First solo exhibition of cute cat-shaped matryoshka “Nekoshka” raised in Yokohama

Nozomi Narita

The cute form of the matryoshka, Russia's representative folk art, perfectly matches the warm-hearted expressions of the cats drawn by Ms. Narita, and the cuteness will make you smile when you look at it.

Nekoshika first appeared in a group exhibition five years ago, and since then has been displayed and sold at handmade exhibitions and Seiyasha's open office, but gradually its popularity has spread through word of mouth and social media. This is my first solo exhibition.

Pure Cafe Nekoshika

--Congratulations on your solo exhibition. It was so popular over the three days that all the cat deer were sold out.

Narita: Thanks to you. I made a lot of them for this solo exhibition, but they were sold out, so I'm very happy. Thank you very much to everyone who came to visit us.

--This time, there are a lot of Nekosikas with a Yokohama theme, such as ``Jazz Cafe Nekosika'' and ``Chinatown Nekosika''.

Jazz Cafe Nekoushka

Narita: The kitty deer is a set of 5 cats (plus a house), so I always decide on a theme when making them.
This time, I tried to draw various things such as ``Summer Cat Deer'' to match the season, ``Bridal Cat Deer'' to celebrate a wedding, and ``I don't want to eat sushi! Cat Deer'' to celebrate sushi.
The theme of Yokohama is local, and the venue of my solo exhibition was in places typical of Yokohama, such as Yamashita Park and Chinatown. There are a lot of food motifs (lol)

--And there's a lot of alcohol, too (lol) There's also Akita's cat deer.

Akita cat deer

Narita: I made this at the request of a person from Akita, and I learned a lot about Akita by researching its specialties and learning about Akita.
For example, in Akita, there is a field trip called ``Nabekko Excursion'' where everyone in Akita prefecture brings ingredients for making imoni, which is a familiar experience. Local products are really fun because they give me an opportunity to learn things that people outside of my hometown don't have the chance to know.

--Local cat deer! It would be a sight to see if you could see cat deer not only from Yokohama, but also from Kanagawa Prefecture and all prefectures around the country.

Narita: I would like to try the 47 prefectures someday (lol)

Cat deer wakes up and spills

--Do you have any plans for another solo exhibition? Where can I usually buy Nekoshika?

Narita: We would like you to see the actual product before purchasing, so we are currently not selling online. In addition to solo exhibitions, there are many group exhibitions with the theme of "cats," and I am participating in "Cat Exhibition 4," which is being held in Nagoya until August 14th. In October, we are planning to participate in "ZOO Tsumo 2016 presented by tumo" which will be held in Shibuya.

Although it is irregular, I also exhibit it at the open office of Seiyasha in Isezaki Town.
We are announcing this on our homepage, so please check it out.

--I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of theme the new Nekoshika will be born with next time.

Narita: Thank you.

cat deer strap

The solo exhibition was held at the Imperial Building, a retro building built in 1930, near Yamashita Park. During the exhibition period, there was a huge turnout of people in Yokohama as it was the first three-day holiday of summer vacation and there were fireworks displays.
This time, in addition to matryoshkas, there were many other cat deers such as cat straps, awari-koboshi cats, and more.
Some people may have purchased it as a souvenir from Yokohama.

Nekoshka was born in Russia and raised in Yokohama, and I would like to support her as she travels from here in Yokohama to all over the country.