The Embassy of Japan and the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina are organizing the Japan Foundation Traveling Exhibition” YAKISHIME: Earth Metamorphosis ” at the National Museum.
The exhibition focuses on a ceramic technique, yakishime, firing unglazed wares at high temperatures. While one of the most basic means of producing ceramics, yakishime has developed in distinctive directions in Japan. This exhibition introduces an aspect of Japanese culture by examining yakishime from the earliest examples to contemporary work.
The exhibition will last from May 10th until June 9th.
The Japan Foundation was established in 1972 with the objective of deepening international understanding through cultural exchanges. Our programs span three fields: artistic and cultural exchanges, Japanese-language education throughout the world, and Japanese studies and intellectual exchanges. In the visual arts, one component of our artistic and cultural exchanges, we implement exhibitions organized by our foundation or jointly organized with other institutions. We also endeavor to increase awareness of the arts through programs to assist artists and others in art-related fields in their work, in Japan and abroad, and through exchanges between Japan and other countries.
As part of those activities, the Japan Foundation organizes, on an ongoing basis, traveling exhibitions that tour outside Japan. These traveling exhibitions employ works in our collection and cover a wide range of fields, including crafts, painting, photography, architecture, and design. Around twenty traveling exhibitions are on the road at all times and are presented in over a hundred museums and other cultural facilities around the globe each year.
Yakishime: Earth Metamorphosis, our new traveling exhibition, focuses on a ceramic technique, yakishime, firing unglazed wares at high temperatures. While one of the most basic means of producing ceramics, yakishime has developed in distinctive directions in Japan. This exhibition introduces an aspect of Japanese culture by examining yakishime from the earliest examples to contemporary work.
The earliest known yakishime wares date to the fourth or fifth centuries. It was in the twelfth through the seventeenth centuries, however, that this technique became solidly established and used in a substantial part of the production at major ceramic centers in Japan, including Bizen, Shigaraki, and Tokoname. This exhibition presents functional yakishime wares of two types: utensils used in the tea ceremony, a major influence on the development of Japanese traditional culture, and tablewares that have become an essential part of everyday life in Japan. It also presents a wide range of non-utilitarian objects (objets) created by contemporary ceramic artists working in yakishime. We hope that visitors will, through experiencing this generous array of yakishime wares, both become aware of the depth and diversity of Japanese culture and gain insight into its creativity.
In conclusion, we would be remiss not to take this opportunity to thank Iwai Mieko of the Panasonic Shiodome Museum for curating this exhibition, the artists for graciously providing their work, and the many others whose cooperation and assistance made this exhibition possible.
