To purify and protect (Kyoto CXXXIV)

Another festival from July in Kyoto. Mitarashi matsuri gives people an opportunity not just to purify oneself and protect from misfortune but also to cool off during the hottest days of the summer. The Shimogamo -shrine was full of people waiting in line to slosh about in the cold holy water in front of the god and under the hot sun. The simplest ideas are the best and this festival made sense in both physical and spiritual way.

The searing hot air burnt these photos on the sensor of the camera, and the glimpses on my retina. I can still smell the hot sand that was once grass and insects.

Kyoto, July 20th:

The painting is happening now [Kyoto streets XLI (Kyoto CXXXIII)]

Now that I've settled down to my new home town of Porvoo and found my working routine, I'm painting for this year's exhibitions in Finland. In the coming autumn I'll have a solo exhibition in Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki and I'll take part in a group exhibition called Synti in the new annex of the Serlachius museum in Mänttä. More info later. The painting is happening now and it seems I'm not able to produce hardly any text or concentrate on much anything else. Getting neurotic with the images, forgetting things.

Meanwhile I keep going through the photos from Japan. Below are more photos of the days when I had my second exhibition in Kyoto last year. Places so familiar mixing with dreams already.

Kyoto, July 17th-19th: