Carvings
Tanuki (racoon) figure, 1970
Wakul Yuhei IV
glazed stoneware
In the 1960s and '70s, Mingei becomes increasingly associated with tourism, as growing numbers of national and international holidaymakers sought locally-made souvenirs. Created by a fourth-generation potter, this ceramic figure of a tanuki (a racoon-like figure from Japanese folklore) shows how traditional kilns produced folk craft objects full of commercial appeal.*
Kibori kuma (carved wooden bear), c1970
unrecorded Ainu maker, Hokkaido Prefecture
carved wood
These typical Hokkaido souvenirs were mass-produced from the post-war tourism boom onwards. It's said that the form originated in the town of Yakumo as an imitation of a similar bear purchased in Bern, Switzerland; others believe that the Ainu in Asahikawa developed it independently. Tourists used to buy huge numbers of these carved wooden bears at the Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Museum.*
Sosaku (contemporary) kokeshi, c1968
Kishi Sadao
turned wood, paint
Kokeshi - simple, turned wooden dolls - are perhaps the most popular folk craft souvenir. Originally made as children's toys by agricultural workers in the Tohoku region during the cold winter months, from the 1920s they became collectables for adult Mingei enthusiasts around the country. This award-winning design, dating from the Mingei tourism boom of the 1960s, shows how new styles of kokeshi were mass-produced for sale.*
From the exhibition
Art Without Heroes: Mingei
(March - September 2024)
The most wide-ranging exhibition in the UK dedicated to Japanese folk-craft.
Art Without Heroes: Mingei is the most wide-ranging exhibition in the UK dedicated to Mingei, the influential folk-craft movement that developed in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s. With works including ceramics, woodwork, paper, toys, textiles, photography and film, the exhibition incorporates unseen pieces from significant private collections in the UK and Japan, along with museum loans and historic footage from the Mingei Film Archive.
Mingei is a term coined by the Japanese philosopher and critic Yanagi Sōetsu (1889-1961) to mean ‘the art of the people’ and ascribes cultural value and aesthetic purity to traditional craft objects, unnamed makers and a simpler way of life. The exhibition considers Mingei both as a historical moment and as a set of principles that remain relevant to contemporary craft, manufacturing and material consumerism worldwide.
Like the British Arts and Crafts movement, Mingei was a response to rapid industrialisation. Mingei developed in dialogue with the work of William Morris and his contemporaries, within a specifically Japanese context that included the strong influence of Pure Land Buddhism. The exhibition also introduces the significance of Korean, Okinawan and Ainu objects to the Mingei movement, showing how these independent cultures contributed to what tends to be seen as a quintessentially Japanese aesthetic.
Divided into three parts, the exhibition starts with the 19th-century craft objects the Mingei movement looked to for inspiration. The second part of the exhibition focuses on the origin and evolution of the Mingei movement during the 20th century. Spearheaded by Yanagi, Japanese studio potter Hamada Shōji (1894-1978) and British studio potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979), it proposed an alternative to the rise of industrialism that accompanied the modernisation of Japanese society. Together Yanagi, Hamada and Leach, who described themselves as the ‘three musketeers’, championed the Mingei ideals of ‘art without heroes’, true beauty and traditional craft skills, leading a revival of interest in folk crafts.
The final section of the exhibition considers 21st-century iterations of the Mingei movement and modern re-interpretations of its core values. It shows how the term ‘Mingei’ has been reinterpreted and reclaimed by contemporary artists, including work by Theaster Gates which explores the spiritual and artistic dialogue between Black and Japanese craft traditions, a key concern of his practice.
[*William Morris Gallery]
Taken at William Morris Gallery
Carvings
Tanuki (racoon) figure, 1970
Wakul Yuhei IV
glazed stoneware
In the 1960s and '70s, Mingei becomes increasingly associated with tourism, as growing numbers of national and international holidaymakers sought locally-made souvenirs. Created by a fourth-generation potter, this ceramic figure of a tanuki (a racoon-like figure from Japanese folklore) shows how traditional kilns produced folk craft objects full of commercial appeal.*
Kibori kuma (carved wooden bear), c1970
unrecorded Ainu maker, Hokkaido Prefecture
carved wood
These typical Hokkaido souvenirs were mass-produced from the post-war tourism boom onwards. It's said that the form originated in the town of Yakumo as an imitation of a similar bear purchased in Bern, Switzerland; others believe that the Ainu in Asahikawa developed it independently. Tourists used to buy huge numbers of these carved wooden bears at the Kawamura Kaneto Ainu Memorial Museum.*
Sosaku (contemporary) kokeshi, c1968
Kishi Sadao
turned wood, paint
Kokeshi - simple, turned wooden dolls - are perhaps the most popular folk craft souvenir. Originally made as children's toys by agricultural workers in the Tohoku region during the cold winter months, from the 1920s they became collectables for adult Mingei enthusiasts around the country. This award-winning design, dating from the Mingei tourism boom of the 1960s, shows how new styles of kokeshi were mass-produced for sale.*
From the exhibition
Art Without Heroes: Mingei
(March - September 2024)
The most wide-ranging exhibition in the UK dedicated to Japanese folk-craft.
Art Without Heroes: Mingei is the most wide-ranging exhibition in the UK dedicated to Mingei, the influential folk-craft movement that developed in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s. With works including ceramics, woodwork, paper, toys, textiles, photography and film, the exhibition incorporates unseen pieces from significant private collections in the UK and Japan, along with museum loans and historic footage from the Mingei Film Archive.
Mingei is a term coined by the Japanese philosopher and critic Yanagi Sōetsu (1889-1961) to mean ‘the art of the people’ and ascribes cultural value and aesthetic purity to traditional craft objects, unnamed makers and a simpler way of life. The exhibition considers Mingei both as a historical moment and as a set of principles that remain relevant to contemporary craft, manufacturing and material consumerism worldwide.
Like the British Arts and Crafts movement, Mingei was a response to rapid industrialisation. Mingei developed in dialogue with the work of William Morris and his contemporaries, within a specifically Japanese context that included the strong influence of Pure Land Buddhism. The exhibition also introduces the significance of Korean, Okinawan and Ainu objects to the Mingei movement, showing how these independent cultures contributed to what tends to be seen as a quintessentially Japanese aesthetic.
Divided into three parts, the exhibition starts with the 19th-century craft objects the Mingei movement looked to for inspiration. The second part of the exhibition focuses on the origin and evolution of the Mingei movement during the 20th century. Spearheaded by Yanagi, Japanese studio potter Hamada Shōji (1894-1978) and British studio potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979), it proposed an alternative to the rise of industrialism that accompanied the modernisation of Japanese society. Together Yanagi, Hamada and Leach, who described themselves as the ‘three musketeers’, championed the Mingei ideals of ‘art without heroes’, true beauty and traditional craft skills, leading a revival of interest in folk crafts.
The final section of the exhibition considers 21st-century iterations of the Mingei movement and modern re-interpretations of its core values. It shows how the term ‘Mingei’ has been reinterpreted and reclaimed by contemporary artists, including work by Theaster Gates which explores the spiritual and artistic dialogue between Black and Japanese craft traditions, a key concern of his practice.
[*William Morris Gallery]
Taken at William Morris Gallery