Living national treasures
18 February 2020 – present day
An introduction to Japan's intangible heritage, based on some leading ceramicists and their work.
Since the 1950s, Japan has protected its traditional arts and the artists and craftspeople who practice them. The naming of some outstanding craftspeople as depositories of a major intangible cultural asset, something that is popularly known as “Living National Treasures”, or, according to UNESCO “Living Human Treasures” is a way of preserving their knowledge and techniques and transmitting them to younger generations.
During the museum's expedition to Japan in 1961, Eudald Serra selected a number of ceramic pieces, some of which had been made by craftspeople who would later be named as Living National Treasures. At that time, only the ceramicists Shōji Hamada, Toyozō Arakawa and Kaneshige Toyo had been awarded that distinction.
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