[...] This approach echoes the Mingei, a Japanese art movement created in 1925 that promoted a return to the functional craftsmanship of medieval guilds. The philosopher Yanagi Sôetsu already wondered whether it was "authorized" to make exceptional pieces from an anonymous cultural and manufacturing substrate. The Mingei found itself in trouble when it started selling pieces signed by its labelled ceramists at a high price in bourgeois shops. Yanagi's shrewd move was to declare that the moment of artistic valorization of anonymous craftsmanship was legitimate if the final objective was to get the message across. In sum, the Mingei sold "art disguised as craft" not as an end in itself, but as a vehicle for a higher, disinterested discursive ambition. [...]

Residence file