Permanent Collection 3rd term 2024

This exhibition was planned by a group of junior high school students who had been selected by open call in the spring of 2024 as budding curators. This is the third time the exhibition has been held since 2018, at a pace of once every three years. Through a five-part program, participants learned about the role of museums, the work of curators, and artworks, and then each chose their favorite pieces while deciding on a theme, selecting works to exhibit, and considering how they should be displayed.

From approximately 1,700 pieces at the Takamatsu Art Museum, the 7 students selected 28 works by 19 artists. The exhibition will showcase a wide variety of works, including Nara Yoshitomo’s masterpiece Milky Lake, depicting a girl with a mysterious expression, as well as Deki Yayoi’s Capperi, painted in vivid colors and in minute detail.

The title “Color Dancing?!” was inspired by the vivid colors and freedom of expression found in contemporary artwork. Please enjoy the pieces that will leave you with questions and exclamations, expressed in vivid colors as if dancing, curated by 13-year-olds living in today’s generation.

Kagawa Lacquerware was founded by Tamakaji Zokoku, who served the Takamatsu Domain in the late Edo period, after studying works from other Asian countries and ancient times, and established techniques. Later, in the Meiji era, the influx of Western culture and modernization brought hardship to the craft, but many craftsmen and artists still appeared. In the Taisho and Showa eras, Otomaru Kodo and Isoi Joshin, who would later be designated Preservers of Important Tangible Cultural Properties, distinguished themselves at national exhibitions such as the Imperial Academy Art Exhibition (Teiten). After World War II, the craft continued to develop with the help of their students and disciples, and continues to the present day.

This exhibition will reveal the three techniques of Sanuki Lacquerware—Kinma, Choshitsu, and Zonsei—while introducing __ works by __ artists implementing these techniques. Zokoku’s Confectionery Container with Red Hollyhock Design，TsuishuIncense case，Imitation of Chosei，TsuikokuTreasure Box with Pine, Bamboo and Ume blossom DesignStrip of Paper Box with Forsythia Design, Zonsei, Rantai by Ota Hitoshi, who academically studied materials and techniques while creating it, Zonsei is used effectively to highlight the blooming flowers. is a unique piece which utilizes all three techniques, and is typical of Joshin, who was well versed in each one. Though Zonsei became less common from the Meiji era onward, in are believed to have been created with reference to older works, and we can see that Zokoku repeatedly created and studied in order to establish the techniques of Sanuki Lacquerware. Isoi Joshin’s and Ume blossom Design is a unique piece which utilizes all three techniques, and is typical of Joshin, who was well versed in each one. Though Zonsei became less common from the Meiji era onward, in Strip of Paper Box with Forsythia Design, Zonsei, Rantai by Ota Hitoshi, who academically studied materials and techniques while creating it, Zonsei is used effectively to highlight the blooming flowers.

Please enjoy lacquer artists’ skillful techniques and original expressions as you take a look back on the history of Sanuki Lacquerware Art.