“The Bowl – A Matter of Poetry”

ABSTRACT

My first ceramics love was a chawan, a black Japanese tea bowl, a raku bowl. In Japan, raku bowls are dedicated to tea ceremony. I do not practice the tea ceremony and neither do most Westerners interested in my bowls. Which is to say? How does the bowl affect us, beyond cultural differences? Is it through its utility? Is it an interest for the technique of raku? The bowl is above all a poetic object and the chawan is not only a bowl…
 
First we have to consider the history of raku, since 15th century until now: Raku Kichizaemon XV was born in 1949. Zhuangzi, evoking the excellency of Cook Ting, shows how art is beyond the language. But Raku XV insists in naming his bowls…why?
 

If we think deeper our relationship with Asia, we, Westerners, have to be conscious we are rich in double-binds. East and West are on each side of the bridge. But, if we cross the bridge, we get the famous, yet lost in translation… so, we can’t cross. We keep standing on the bridge, looking over there. In any case, this is the Bridge of Creativity!

Click here to view Andoche Praudel’s presentation