POSTPONED TO 2022: MAKING CONNECTIONS - Beauty and Function and a Creative Exchange

PLEASE NOTE THIS EXHIBITION HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL 2022 EXACT DATE TO BE CONFIRMED

The New Craftsman Gallery is delighted to announce two exhibitions planned for the

September Arts Festival programme 2020. These will mark the centenary celebrations and

the founding of the Leach Pottery in 1920 that inspired the deep connection between the

towns of St Ives in Cornwall and Mashiko in Japan. This friendship still flourishes today.

Established by Janet Leach, the New Craftsman Gallery has historic links with the Leach

Pottery, and we are delighted that the exhibitions will coincide with a number of exciting

events and exchanges planned throughout the year.

The two shows, Making Connections, will run simultaneously at the gallery opening on

September 5th and running through the St Ives Festival until 10th October 2020. There will be

a series of talks by artists and curators planned to complement the exhibitions during the

Arts festival. The exhibition has been made possible with kind support from the Mashiko Arts

and Crafts Residency Programme and the Daiwa Foundation.

Making Connections: Beauty and Function

Inspired by the unique collection at the Hamada Reference Museum, we propose to show an

exhibition of Japanese crafts to represent the diverse range of skills and craftsmanship from

the Mashiko region where Shoji Hamada lived and worked. This will include include Lacquer

ware, Woven textiles, Ceramics, Handmade Washi paper, Bamboo ware and Indigo from the

renowned Higeta studio. The artists have all been sourced on a recent research trip to

Japan by Ylenia Haase and curator, Sarah Frangleton.

Making Connections: A Creative Exchange

Mashiko Museum Residency Program was initiated by Mashiko town and Mashiko Museumof Ceramic Art in Japan. The artist-in-residence program invites guest artists and potters to

stay and work for an extended period of time in the studio. The Arts & Crafts Residence was

completed in Spring 2014 and stands in the grounds of the Ceramic Art Museum. It is a one-

story building with red tiles for the roof, using minerals from Ashinuma in Mashiko. The

facility includes a living space for the artists-in-residence as well as a multi-purpose atelier

and kiln on the site.

The aim of the residency is to deepen the exchanges between artists from outside of the

town and creative people in and around Mashiko. The hope is that ceramics and other crafts

of the region will be shared widely both nationally and internationally, and that the program

will be a springboard for new creative paths. During their stay in Mashiko, artists conduct

events such as slide lectures, workshops, open studios, together with developing a new

body of work. In celebration of this creative exchange and extended gift of friendship we

have invited a group of ten artists who have worked at the Residency to exhibit with us. 

More details will be announced soon!