Tokyo Art ± Culture Meetup

Ettore Sottsass: Design begins where magic begins

2026年7月18日 16:00 JST

Artizon Museum, 1-7-2 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, JP

For this meetup, we will check out an exhibition that showcases works of Ettore Sottsass.

"Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) was a globally acclaimed master of twentieth-century Italian design. Starting in the 1950s, he created masterworks as a designer for Olivetti and Poltronova. In 1981, he organized the Memphis Group, an international design collective. He and other Memphis members created designs that were regarded as postmodern and that had a great influence on their generation." [from the Museum Website]

Location
Artizon Museum
(https://www.artizon.museum/en/user-guide/)

Exhibition to see
Ettore Sottsass: Design begins where magic begins

Meeting Time
04:00 PM (16:00)

Meeting Spot
At the entrance lobby of the museum

Admission Fee
¥1,500

Description of the exhibition
https://www.artizon.museum/exhibition_sp/sottsass2026/en/

Chat session after the show
As usual, let's have a chat session at the end of the event. When we meet up before the exhibition, let's decide where we go after the show.

Afternoon of Ceramic Wares

2026年7月25日 13:00 JST

Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, 5-21-9, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JP

For this meetup, we will spend an afternoon to check out following two exhibitions.

1. Lucie Rie: Elegant Vessels Fusing East and West
2. A Feast for the Eyes: Tableware

Meeting Time: 1:00PM (13:00)
Meeting Spot: Around the ticket booth of Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
(https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/en/visit/)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First Exhibition
Lucie Rie: Elegant Vessels Fusing East and West

Venue
Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
(https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/en/visit/)

Admission Fee
¥1,400

Information about the Exhibition
"This retrospective marks the first large-scale exhibition in Japan in nearly ten years for Lucie Rie (1902-1995), one of the most prominent British ceramic artists of the twentieth century.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Rie first came across a potter’s wheel as a student at Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna—an enchanting meeting of which inspired her to pursue a path in ceramics. Despite having already established herself as an artist, she was forced into exile in 1938 as a result of war and moved her pottery practice to London. Her works, conveying both delicacy and strength, distinguished by their graceful forms born from the potter’s wheel, original patterns created through inlay and sgraffito, and the rich colors produced by her use of glazes, have continued to harbor an enduring appeal." [from the Museum Website]

Official Website
https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/en/exhibition/lucie-rie/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Second Exhibition
A Feast for the Eyes: Tableware

Venue
Suntory Museum of Art
(https://www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/2026_2/index.html)

Admission Fee
¥1,700

Information about the exhibition
"This exhibition is planned for visitors to enjoy “Art in Life,” our museum’s fundamental principle, through an assemblage of ceramic tableware from the early modern period, primarily the Momoyama and Edo periods (1573-1868).
Four centuries ago—long before our time—people in Japan had established the custom of seeking ceramic tablewares from many production centers and with many shapes, motifs, and uses, for hospitable settings.
Gorgeous large dishes, elegant bowls, distinctive little mukōzuke. . . focusing on the designs of these ceramic tablewares, we notice that they often carry messages of good fortune, a sense of the season, or a desire to treat guests specially through unusual vessels. Tableware and delicious food—truly a “feast for the eyes,” to delight guests even more.
The ceramic tableware enjoyed in Japan went beyond domestically produced wares to include imports, most notably from China. The Japanese, as we can see, have long had a keen interest in tableware. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to appreciate the form of each individual piece, while touching on the nature of the convivial event at which they were used." [from The museum website]

Official Website
https://www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/2026_2/index.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chat session
We will take a coffee break between the first and second show to have a chat session.