Forget Me Not
October 14–November 29, 2026
Art Center BUG, operated by Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd., is pleased to present Forget Me Not, a solo show by Aya Fujioka opening on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. With Forget Me Not, Fujioka presents a new series that has been commissioned by BUG. Nine years ago, Fujioka received a single message from a woman living in Melbourne, Australia regarding the existence of a certain Japanese woman. This launched a creative project that spans the postwar-era to the present and bridges the immense distance between Fujioka’s hometown of Kure (Hiroshima) and Australia, a project where mysteries multiply with every new discovery, and truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Just as Saudade traced her grandmother’s footsteps through São Paulo, Comment te dire adieu recorded her own travels throughout Europe, and Life Studies was born out of the five years the artist spent living in New York, so too does this series seem to lead Fujioka on a global journey, one told from the stories interwoven through the viewfinder of her camera to produce an exhibition that marks a shifting tide in her work.
A fresh series of all-new material, and a first foray into video-art
The present exhibition revolves around a completely new series by Aya Fujioka titled Forget Me Not, which includes her very first attempt at video-art. Three years in conception and production, the work deals with an unsolved personal incident. As an involved party, Fujioka witnessed a reality carved out moment by moment through her choices and the press of the shutter. Rather than a standard documentary, the experience aligns with the characteristics of a "non-fiction novel"—where the author’s perspective is conveyed through choices and creative processing becomes essential. Constructed with an ambivalent approach, the exhibition presents material grounded in the definitive facts of photography while crafting a story that stirs deep emotions.
The lives of women who tie together Kure, Melbourne and São Paulo
Hiroshima Prefecture, Fujioka’s hometown, once ranked first nationwide in overseas emigration in Japan. Her grandmother was born in Brazil as a second-generation (nisei) immigrant before her family returned to Kure, Hiroshima. After receiving a message from a woman in Melbourne searching for someone named Kimiko Fujioka—a name differing from her grandmother's, Kimie Fujioka, by a single character—Fujioka set out for Kure and Melbourne to solve the mystery of this woman's identity.
The search for Kimiko drew in various people whose wild speculations touched on the human absurdity found amidst laughter and tears. This journey led Fujioka to turn her gaze toward the postwar history of Kure and Melbourne, the lives of women who lived through that era, and the present state of Kure—a former naval port and industrial zone now in decline. A central theme is capturing through Fujioka’s lens the resilient lives of these women and the cities they inhabited.
Photography is something that can’t be undone
Aya Fujioka, who often employs snapshots, describes the irreversibility of capturing a moment with a small camera as “something that can't be undone.” For this exhibition, she encountered photographs preserved in a private home and centered her creative process on “found photographs.” Although found photographs share anonymity with snapshots, the mystery of “who” they depict hangs more heavily in the air.
Through images from the distant past, complete strangers meet and interact. Yet the more one tries to solve the mystery, the less the photographs serve as clues and the more they become the mystery itself. When photographs transform from captured moments into puzzles to be unraveled, the meaning of photography as something “that can’t be undone” undergoes a profound change.
