Pregnant and affected by the loss of her sister, López searches solace and reflection. She decides that Kyoto is the best place to be at that moment. During a walk along the river Kamogawa, she sees a golden turtle in the river. As soon as she hears the click of Anaïs' camera, the turtle disappears.

When López returns to the Netherlands, she dreams about the golden turtle, which she calls kami (in Japanese: god). This encounter marks the beginning of a years-long quest. López travels back to Japan several times and meets special people, each of whom shows her a different path. What began as a chance encounter grows into a layered story about grief, control, nature, greed and daring to let go. Using photography, film & special printing techniques López takes you on a unique visual journey. Anaïs López is a born storyteller who, with her photo and multimedia projects, takes the viewer into an often fabulous world that seems unbelievable, but turns out to be closer to the truth than you might think at first glance.

Screenings of the film ‘the Turtle and the Monk’, will be at 13:00 every day of the AAW. On 29.05, Anaïs López will be present for an artist talk at 15:00. López will also do two storytelling performances with her artist book on 31.05 & 1.06 at 14:00. An edition book of the project will be available for sale.

IBASHO is a gallery and art dealership in Antwerp that specialises in Japanese and International Fine Art Photography, and that has opened in March 2015. On the ground floor of a nineteenth century townhouse you can feel at ease while looking at works from well-known Japanese photographers, from younger contemporary Japanese artists and from Western photographers who were inspired by Japan. Since photo books are important within Japanese photography, IBASHO also has an extensive book department containing contemporary and antiquarian Japanese photo books. Since 2019 we have started publishing books in collaboration with the (M) éditions.