OFA CERAMICS PROGRAM
Japanese Ceramics: Cultural Roots and Contemporary Expressions
Louise Allison Cort, curator of ceramics at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler Galleries and a leader in the field of Japanese ceramics, heads a roster of distinguished scholars, curators and artists participating in “Japanese Ceramics: Cultural Roots and contemporary Expressions,” a symposium sponsored by the Office for the Arts Ceramics Program November 5-8.
A groundbreaking forum for studying the dynamic interaction between modernism and traditional ceramics in Japan through out the 20th century, the symposium will consider the recurring waves of aesthetic influence that Japan has had on American educators, artists and craftsmen, especially in new England. Activities area scheduled at several sites throughout Greater Boston: lectures at Harvard’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum, master classes at the Ceramics Program’s Allston Studio, collection tours at Boston area museums, and exhibitions at Boston area galleries.
Cort is one of 23 notables in the field of Japanese ceramics participating in the symposium. Other artists and scholars include Kida Takuya, curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Morgan Pitelka, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Occidental College; artist Nakamura Kimpei, professor of Tama University; Christopher Benfey, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College; Kikuchi Yuko, Senior Research Fellow at the University of the Arts London-Chelsea College of Art & Design; and Edmund de Waal, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Westminster.
The influence of Japanese aesthetics on American potter-sculptors will be the subject of a panel discussion featuring Janet Koplos, senior editor for Art in America; Jim Melchert, artist, arts administrator, and former professor at the University of California at Berkeley; and Rob Barnard, potter, writer, and lecturer in ceramics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
Several artists – including Barnard – will conduct master classes scheduled during the symposium. Master class teachers including Akiyama Yo, a highly acclaimed sculptor and professor at Kyoto City University of Art; Kakurezaki Ryuichi, one of the most innovative ceramists working within the confines of an ancient historical aesthetic; and Yabe Makoto, recently honored by the Japan Society of Boston for 30 years of cultural contributions in the Boston area.
In conjunction with the symposium, Yabe will teach two classes this fall offered by the Ceramics Program. Another class will be taught by Nakazato Hanako, a 14th generation pottery and native of Karatsu, Japan.
“Japanese Ceramics: Cultural Roots and Contemporary Expressions” is the fifth in an annual series on cultural traditions in the ceramic arts produced by the Ceramics Program in collaboration with Harvard University and Boston–area museums. Nancy Selvage, director of the OFA Ceramics Program, has led the conception, development, and implementation of the symposium in consultation with Cort and other specialists.
The symposium is supported in part by grants from the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University, and the Blakemore Foundation, Seattle, and is presented in association with the Centennial Celebration Year of the Japan Society of Boston.
