ATELIER MUJI GINZA Gallery 1, located on the 6th floor of MUJI Ginza, will be holding the exhibition "Thinking: Towards a New Tradition of Mashiko" from November 29th to March 8th, 2020.

©ATELIER MUJI GINZA 2019
The "Chestnut Tree Project," a collaboration between ATELIER MUJI GINZA and Italian design master Enzo Mari, is the third in the series. Based on the theme of "thinking," this exhibition is being held in collaboration with MASHIKO Product, a production group established in 2018 to jointly design, plan, and develop products between Mashiko Town and local private creators. The group is reinterpreting various handcrafts rooted in the town, including Mashiko ware, from a design perspective and attempting to create new Mashiko brands. In 2019, they developed the new Mashiko ware brand, BOTE&SUTTO, under the design direction of Naoto Fukasawa.

This exhibition began with the "SAMOS" series of tableware, which Mari created in the 1970s with artisans at a porcelain workshop. The methodology was neither a craftsmanship by the artist nor an industrial product, but rather a method of handcrafting that produced quality through equal dialogue between artisans and designers. Inspired by this philosophy, a six-day workshop was held in the Mashiko ware production area, with a team of 11 people, including local artists and designers from ATELIER MUJI GINZA.

The exhibition "Thinking: Towards a New Tradition in Mashiko" brings together over 150 prototypes and tools that illustrate the workshop process, as well as two "SAMOS" pieces.

©ATELIER MUJI GINZA 2019
An opening event and gallery talk will be held from 7pm on November 29th, the first day of the event. Guests include Hamada Tomoo, representative of Hamada Kiln in Mashiko Town, Otsuka Kazuhiro, representative of Seigama Kiln, and Tsukamoto Michiyuki, representative of Sayado Wada Kiln, who will discuss the definition of "Mashiko ware," the workshop, and the future vision of MASHIKO Product. For more details about the event, please visit the official website (https://www.muji.com/jp/ateliermuji/).

This exhibition marks the launch of a long-term project toward a new tradition for Mashiko ware, and we plan to continue holding workshops and evolving our methods. Through this exhibition, why not consider the future of handcrafts and tradition?