THE EXHIBITION OF JAPANESE FIBER ART "BASKETRY"

M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, Nepriklausomybės Sq. 12, Kaunas 

This exhibition is Japanese Basketry as Fiber work of art which let material and the technique of the basket unfold creatively. Through 1980, I explored basketmaking, especially focusing on the interplay of material and structural mechanism. And I started a class to introduce a conceptual approach to basketmaking in Japan. Some of my students from that period have been presiding over an annual basketry show since then to cultivate a new ground in Japan.

The first show was held at Senbikiya Gallery, Chuo-ku Tokyo in 1986.The objective was then, and still is now, to generate mutual learning and promotion. In Japan, compared with the government-supported field for traditional art bamboo basketry and mingei folk basketry, the field for the contemporary basketry remains small and still not well known.

The group avoided forming a so-called art/craft association or exclusive school of a core artist. I knew that in the Japanese cultural climate such attempts had seen quick rise and fall in a short time, for the exclusive/authoritative nature of organizations tends to distort its original ideal. It is a shared regard that binds our group and the conviction that each should be a leader to oneself and to the group, besides being a creative basketmaker.

Curator Kakuko Ishii

Exhibition works: 22 03 2019–28 04 2019