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RAKU CERAMICS AND TEA

Japan’s history of ceramic artistry developed largely alongside the culture of drinking tea. The practice of preparing and serving tea, chanoyu (hot water for tea), gained popularity in the 16th century. Japanese tea practitioners initially used Chinese and Korean antique ceramics as tea bowls but began using newly made Japanese tea bowls, such as Raku ceramics in the 16th century.
Ceramics were part of the flourishing trade between Japan and Ming China (1368-1644) in the first half of the 15th century. Japanese merchants were also successfully trading with…

PATTERNS AND DECORATION IN THE JOSEON DYNASTY

Painted screens and porcelain ware that used decorative motifs and designs are the main subjects in this exhibition to explore pattern and decoration during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) in Korea. Dragons, peonies, books, and scholarly accoutrements are among the most popular subjects that developed into decorative patterns in response to social and cultural changes during the 1700s and 1800s. By highlighting patterns and colours, this presentation explores how Korean art vividly originated and offered powerful codes of communication, for example, …

JAPANESE PRINT MAKING IN 20th CENTURY

In the first decades of the 20th century, a new generation of print artists broke from existing traditions in Japanese printmaking to bring new energy to the traditional prints previously produced in Japan. By the end of the 19th century, the Japanese traditional print, ukiyo-e, had to face an unprecedented crisis. The cultural context of production was in the process of changing as prints were no longer being published, especially relating to the Yoshiwara district in old Edo (present-day Tokyo), a traditional ‘pleasure area’…