Lecture Evening about Japanese Craftsmanship in collaboration with Dansk-Japansk Selskab

On the 17th of March we had the honor of hosting a lecture evening by freelance calligrapher artist and designer Chiaki Watanabe, also known as CHIAKI, organized in collaboration with Dansk-Japansk-Selskab.

In her lecture CHIAKI shared her extensive knowledge about shokunin, Japanese artisans, and Japanese traditional crafts. In addition to showing various examples on how unique culture and environmental circumstances in the regions have historically shaped different traditional crafts, a key focus of the lecture was on the various artisans of younger generations that CHIAKI has personal connections to. In particular, she told stories of how these young artisans are innovating and adapting their craft and their family businesses to a modern market to keep their crafts from dying out.

Based on her many years living overseas and observing traditional crafts, CHIAKI also shared her interesting thoughts on the ways European and Japanese artisans seem to differ in their ideological approaches and goals.

A big thank you to CHIAKI and Dansk-Japansk-Selskab for an enlightening lecture, and to the guests who attended.