KUMAMOTO UTSUWA REBORN PROJECT
In April 2016 a series of devastating earthquakes struck Kumamoto, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. Sadly, 50 people lost their lives, the city’s iconic castle crumbled, and 44,000 were evacuated from their homes. Earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, wars – in its history, Japan has overcome many challenges; it is in the Japanese spirit to rebuild and recover following disaster.
For the Kumamoto Utsuwa Reborn Project, shards of ceramics made by five potters broken in the earthquake were collected from studios around Kumamoto Prefecture. Using kintsugi and maki-e techniques, lacquer craftsmen from Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture transformed the fragments into new, and now even more valuable works of art. The city of Wajima was itself hit by a powerful earthquake in 2007: The ceramic artists and craftsmen from these two earthquake-stricken areas now unite to show a way forward for monozukuri craftsmanship.
On display at Pantechnicon is ‘YOSHIZAKURA’, a matcha green tea bowl created in the yobitsugi style. It combines broken ceramic pieces from five Kumamoto potter’s destroyed works and Wajima nuri lacquerware. The name of the artwork, ‘YOSHI/繕’ ZAKURA/桜, literally means mended cherry blossom. The blooms on the cup remind the artists of the cherry blossoms at Kumamoto Castle. They hope to use it in a tea party on the castle’s grounds, after the historic building’s repairs are complete.
To continue their creative collaboration, the makers of Kumamoto and Wajima set themselves the challenge of creating a new handle-free coffee cup. Working with Yohei Kubota – the 2017 Japan Barista Championship’s drip division winner and the manager of Okada Coffee in Kumamoto – they have developed pottery cups inlaid with lacquer.
MEET THE MAKER: KUMAMOTO UTSUWA REBORN PROJECT
Tuesday 18 October / 18:30-19:30 / Studio at Pantechnicon
Project representative Akira Otaguro has personally hand-carried one of the pieces, ‘YOSHI ZAKURA (lit. ‘mended cherry blossom’ 繕桜) from Japan to display at Pantechnicon throughout October. Join us to meet Akira over a glass of sake, where he’ll share more about the project and show prototypes for their latest work. Click here to tell us you are coming.
