Dior will sponsor two exhibitions at the 14th edition of the Kyotographie International Photography Festival in Kyoto, Japan, presenting work by South African artist Lebohang Kganye and Kyoto-based photographer Momo Nakagawa from April 18 to May 17.

The festival's latest edition carries a special focus on South Africa's burgeoning art scene, and Kganye — who last year joined the jury for the Dior Prize for Photography and Visual Arts for Young Talents in Arles — sits at the centre of that programming. Working across photography, video and installation, she builds what Dior describes as "connections between personal memory and collective history."

Her exhibition will unfold at the Higashi Hongan-ji Temple, a 19th-century centre of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism prized for its vast wooden structures. The scenography will employ washi paper, a material choice intended to echo the toiles used in constructing haute couture silhouettes — a quiet nod to the sponsor's craft that situates the house's atelier techniques within a sacred architectural setting.

The show assembles several bodies of work that trace Kganye's sustained inquiry into family, memory and inherited image-making. "Ke Lefa Laka: Her-Story" revives family memories through the reenactment of old photographs, fusing past and present in a single frame. "Mohlokomedi wa Tora," in Dior's phrasing, "inscribes memory into space." "Keep the Light Faithfully" draws on lighthouse keepers and their stories of solitude and transmission, while "Mosebetsi wa Dirithi" is described as "a constellation of monumental silhouettes from family photo albums" — family archive scaled up to the dimensions of public monument.

In parallel, at the KG+ satellite event, Parfums Christian Dior is underwriting a second exhibition: "Clonal Images" by Momo Nakagawa, a finalist in the last Dior Photography and Visual Arts Prize for Young Talents. Kganye herself will curate the Kyoto-based artist's show, a passing of institutional patronage from jury member to prize finalist. Nakagawa began in fashion and music, according to Dior, "before eventually finding her way to photography." Her large collages take inspiration from science fiction and the prospect of humans mutating in order to survive space colonization.

The pairing marks the fifth year of Dior's partnership with Kyotographie, an alliance that fits into a longer institutional affection for Japan. The house's fascination began with founder Christian Dior in the 1950s and has extended into the present: Kyoto hosted Dior's pre-fall 2025 show.

Whether the washi-and-toile scenography reads as meaningful dialogue between couture craftsmanship and Kganye's archival practice, or as branding in temple clothing, visitors can judge for themselves from April 18. With a fifth consecutive year of sponsorship and two exhibitions underwriting artists at different career stages — one an established juror, the other an emerging finalist — Dior's presence at Kyotographie appears set to deepen rather than recede.