The exhibition “Innervisions” will be on display from August 28 to December 7, according to the museum’s website.
The title of the exhibition refers to Stevie Wonder’s album ‘Innervisions’, which Pedro Costa listened to during his adolescence and became a significant influence and source of inspiration for him.
“The spirit of this album [released in 1973], which balances ingenious modern popular music with social commentary, deeply resonated with Costa’s cinematic practice,” reads the website of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
The exhibition features works related to the characters, locations, and environments that play a vital role in Costa’s work, as well as pieces from the museum’s collection.
During the exhibit’s run, the museum’s cinema will screen films selected by Pedro Costa, along with a retrospective of his works.
Museum officials describe the exhibition as “very special,” showcasing and demonstrating the power of cinema and the depth of Pedro Costa’s cinematic universe.
According to information released today, “ahead of the exhibition’s opening, cinemas in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Kyoto have premiered newly restored versions of ‘O Sangue’, ‘Casa de Lava’, and ‘Ossos’.”
Born in Lisbon in 1959, Pedro Costa is an independent filmmaker and a successor to the 16mm documentary experimentation of his peers from the so-called Novo Cinema. He graduated from the Lisbon Polytechnic Institute’s Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema.
He began his career in the 1990s, working as an assistant director for Jorge Silva Melo and João Botelho, creating feature and short films such as ‘Vitalina Varela’ (2019), ‘Ne Change Rien’ (2009), ‘Juventude em Marcha’ (2006), ‘Ossos’ (1997), ‘Casa de Lava’ (1994), and ‘O Sangue’ (1989).
Internationally acclaimed for his films, Pedro Costa is also recognized for various exhibitions, highlighted by Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography: ‘Companhia’, displayed in 2018 at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, ‘Le reste est ombre’ with Rui Chafes and Paulo Nozolino, shown in 2023 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and ‘La Canción de Pedro Costa’, which toured various regions of Spain between 2022 and 2023.
