This first publication accompanies KNOTTO’s exhibition that presents a glimpse of the impressive world of Japanese craftsmanship and invites everyone to dream together about future collaborations between Europe and Japan.
Along with the exhibition Fragments of Japan, and with the idea to value local craftsmanship, KNOTTO worked hand in hand with two Brussels based artists specialized in copper etching printing technique and screenprinting.
They produced three limited edition posters, with different graphic design but with the same message ; an illustration of a tool used in the process of “Oke-shibori”, a tie-dyeing craft which creates patterns on textile mainly processed for kimono.
This edition has been printed on handcrafted paper from banana fibers (basho-shi) on Okinawa.
Oke-Shibori is a technique where the cloth is carefully placed in and outside of a wooden Hinoki (cypress) bucket to create large patterns. Due to the decreasing demand for kimono and a lack of successors, this heritage faces a danger of extinction.
Compared to today’s manufacturing practices, indigenous textile craftsmanship was sustainable in essence – it used natural resources, natural dyes, was pesticide free, and aimed for quality construction to last for generations. Value was placed on knowledge and its transmission, the making process and the textile itself. It was considered as an investment, each product created with the intention to hand it down to the next generation.
As craftsmanship is handed over from master to apprentice through observation and practice, it is necessary to ensure the transmission of knowledge to the new generation.
“Fragments of Japan” is an ode to those ancient traditional crafts on the brink of extinction.
Photos : Silvia Cappellari
EN
As part of the World Expo in Osaka, the EU pavilion invited KNOTTO to curate an open-call throughout Europe. Following this competition, five national artists, designers and crafts(wo)men were selected for a one month residency in Japan during the World Expo. Each of the participants will work in close collaboration with a Japanese crafts(wo)man, with the aim of producing a joint research project rooted in our different cultures.
The 5 selected European residents along with their respective Japanese crafts(wo)men and artists will present the results of their respective residencies in Kyoto at the Bridge Studio gallery and invite visitors to discover their universe in the unique setting of traditional Japanese architecture.
Seminars and conferences will be organised during the whole exhibition period. whole exhibition period. The exhibition is free and open to the public, with gallery hours from Monday to Sunday.
The theme «Artisanal Intelligence» has been chosen as a statement to highlight the urgent need to preserve the work of the hand, ancestral knowledge and the human beings behind it. If we do nothing, the current generation, which is getting older every year, might become the last witness to its craft.
JP
大阪万博の一環として、ヨーロッパ館はKNOTTOに公募のキュレーションを依頼しました。この公募を経て、KNOTTOはヨーロッパ出身の5名のアーティスト、デザイナー、および職人を選抜し、彼らに万博期間中に日本で1ヶ月間のレジデンス・プログラムに参加していただきました。参加者はそれぞれ、日本人の職人と協力し、日本と参加者の国の両国の異なる文化をもとにした共同研究プロジェクトを行いました。
選抜された5名のヨーロッパ出身のアーティストと日本人の職人が、京都のブリッジスタジオ・ギャラリーにてそれぞれのレジデンスの成果を発表します。来場者に日本の伝統的な建築というユニークな空間の中で、彼らの世界観を体験していただきます。会期中は、セミナーやカンファレンスも開催されます。展覧会は無料、一般公開であり、ギャラリーの開館時間は月曜日〜日曜日、午後13時〜午後18時です。
「職人の智恵」のテーマは、手仕事、先祖伝来の知識、そして、それを支える人の緊急なサポートの必要性を強調するメッセージとして選ばれました。このまま何もしなければ、年々高齢化していく今の世代が、自分の技術の最後の目撃者になってしまう恐れがあります。
