KYOTOGRAPHIE:
Awakening the Senses

At the Kyoto City Museum of Art Annex, photographs by the Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide, situated between documentary and a poetic gaze, speak for themselves. As she often notes, “I photograph what I am.” For Dior, supporting the artist at Kyotographie was self-evident. Firstly, because photography has always been part of the House’s history: on February 12^th, 1947, in the living room of 30 Avenue Montaigne, Pat English immortalized Christian Dior’s very first show for Life magazine. Dior style has continued to inspire every generation of photographers since, and notably some of the greatest… Next, because Maria Grazia Chiuri has often celebrated Mexican culture, notably with the Dior cruise 2024 show, imbued with the spirit of strong women like Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. An essential collection that Graciela Iturbide captured for Vogue México.

As Lucille Reyboz and Yusuke Nakanishi explain: “The lived experience is at the heart of the works in this year’s programme. Artwork created from deep emotional responses reflect and comment on the fabric in which each one of us exists. Perhaps our common traits and values remind us of our responsibility to nurture compassion, foster understanding and create a sense of belonging and connection.” The power of images and, more generally, of art, is to enable a shared understanding of humanity in all its complexity. And Dior has contributed to this since the outset.