DEKOTORA

Dekotora stands for “Deko Torakku” which is the Japanese version of “Decorated Truck”. It is a whole subculture in Japan that has started in the ’70s. Initially, those trucks were painted for advertising purposes. It has a duality of attraction and repulsion: attraction, as it revolves around heavily decorated trucks full of colors and lights; repulsion, as the drivers have a “bad boy” reputation.

Today, because of the regulations forbidding such decorations and the bad image it could give, only a few small businesses, such as fish or flower delivery use those trucks for transportation.

“Dekotora” is a series of images mainly focus on the group Utamarokai, the largest and oldest one in Japan.  It is documentation and an archive of a part of Japanese culture that will disappear one day.

This series of slideshows have been recorded in order to create new artistic and educational opportunities for the Futures Talents - the photographers that are part of Futures platform.

In 2020 Tbilisi Photo Festival has joined the FUTURES - Europe based photography platform co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union. Futures bring together the global photography community to support and nurture the professional development of emerging artists across the world.