Shiga’s local conditions facilitate the production of a wide range of craft works. The prefecture is home to Shigaraki ware and Zeze ware, two types of pottery produced using the area’s rich clay deposits, for example, with various bamboo crafts and plant-based dyes also made using plants and trees from the area’s rolling hills. It was on this soil that the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park launched its Artist In Residence program after its inception in 1992, with many talented creators from within Japan and overseas visiting the park each year to participate in the program and produce ceramics.
This exhibition delves into our museum’s collection to introduce craft works with ties to Shiga. These objects reflect local characteristics that have seen the prefecture labelled “the home of crafts.”

　Gallery 2 focuses on how pottery is represented in the contemporary art scene. It explores the current layout of the ever-evolving pottery landscape through several themes, such as the interplay between contemporary art and ceramics; the rich creativity bursting forth from Shiga’s welfare facilities for people with disabilities; women creators active within the prefecture, particularly in Shigaraki; and new forms of expression that are adopting groundbreaking approaches to pottery materials and systems.

　From firing and knitting to dyeing and weaving, we hope you enjoy the rich forms of artistic expression offered by the craft works on display here.