César Debargue

César Debargue (b. 1997) is an illustrator and publisher who studied at École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and Kyoto University of Art and Design. He has developed his practice as an illustrator through collaborations in France, Italy and Japan, in areas such as the press (The New York Times), couture (Louis Vuitton) and cultural institutions (Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès). Alongside commissioned works, since 2018 he has pursued a series of personal projects and collaborations on the theme of bathing cultures, in particular the role of the sento or public bathhouse in Kyoto.

Sento – public bathhouses – are used by people of all ages as a space for socialising and relaxation. It was here that, on his first visit to Japan, César Debargue experienced hadaka no tsukiai  – “skinship” or “naked communion” – and, by the same measure, entered Japanese society. Eager to better understand these places, Debarque returned to Kyoto in 2022 to begin a new project: Nuages Flottants (Floating Clouds). By talking with and photographing the managers, employees and regulars of these bathhouses, he recorded their experience of the sento’s role in society and its rapid decline under the weight of multiple difficulties.

During his residency at Villa Kujoyama, César Debargue intends to immerse himself in bathhouse culture by visiting sento and onsen (hot springs) throughout Japan’s thermal towns and regions, and meeting the people who bring them to life. The noren (curtains), ceramics and painted murals which decorate sento make them ideal places for daydreaming and contemplation. By meeting the artists behind this visual heritage, and observing them at work, César Debargue hopes to become fully immersed in this contemporary yet traditional creation, and thereby contribute to the documentation and preservation of Japanese bathing culture.

Portrait : © César Debargue & Romain Triboulet

-1 © César Debargue, Umeyu Sento Noren, 2024

-2 © César Debargue, carnets de Kyoto, 2022

– 3 © Luna Duchaufour-Lawrance & César Debargue, série Nuages Flottants, 2022

-4 © César Debargue, carnets de Kyoto, 2022