Birth / Mother

On 24 April 2004 the Japanese director Naomi Kawase gave birth to a son, Mitsumi. In accordance with tradition, she gave birth to her child on a mat with the aid of an assistant and surrounded by her loved ones. Tarachime is the word for mother in old Japanese. The director never knew her mother and was raised by her grandmother. Pregnant, she returns to the ninety-year-old woman: her naked, lined breasts symbolising the director's future motherhood.