| When I first heard about Mingei, I was studying product design and the history of objects. At the time, I thought Mingei was an artistic movement of some sort, something from the past. Even though I was truly interested in this movement, I couldn't find much information and eventually forgot all about it. So when I visited the Mingeikan (Japan Folk Crafts Museum) in Tokyo a few month ago, I didn't realize right away the connection with what I learned a few years ago. The museum has an amazing collection of textiles and ceramics among other things, and I was amazed at the beauty of the objects. All of them were undoubtedly made by skilled craftsmen but still had an earthly feeling: I could totally picture myself drinking from this cup or making tea in that teapot. They were not objects to be locked away in a case but objects to be used. In fact, most of them could be bought at a very decent price. Last December, the exhibition displayed many modern objects and it was obvious that the concept of Mingei is still very much alive in Japan. So Mingei, what is it? At the beginning of the 20th century, while Japan was undergoing profound transmutations, trying to compete with industrialized countries, Soetsu Yanagi, Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai founded the Japan Folk Crafts Association (Nihon Mingei Kyokai). Their goal was to preserve traditional crafts, local techniques and skills. They started a collection of objects of the "common classes". Mingei objects had to be both functional and ordinary, and had to be made by anonymous craftspeople. | |
Now, This last requirement might seem a bit odd today as our Western societies are all about personal success, but to them, it was crucial.
So then I wondered, what could Mingei objects be in our Western societies? Well it's hard to say. Even though we do have functional and ordinary objects used by the "common classes", they are manufactured and lack that handmade quality. Moreover, our handmade objects are usually quite expensive and not accessible to everybody. They are a luxury and very few of us can afford to use only handmade items in our daily life. And this raises interesting questions about the goals of handmade goods and about their makers as well. Because, who would be willing to sell unsigned work today?
Kanjiro Kawai, when asked why he didn't sign his work replied "My work itself is my best signature".
As a craft person, I feel there are many things to be learned from these movements and even though their concepts are sometimes outdated, they at least raise many interesting questions. If you want to learn more about Mingei, I highly recommend reading Mingei: Masterpieces Of Japanese Folkcraft published by the Japan Folk Craft Museum
[ Images of this article are from Mingei : masterpieces of Japanese folkcraft. Tokyo New York New York: Kodansha International Distributed by Kodansha America, 1991. ISBN: 9784770015822]
So then I wondered, what could Mingei objects be in our Western societies? Well it's hard to say. Even though we do have functional and ordinary objects used by the "common classes", they are manufactured and lack that handmade quality. Moreover, our handmade objects are usually quite expensive and not accessible to everybody. They are a luxury and very few of us can afford to use only handmade items in our daily life. And this raises interesting questions about the goals of handmade goods and about their makers as well. Because, who would be willing to sell unsigned work today?
Kanjiro Kawai, when asked why he didn't sign his work replied "My work itself is my best signature".
As a craft person, I feel there are many things to be learned from these movements and even though their concepts are sometimes outdated, they at least raise many interesting questions. If you want to learn more about Mingei, I highly recommend reading Mingei: Masterpieces Of Japanese Folkcraft published by the Japan Folk Craft Museum
[ Images of this article are from Mingei : masterpieces of Japanese folkcraft. Tokyo New York New York: Kodansha International Distributed by Kodansha America, 1991. ISBN: 9784770015822]