“Ordinary People’s Crafts”

The Mingei movement in Japan was studied by the Bauhaus school founders in its early formation. Coined by Yanagi Sōetsu, he believed beauty could be found in ordinary and utilitarian everyday objects made by nameless craftspeople (as opposed to higher forms of art created by named artists).

He argued the beauty of folk crafts lay in:

• the use of natural materials and “natural” hand-made production
• traditional methods and design
• simplicity
• functionality in form and design
• plurality, meaning that folk crafts could be copied and reproduced in quantity
• inexpensiveness
• made by unknown craftspeople
• had a “beauty of health” - a healthy attitude during the manufacture of folk crafts led to healthy crafts

Here are some pieces in Tokyo’s Mingei Museum. I had a great visit on my last trip to Japan.