Poetry in motion
HANAKO MURAKAMI • artist, researcher, interpreter
WORK • Friday Routine
HANAKO MURAKAMI • artist, researcher, interpreter
Neighborhood you live & work in: 17th arr
It’s Friday morning. How are you rolling into the weekend?
After picking up our daughter from school, we usually head straight to Le Perche, where we’re slowly renovating an old house ourselves — my husband is an architect, which helps. It’s actually two small houses with a big garden, and I love watching how everything changes with the seasons. You can pick mushrooms or chestnuts in the forest, or just walk, breathe, and look up at the trees. As an artist preparing several exhibitions for the bicentennial of photography in 2026-27, and working on my upcoming residency at Villa Albertine in NYC, I spend a lot of time in front of screens, so disconnecting is essential.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
For our wedding anniversary this weekend, we’re going to D’une île, which is much more than a restaurant. If you like Septime, La Cave, or Clamato in Paris, you’ll love this. It’s their countryside version, a maison d’hôte in the heart of Le Perche. Everything is local, seasonal, sustainable, and honestly delicious. I’ve written a lot of my recent texts and poems while staying there. Good food in a good mood makes you a poet, I guess. It’s one of the reasons we chose Le Perche for our second home.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Everyone already mentions the Bourse du Commerce, the new Fondation Cartier, or the Fondation Louis Vuitton. A show I loved recently was the Roger Caillois mineral exhibition at the École des Arts Joailliers. You see smoky mountains and skyscrapers inside pieces of stone — what he called “stones and reveries.” And a place many people don’t know: Jean-Kenta Gauthier. They show beautiful conceptual work, with spaces in Odéon and Vaugirard.
Any weekend getaways?
When we don’t drive to Le Perche, we sometimes organise a piano concert at home. We’re hosting a friend’s piano, and with his local association, we invite rising pianists and sometimes opera singers. It’s our way of creating a little musical getaway without leaving Paris.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
Buying a house means furnishing it, too. For winter, we invested in a beautiful Jøtul cast-iron stove, and we chose a table and chairs by the modernist designer Ilmari Tapiovaara. Otherwise, we try to find pieces in antique shops and local thrift stores.
What store or service do you always recommend?
I often go to Opéra for my Japanese groceries. Kioko is the classic stop. When I want something more refined, I go to Nishikidôri, a beautiful spice shop where you can find 40 different kinds of salt. There’s also iRASSHAi, near the Bourse du Commerce. And once I’m done with groceries, I usually stop by Fromagerie Hisada, a cheese shop run by a Japanese cheesemaker. Her mozzarella wrapped in a sakura leaf is incredible — it smells exactly like cherry blossoms. She’s a magician with alcohol-washed cheeses too: maroilles washed with sake, goat cheese infused with whisky… she creates things you don’t forget.
Where are you donating your time or money?
Lately, most of my time goes into a Japanese artists’ union I’m helping organize. It’s demanding, but it’s truly a passion. Through this group, we contributed to the Japanese translation of UNESCO’s new Fair Culture Charter. The charter already exists in nine languages and we’ve been preparing the Japanese version so it can circulate within the local art community. It’s about fair working conditions, sustainability, and a healthier cultural ecosystem. In every way, it feels like a small step toward a brighter future for artists.
Photo: Taisuke Yoshida