Modern Japanese crafts has developed in response to the times, attracting international attention. Particularly in recent years some artists , considering the trends in crafts and arts, intently deepen their thoughts on crafts and specific forms to positively advance innovations by creating forms for our own time. Renewing with their modern sensibility their appreciation of characteristics of craft pieces such as their structures, decorativeness and materiality, as well as traditional crafts, they have clarified their respective consciousness to discover their original expression.
Leading figures in today’s Japanese crafts such as Moriguchi Kunihiko and Raku Kichizaemon have discovered new ideas in traditional techniques and material utilization such as yuzen and rakuyaki to establish modern traditions. Kuriki Tatsusuke, Yagi Akira and Tanaka Nobuyuki have reconstructed the conventional appreciation of crafts and form-creation techniques to open up new possibilities. These craftspeople have gained international recognition through their active introduction of their works at home and abroad and those acquired by major art museums. While varying in materials and expression, their art has gained international acclaim as builders of new footing as well as proposers of fresh techniques in Japanese crafts.
This exhibition focuses on eleven artists attracting international attention including leaders of modern Japanese crafts and energetic producers of original works. This exhibition will present 97 pieces with strong individuality showing clear approaches to form creation taken by respective craftspersons, in an attempt to examine today’s crafts and look at the future of crafts.

Artists
IKEDA Iwao(Lacquerware), ODAHASHI Masayo(Glass）, KURIKI Tatsusuke(Ceramics), KURODA Taizo(Ceramics), SEKIJIMA Hisako(Weaving), TAKEYAMA Naoki(Enamel), TANAKA Nobuyuki(Lacquerware), HATAKEYAMA Koji(metal), RAKU Kichizaemon XV(Ceramics), MORIGUCHI Kunihiko(Textiles), YAGI Akira(Ceramics)

*image (left)
RAKU Kichizaemon, Black Raku tea bowl, yakinuki type, 2012
Photo: HATAKEYAMA Takeshi