2023.03.27
Relay Column: Traditional Crafts x Ryukyu Lacquer x Street (Kana Maeda)
PROFILE
Kana Maeda
Born in Nanjo City, Okinawa.
A researcher specializing in the history of Chinese art. My focus is on Northern Song landscape painting. Special Research Fellow (DC1) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Enrolled in the doctoral program at Kyushu University Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies. Visiting researcher at the National Taiwan University Institute of Art History. Producer of the lacquer brand "Maeda Lacquer Project" (https://www.instagram.com/maedalacquerproject/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D).
Film x Defense x Fashion
Lacquer refers to the sap that oozes from the tree when the lacquer tree is wounded.All living beings, including plants, have an instinct to maintain their existence. When the lacquer tree is injured, a milky liquid (lacquer) seeps from the wound. If the sap is not continuously collected, similar to human blood, the lacquer darkens and hardens like a scab to seal the wound.
When the sap is inside the tree, it flows and circulates in liquid form, but when the body is harmed and comes into contact with the outside world, it hardens to prevent loss.
—Even if beauty is unnecessary for defense, that membrane possesses beauty and luster.
When trying to protect one’s wounds from external attacks, why is it essential to accompany that with beauty?
This is because beauty can become power and strength, and embodying this concept aligns with the philosophy of fashion.
When a person comes into contact with the outside world, they first recognize themselves and desperately try to protect their repeatedly wounded self, beginning to manifest beauty as strength.
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Traditional Crafts x Street
Tradition and street culture seem to represent two contrasting fields that have come together. It gives the impression of a new collaboration between elements that usually do not mix.When expressed this way, I feel discomfort in positioning these two as opposites.
While engaged in research, last year I invited my artist father and brother to help launch a brand. It was created by renewing our family’s lacquer workshop.
This brand aims to propose new expressions of Ryukyu lacquerware through international research and collaborations with various artists.
Although there has been criticism, I believe starting this side project was a perfectly reasonable decision as a researcher because there are many things to learn that you could not understand if you stayed confined to one field.
Additionally, the phrase “Traditional Crafts x Street” frequently appears in critiques of our brand.
This is because we, who inherit the lacquer arts since the Ryukyu Kingdom, are expected to carry on the tradition, particularly given that my grandfather was certified as a holder of the intangible cultural asset of “Ryukyu Lacquerware” in 1991.
However, we do not profess to simply be traditional craftspeople.
Even while calling ourselves a lacquer brand, my father has worked with oil paintings, and my brother has created very street-oriented designs. They use lacquer while processing it in various ways, creating modern works freely. As we step out of the well-organized exhibition rooms of art museums and collaborate with designers and musicians active on the streets, unique works have been born.
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In response to these unfamiliar expressions, critics are tentatively referring to them as traditional crafts × street. It is as if they are suggesting that these two opposing forces are being combined, but in reality, there is no need to place them in opposition or to create distinct categories for each.
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