Discover the new exhibition Wilhelm Kåge & Shōji Hamada, attend a lecture on the Mingei movement, and listen to a conversation with the Japanese ceramic artist Tomoo Hamada. The program will be held in Swedish and English.

Introduction to the Exhibition
Helena Kåberg opens the evening with a presentation of the new exhibition Wilhelm Kåge & Shōji Hamada. She highlights how two artists with very different backgrounds could still share so much in common: Wilhelm Kåge, an artist active within industrial design, and Shōji Hamada, a master potter who championed the handmade object.

Lecture
This is followed by a lecture by Mayumi Furuya from the Nihon Mingeikan (Japan Folk Crafts Museum). Furuya delves deeper into the story of Mingei and the Mingei movement, which emerged as a counterforce to the industrialization of Japanese society. The term Mingei can be roughly translated into Swedish as “the crafts of ordinary people.”

Discussion
The concluding discussion with Tomoo Hamada and Mayumi Furuya, titled “Tradition in Use,” takes its starting point in the Hamadagama Pottery workshop, a traditional Japanese pottery studio with a wood-fired kiln. The workshop is closely associated with the master potter Shōji Hamada and the rise of the Mingei movement in the early 20th century, where craftsmanship, utilitarian objects, and the beauty of everyday life are central.

Today, the workshop is run by his grandson, Tomoo Hamada, and this evening we will hear him speak about the kiln, which is more than a tool—it is a place for collaboration and the transmission of knowledge. Today, the workshop is a living cultural heritage, preserving traditional techniques and inspiring potters around the world.