Vittoria Fragapane, OMOTE URA, 2021

When my paternal grandmother’s house had my Aunt Yuko coming back from Tokyo, she always brought small gifts. As a child I remember the smell that came out of those boxes when they were opened, so different from the smells I was used to. It is said that when you enter your own house you cannot recognize your own smell, on the contrary you can perfectly distinguish the smell when you enter the houses of others. Only after a long trip does the smell of home seem new to us. Japan has always meant a second home to me. Walking the streets on my first trip to Tokyo, present images blurred with those of memory. The union between the outer and inner worlds formed a sort of link between experiences and places, as if that same path had already been traveled. The project Omote Ura, translated in a simplified way, means “outside and inside”. Two fundamental words that are used to identify the principle of Japanese culture. In fact, “Omote” refers to the relationship with the outside world and what determined behavior to assume in society. “Ura” on the other hand indicates the intimate and private sphere of a person. Inserting myself on the threshold between these two worlds, I searched for similarities and differences of a country that is foreign to me, but that I have always felt so familiar. There were moments when a deep connection occurred with what I saw and felt in a certain moment and space. Living in a globalized historical period, it becomes habitual not so much to recognize oneself in a place, but in the common feeling that each of us attributes to the idea of home through a precise atmosphere.