Ikuru Kuwajima is an artist, photographer, videographer, writer and translator, originally from Japan and educated in the University of Missouri, Columbia, as a photojournalism major. In the past 15 years, he has been living and working on personal projects in several Eastern European and Central Asian countries. He is fluent in Japanese, Russian and English and understands Ukrainian, as well as Romanian a little bit.

Published Books

I, Oblomov (The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, 2017)
Tundra Kids (Schlebrugge.Editor, Vienna, 2015)

Selected Exhibitions

Solo Shows
Repatriatsiya (Peresvetov Pereulok Art Gallery, Moscow, 2019)
I, Oblomov (The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, 2018)
Trail (la galerienomade, Arles, France 2017)
Circle of Ruins (part of Baltic Photo Biennale, Kaliningrad, Russia, 2017)

Group Shows
Krasnoyarsk Biennale (Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 2019)
Japonohara (Annecy, France, 2019)
YICCA 2018 Final Exhibition (Zagreb, 2019)
Addis Foto Fest (Ethiopia, 2018)
Along the Edges (Moscow, 2018)
Metamorphosis (Astana, Kazakhstan 2018)
Moscow – Kazan – Moscow (Moscow, 2018)
Connections (Belgrade, Serbia, 2018)
Boutographies (Montpellier, France, 2017).
between the lines – an artist books exhibition (London, 2016)
OUV RAGE – an artist’ books exhibition (Milan, 2016)
Obscura Festival of Photography (Penang, Malaysia, 2016)
Fotografia Europea (Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2016)
Personal exhibition at Private Hualian University (Guangzhou, China, 2015)
Kiyosato Young Portfolio (Japan, 2011, 2013, 2014)
Every Day of Winter (Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2015)
Metageography (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 2015)
Mari. Research/ Chuvash. Research (Moscow, 2015)
La Quatriéme Image (Paris, 2013)
Venice Biennale’s Central Asian Pavilion (Venice, Italy, 2013)
Reflexions Masterclass Group Exhibition (Arles, France, 2012)
Festival for Young Photojournalism (Hannover, Germany, 2012)
Noorderlicht Metropolis – City Life in the Urban Age (the Netherlands, 2011)

Screenings
Recontres Internationales Paris/Berlin Contemporary Moving Images (Paris & Berlin, 2018)

Selected Awards:
2017 Moscow Photobook Award — First Place
2016 Photobook award and show Maribor – First Place, Kassel Dummy Award – Shortlisted, SELF PUBLISH RIGA – Shortlisted
2015 Critical Mass Top-50, Rock Your Dummy – Among 26 Shortlisted Authors, ViennaPhotobookAward – Third Place, folioPort Top-25, Voies Off Shortlisted
2012 Critical Mass Top 50, The Best of Photojournalism – Second Place in Non-Traditional Photojournalism Publishing
2010 Fujifilm Distinction Awards  – First Place
2009, 2010 Picture of the Year International – Honorable mentions in Portrait category
2008 Hearst Championship  –  Finalist
2007 College Photographer of the Year – Bronze in International Picture Story category

Published/Clients
Newsweek Japan, National Geographic Japan/Romania/Blog, Forbes Magazine, Getty Images, McGarryBowen, Chevron, Save the Children, WHO, Sekai, Daily Telegraph, Le Monde, NYT Lens Blog, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Esquire Russia,TIME Magazine’s Lightbox,the Guardian, Marie Claire, internazionale, Wired, Flow Magazine.