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Yoshiko Shimada + BuBu de la Madeleine
Further images
Japanese,
heterosexual
I'm a prostitute.
I want to tell you
who were and are prostitute,
there is nothing wrong with you
Because, what you need to do
in order to survive,
can only be decided by you.
Don't label us with adjectives
poor, brave, strong,
miserable, weak, ignorant,
innocent, kind, wise,
cunning, sensitive, stupid...
If you've benefitted from using us as a subject,
You must pay us back.
I've never felt miserable or cried at work
I had experienced worse in my life before
What is the most shameful?
I love my clients
Some I like,
some I don't like.
In reality of prostitution,
there are moments of joy
and moments of horror
Sometimes, your life is at stake.
Other times, you laugh with your clients
just like friends
It is like in any other relationships
There are various reasons
for one to reborn as
a conscious being,
I was born and raised in an "economic miracle" era in Japan
I'm 37 years old
How can I relate to the older generations
who have experienced the war?
What do they want to tell me?
What don’t they want to tell me?
What I'm trying to say may hurt them,
I don’t want to force them to talk about the past.
But why they can't talk?
I still want to know the reasons.
Text by Bubu
Photo editing by Yoshiko Shimada
Exhibitions
2019 "Japane Unlimited," frei_raum Q21 exhibition space, MuseumsQuartier Wien, Vienna2017 "Asia Diva, Muses and Monsters," Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
2015 "Beyond Hiroshima: The Return of the Repressed," Tel Aviv University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv
2006-2007 "SEXWORK - Kunst Mythos Realität", neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin
2006 "Mapping the Body", NRLA Festival, Tramway, Glasgow
2003 "Seoul-Asia Art Now, Modernization & Urbanization, Marronier Art Center, Seoul
2002 "Attitude 2002," Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto
2001 "Sex and Consumerism: Contemporary Art in Japan", University of Brighton, Brighton
2001 "Tribu dell’Arte", Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome