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Mingei
The concept of , variously translated into English as " folk craft", "folk art" or "popular art", was developed from the mid-1920s in Japan by a philosopher and aesthete, Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961), together with a group of craftsmen, including the potters Hamada Shōji (1894–1978) and Kawai Kanjirō (1890–1966). As such, it was a conscious attempt to distinguish ordinary crafts and functional utensils (pottery, lacquerware, textiles, and so on) from "higher" forms of art – at the time much admired by people during a period when Japan was going through rapid westernisation, industrialisation, and urbanization. In some ways, therefore, ''mingei'' may be seen as a reaction to Japan's rapid modernisation processes. Origins As a young man, Yanagi developed a liking for Joseon (1392–1910) ceramics, and in 1916, made his first trip to Korea. There he started to collect items, especially pottery, made by local Korean craftsmen. Realising that Yi Dynasty wares had been made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yanagi Sōetsu
, also known as Yanagi Muneyoshi, was a Japanese art critic, philosopher, and founder of the '' mingei'' (folk craft) movement in Japan in the late 1920s and 1930s. Personal life Yanagi was born in 1889 to Yanagi Narayoshi, a hydrographer of the Imperial Navy and Katsuko. His son, Sori Yanagi, was a renowned industrial designer. His great grandnephew Shinya Yanagi is a renowned weaver, and the third generation of the Yanagi family of weavers. Career In 1916, Yanagi made his first trip to Korea out of curiosity about Korean crafts. The trip led to the establishment of the Korean Folk Crafts Museum in 1924 and the coining of the term ''mingei'' by Yanagi, potters Hamada Shōji (1894–1978) and Kawai Kanjirō (1890–1966). Yanagi was not an artist or craftsman himself. His theory of the in Korean art has been said to have influenced the development of the Korean idea of '' han''. Following the March First Movement, Korea's independence movement in which thousands of Ko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
