Crafting Worlds: Japanese Decorative Arts from the 18th through 21st Centuries

Crafts are functional objects creatively made by skillful artisans using specialized knowledge and techniques. As our world increasingly embraces modes of making that are ever more detached from the human hand and mind, what is the significance of making crafts?

This installation explores how artisans in Japan utilized materials and handcrafted techniques to forge social relationships and engage with the world around them. It features lacquerware, ceramics, bamboo baskets, and metalwork from the eighteenth- through twenty-first centuries, when Japan shifted from a feudal society to a modern nation. For centuries, artisans worked collaboratively in workshops and passed down their knowledge from generation to generation. Starting from the late 19th century, Japan officially opened up to the world and switched to a Western-style industrial system. Artisans created technically superb crafts, which became successful exports at the world’s fairs and enhanced the prestige of the nation.

Not every artisan participated in the production of export art. In the early 20th century, artisans began to treat the production of crafts as a form of individual artistic expression. Some artisans created folk art with a simple and rustic aesthetic. Other artisans incorporated natural scenes into their works.

This installation is supported by the Nolen Endowed Fund for Asian Art Initiatives.

In this video, artist Gen Saratani (b.1980) explains the process of making lacquerware and demonstrates the technique of "hiramaki-e" (flat sprinkled picture). Saratani trained in the art of "urushi" (Japanese lacquer) and served as an apprentice under urushi masters Akira Taeda and his father Tomizo Saratani (b.1949). As a urushi master, Tomizo Saratani has a career in restoring export lacquerwares of the Meiji period and creating lacquer artworks. His "Gun'yu" (Fish swimming in a shoal) is on display as a part of "Crafting Worlds: Japanese Decorative Arts from the 18th through 21st Centuries" at SCMA.

The production of this video is supported by the Nolen Endowed Fund for Asian Art Initiatives. The video is filmed and produced by Massachusetts-based company Big Tree.

Image of Tomizo Saratani is courtesy of Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art. Image of the Saratani family store is courtesy of the International Netsuke Society Journal.