Exhibition of Japanese Potters

Exhibition Curator: Biljana Vukotić, viši kustos, Senior Curator, Department of Contemporary Applied Arts

The Exibition will be opened by His Excellency Mr Tadashi Nagai, Ambassador of Japan in Serbia

Friday, October 17, 2008, 12 am – Lecture on Japanese pottery
Lecturer: Niimi Takatoshi

The creation of pottery in Japan started 5000 years ago, but its flowering as an artistic genre occured only in 16th Century. It coincides with the emergence and development of tea ceremony, and the technology of creation of pottery has been improved ever since. Contemporary Japan cherishes this precious tradition in spite of industrialization and modernization of the society.

The Embassy of Japan in Serbia and The Museum of Applied Art present two eminent Japanese potters, Niimi Takatoshi and Ito Hitoshi, participants in the year-to-date Simposium “The World of Ceramics”, the workshop traditionally organized within Arts Festival “Marble and Sounds” in Aranđelovac, where the most of the exhibits were created.

Takatoshi Niimi was born in 1950, in Aichi Prefecture in Japan, and graduated from the Institute for Ceramics. He participated in numerous exhibitions that featured his skill in making ceramic wall panels. Up to present, this artist created over 400 ceramic wall panels, many of which are installed in public spaces and buildings across Japan. In 2007 he founded a group, “Topos 21”, which promotes international cooperation in art and culture. He cooperated with potters from Sebia, Mexico, Romania, France, Switzerland, Germany… He also participated in the VIII International Workshop “Zlakusa” sponsored by Japanese Foundation and was a guest lecturer at The Faculty of the Applied Arts in Belgrade.

Ito Hitoshi was born in 1976, in Japan. He graduated from the Department of Architecture in 1999, and earned his MFA in 2001 at The Department of Ceramics and Porcelan of The University for Applied Arts Musashino.