Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design: MINGEI: The Beauty of Everyday Things
Approximately 100 years ago, the philosopher Soetsu Yanagi discovered beauty in the handcrafted items used in the everday lives of ordinary people and referred to them as "mingei," or folk art. This exhibition will showcase over 150 such objects. In "Chapter I: The 1941 “Life Exhibition," we attempt to recreate the "Lifestyle Exhibition" organized by Yanagi himself in 1941 at the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. Furthermore, in "Chapter II: Mingei in Daily Life," we will showcase items created and used by ordinary people from the perspectives of clothing, food, and housing. "Chapter III: Expanding Mingei" features exhibits showcasing the present state of five domestic mingei production areas, including Washi paper from Yatsuo, Toyama Prefecture. It also proposes a "future mingei style," which integrates items discovered by Terry Ellis and Keiko Kitamura, directors of MOGI Folk Art—a select shop leading the current folk art boom—from around the world with contemporary life in the form of an installation. This exhibition will explore the beauty of everyday things as taught by Yanagi: the concept, development, current status, and future perspectives of mingei.