DNA
ISLAMABAD: The Japan Foundation and Embassy of Japan held an exhibition titled ‘ YAKISHIME EARTH METAMORPHOSIS, at the National Art Gallery.
Yakishime: Earth Metamorphosis, our new traveling exhibition, focuses on a ceramic technique, yakishime, firming unglazed wares at high temperatures.
While one of the most basic means of producing ceramics, yakishime has developed in distinctive directions in Japan. This exhibition introduced an aspect of Japanese culture by examining yakishime from the earliest examples to contemporary work.
The earliest known vakishime wares date to the fourth or fifth centuries. It was in the twelfth through the seventeenth centuries, however, that this technique became solidly established and used in a substantial part of the production at major ceramic centers in Japan, including Bizen, Shigaraki, and Tokoname.
This exhibition presents functional yakishime wares of two types, utensils used in the tea ceremony, a major influence on the development of Japanese traditional culture, and table wares that have become an essential part of everyday life in Japan. It also presents a wide range of non-utilitarian objects (objects) created by contemporary ceramic artists working in yakishime.
The Embassy thanked Iwai Mieko of the Panasonic Shiodome Museum for curating this exhibition, the artists for graciously providing their work, and the many others whose cooperation and assistance made this exhibition possible.
