Kawai Kanjirō: House to House
Japan Society, New York City, 2025
Curated by
Michele Bambling, Senior Director, Gallery, Japan Society Tamae Sagi, Curator, Kawai Kanjiro House
Research Naomi Kuromiya
Exhibition Logistics Stefani Oh
Gallery Interns Camille Chang, Yeeun Joo, Yeonjoo Kim, Ren Yoshioka
Graphic Design Mohammed Juma
Lighting Design Takaaki Ando
Fabrication Isaac Dunne, Jake Reed
Installation & Art Handling WittsART
Vinyl Installation DaSign Guy
Photo Credits: Go Sugimoto Studio
Curtesy: Japan society
Kawai Kanjirō: House to House, is a solo exhibition celebrating the life and career of folk potter, poet, and artist Kawai Kanjirō (1890–1966) for the first time in the United States. Kawai is best known for his influential role in the mingei (folk art) movement in Japan, which he founded in the mid-1920s with his friends, the philosopher Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961) and the potter Hamada Shōji (1894–1978). Showcasing representative works from Kawai’s personal collection that are rarely seen outside his former home (now a museum known as the Kawai Kanjirō House), the exhibition traces the evolution from the artist’s early functional ceramic ware to his late-career modernist wood sculptures.
The inspiration for the exhibition design stems from a visit made in November 2025 to Kawai’s house in Kyoto. The idea is to create an environment in which the central role of the objects (whether ceramics, calligraphy, or sculptures) can prevail. In this sense, the exhibition becomes a neutral support, allowing the curatorial team to create groupings and connections among the works on display. In particular, the display elements were directly inspired by details of the original furnishings of the house in Kyoto: on the one hand, the reproduction—interpreted in a quiet and minimalist way—of the nail-less joint system; on the other, the creation of a system of stepped walls, ideally derived from the staircase-cabinet found in Kawai Kanjirō’s house.