Sumo - Absolute Balance

Catalogue of the exhibition Sumo. Absolute Balance, presented at the Musée départemental des arts asiatiques, Nice (20 August 2025 - 2 February 2026).

A highly symbolic and traditional practice, yet a high-level sport in the 21st century, sumō is a clever blend of technique and intuition. It is distinguished by the corpulence of its athletes and by its disconcertingly fast-paced fights, where the loser is penalised for losing their balance.

This notion of balance, between movement and inertia, is at the heart of the extraordinary experience of a wrestler, or rikishi, throughout his career, which takes on the appearance of an initiatory quest, marked by trials, whether overcome or not. The rikishi must find the right balance between his personal ambitions and those of his stable, between the rigour of centuries-old customs and the attractions of contemporary society. As he lunges towards his opponent for the atari, the first contact, he carries within him a quest for absolute balance.

Sumō – Absolute Balance is the first major exhibition organised in France on this practice. It takes as its starting point the work of two passionate artists: French photographer Philippe Marinig and Japanese painter Kinoshita Daimon. Their creations are accompanied by rare works, loaned exceptionally to the Departmental Museum of Asian Arts in Nice to offer visitors a unique overview of sumō.