All Living Things Are Breathing Now
Project description
All Living Things Are Breathing Now is a solo exhibition by Japanese artist duo Kyunchome, comprising Nabuchi (b. 1984, Mito) and Honma Eri (b. 1987, Yokohama). The exhibition presents a new series of work exploring the sea and coastal ecosystems as dynamic ecotones and contact zones in which humans and multiple species interact through changing intertidal rhythms.
The exhibition considers the complex relationship between land and sea at a time of accelerating environmental change. Kyunchome’s work reflects on resilience, memory and the enduring connections between human communities and the ocean, bringing ecological concerns into dialogue with histories of place, displacement and social transformation.
Kyunchome emerged in response to the landscape transformed by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, the subsequent tsunami and the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Their interdisciplinary practice addresses the intersections of politics, ecology and social structures, often examining how environmental crises reshape relationships between people, place and memory.
The sea has long occupied a central symbolic and material position within human culture, shaping patterns of settlement, livelihood, migration and exchange. It has also been a site through which histories of conquest, slavery, colonialism and economic exploitation have unfolded. The exhibition considers these overlapping histories alongside the ecological relationships that connect coastal communities with human and non-human environments.
Across art, literature and film, the ocean has been represented as a space of possibility, danger, transformation and memory. For Kyunchome, the sea becomes both a physical environment and a poetic and political language through which questions of survival, belonging and coexistence can be explored.
The exhibition reflects on the ocean as a repository of collective and personal histories, while considering its role in shaping perceptions of civilisation, nationhood and identity. Through their engagement with coastal environments, Kyunchome explore the complex relationships between humans, land, water and other forms of life, drawing attention to the historical and contemporary entanglements that connect them.
Bio
Kyunchome is a Japanese artist duo comprising Nabuchi (b. 1984, Mito) and Honma Eri (b. 1987, Yokohama). Formed in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011, their practice encompasses video, installation, photography and participatory performance. Their work explores politics, ecology, memory and social structures, with particular attention to the sea, nature, living beings and the relationship between human and non-human life.
Kyunchome has exhibited internationally at institutions including the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; Kurobe City Museum of Art; and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. Recent exhibitions include The Color of the Soul is Blue at Kurobe City Museum of Art (2023), How Did You Come into the World? at Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art (2024), Life2 at Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto (2024), and The Island Remembers at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2024).
In 2025, Kyunchome presented exhibitions and projects including MINEBANE! Contemporary Art – The Taguchi Art Collection at Akita Museum of Art and Theater Commons 25 in Tokyo. In 2026, their work has been presented at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, alongside their solo exhibition Echoes from the Deep in Takashima, Shiga.
Project details
Artists: Kyunchome — Nabuchi and Honma Eri
Exhibition: All Living Things Are Breathing Now
Curated by: Keith Whittle
Produced by: Artlink, Inishowen, Donegal, Ireland
Catalogue: Accompanying brochure featuring a newly commissioned essay by curator and writer Jason Waite
Format: Exhibition
Country: Ireland