Japan Museum SieboldHuis is pleased to present the exhibition ‘Anaïs López – the Turtle and the Monk’ from 28 March to 7 December 2025. This multimedia project recounts the true story of photographer and storyteller Anaïs López’ search for the golden turtle Kami, goddess of the Kamo river. A multi-layered narrative about grief, the human urge to control nature, and the magic of the imagination.
Golden Turtle
In October 2016, photographer Anaïs López travels to Japan. Heavily pregnant and grieving the death of her sister, López is looking for a place that can offer her solace and contemplation. She decides to head to the country’s former capital Kyoto. During a stroll along the city’s Kamo river, she spots a peculiar turtle in the middle of the stream. Its shell is flecked with gold. As soon as the turtle hears the click of López’ camera shutter, though, it dives under a rock.
A Quest
When López returns to the Netherlands, the turtle keeps appearing in dreams. She decides to call the creature Kami, Japanese for ‘deity’. Why did Kami reveal itself to her? The encounter turns into a quest that will take many years. López returns to Japan on multiple occasions, meeting fascinating individuals who each show her a different path. What starts as a chance encounter leads to a layered tale about grief, control, nature, avarice, and the courage to let go.
A Multimedia Story
Using photographs, video, various printing techniques (gyotaku and photopolymer etching), taxidermy animals, archival images, and illustrations by Japanese artist Niwa Yuta, López takes visitors on a unique journey. The exhibition presents this journey as a four-act play, in four different rooms: there’s the initial encounter, the quest, the obsession, and the magic of imagination. The final act consists of a 33-minute video, ‘The Turtle and the Monk’.
Anaïs López
Anaïs López is a born storyteller. With her photography and multimedia projects, she invites us into fabled worlds that seem fictitious at first sight, but then turn out to be closer reflections of real life. Her previous project, ‘The Migrant’ was nominated for a Golden Calf at the Dutch Film Festival and won two prestigious awards: the Dutch Directors Guild’s Best Digital Storytelling award, and a Silver Camera for best storytelling.
Japan Museum SieboldHuis
Rapenburg 19
2311 GE Leiden
071-5125539
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 AM – 05.00 PM