Artist Talk: Isn't London a catalyst for storytelling?

Isn’t London a catalyst for storytelling? Since arriving in the UK in 2023, Taihei Soejima – whose practice explores the relationship between ideology and art – has been reflecting on this question.

Before coming to the UK, Soejima traveled across Eurasia, photographing the remnants of communist art, and led long-term workshops in conflict-affected Armenia. Confronted with overwhelming realities, the world’s inherent duality, and deeply personal encounters, he found it nearly impossible to express or translate these experiences into his work. He began to question whether, as an outsider, he had the right to tell the stories of others through a fragmented lens. As a result, many of these moments remained what he calls “unresolved experiences.”

Life in London marked a turning point. Engaging with diverse communities, he shifted from observer to participant. The city’s coexistence of cultures and multiplicity of perspectives enabled him to reconnect with and reframe his fragmented experiences, shaping a new artistic approach.

In this talk, moderated by Jonathan Watkins, Taihei Soejima will present artworks that explore histories in which multiple truths coexist, employing the contrasting media of generative AI and analogue film, alongside portraiture capturing individuals in multicultural communities undergoing gentrification. He will reflect on how his “unresolved experiences” have been transformed into his current artistic practice, with London acting as a catalyst.

About the contributors:

Taihei Soejima
A photographic artist born in Tokyo. After completing his studies at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School, and a period as an Education & Research Assistant at the same university, he taught at the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Armenia before moving to the UK in 2023. He remains based in London, having been supported as an overseas researcher by the Pola Art Foundation in 2024 and the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation from 2025. He uses both digital and analogue photography as well as generative AI, and his work, which focusses on the relationships between people and stories, is exhibited both in Japan and overseas.

Jonathan Watkins
Jonathan Watkins is an independent curator and writer and was previously Director of the Ikon Gallery (1999-2022). Previously he worked for a number of years in London, as Curator of the Serpentine Gallery (1995-1997) and Director of Chisenhale Gallery (1990-1995). He has curated a number of large international exhibitions including the Biennale of Sydney (1998), Facts of Life: Contemporary Japanese Art (Hayward Gallery, London 2001), Quotidiana (Castello di Rivoli, Turin 1999), Tate Triennial (2003), Shanghai Biennale (2006), Sharjah Biennial (2007), Negotiations (Today Art Museum, Beijing 2010) and the Guangzhou Triennial (2012). He was on the curatorial team for Europarte (Venice Biennale, 1997), Milano Europa 2000 (Palazzo di Triennale, Milan, 2000) and Riwaq (Palestinian Biennial, 2007).

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