Hello everyone reading this blog.
My name is Yokoyama, the owner of Koto Potter.
I went to TASK's Matsuba Festival on October 26th/27th, 2024.
Located in Sonobe in northern Kyoto, Kyoto University of Traditional Arts and Crafts (TASK) is a school that, as its name suggests, teaches practical traditional crafts.
At the Matsuba Festival, student creations are exhibited and sold, providing a rare opportunity to see the work of the next generation of Kyoto's traditional craftsmen.
This time, we will introduce some of the highlights of the Matsuba Festival!
Ceramics major
The first thing we should introduce at Koto Potter is the pottery department!
Students learn painting and wheel throwing in spacious, open glass-walled classrooms.
They also sold the ceramics they produced.
The students also make teapots and kyusu teapots, which are difficult to mold, showing the high level of the classes.
It also features the intricate painting that is unique to Kiyomizu ware!
The designs feature auspicious motifs, treasure ships, and classical designs, but also have a young sensibility.
It is already at a level where it would be comparable to a ceramic work submitted to a public exhibition...
Works by the instructors who teach the classes were also on display.
They are highly skilled and highly regarded.
This is a student's work. It's so cute! The colors are beautiful.
Perhaps it is the school's spirit, but each class is original and very interesting.
Makie major
A technique in which gold, silver and mother-of-pearl are fixed and painted using lacquer.
Not only is the technical fee high, but the design skills required to come up with the designs are also high.
A specialized course in Maki-e is quite rare...
Makie is also highly regarded overseas, and some high-end luxury brands are releasing products in collaboration with Japanese makie.
This is a student's work, but it has the vividness and dignity of a luxury brand.
Subterranean insects such as centipedes and scarab beetles are painted on the colors unique to lacquer art.
Surprisingly, insects are also used in classical patterns, and are often used in art works as designs linked to various auspicious meanings.
But making it into a lunch box is a great idea...
Metal Crafts Major
Kyoto and metalworking may not be what most people think of, but there is actually a lot to explore here.
These include tea kettles and braziers used in the tea ceremony, decorations on the guards of Japanese swords, Kyoto inlay, and more.
Shippo ware, of course, also has a long history in Kyoto.
Metal crafts have a wide range of expression and are used in a variety of ways, from objects like the one in the image to everyday tableware.
Wood Carving
Students were demonstrating woodworking.
Wearing a workman's uniform, he looks like a veteran craftsman as he skillfully shapes wood with a mallet and chisel.
The exhibit featured gorgeous openwork and brilliantly colored works, the kind used for the transoms of temples, shrines, and other religious buildings.
It is a traditional technique that creates and expresses smooth forms using natural wood materials.
Tea box made by students
The last thing I would like to introduce is a tea box made collaboratively by students.
Students with a variety of skills, including pottery, woodworking, bamboo work, metalworking, washi paper, and Kyoto yuzen, mixed their work together and presented it as one piece.
It is rare to see a work that combines so many different traditional techniques.
I think this is a collaboration that only TASK could create!
What did you think?
This time we introduced the works on display at TASK's Matsuba Festival.
As a Coto Potter involved in traditional crafts, I hope that those who will carry on traditional crafts will be successful in the future!
