[KineJapan] Mingei Film Archive

[Roger Macy]

Althoughthe webpageof the exhibition, Art Without Heroes – Mingei, at William Morris Gallery,north London, doesn’t mention them, they have a room showing on loop, a numberof films assembled or made by Marty Gross, mostly using much earlierdocumentary material, duly credited.

Some of the earliestmaterial was shot by Bernard Leach, who visited Japan and Korea and wasinfluenced by, and influenced the Mingei movement. Leach had been much influencedby William Morris, so it is an appropriate place for this exhibition.

Both the exhibition andthe films offer parallel critiques, articulating a resistance to theclassification of ‘Japanese folk art’ from the ‘peripheries’, where it could beread as top-down, rather than the bottom-up feel with which it was conceived.

Doubtless, there are people on this list who could write moreknowledgably on this than me, but I thought I’d give a heads-up to thisexhibition which closes on the 22nd, and also to a presentation onMonday at a JapanSociety talk at the Swedenborg by Marty Gross, on ‘Creating the Mingei FilmArchive Project.

The one at Walthamstow that I found most fascinating was ‘Bernard Leach films Korea and Manchuria,1935’. Unless your korean is very good, you’ll need to see it twice,once to read the subtitles of Lee Ihnbun’s critique, and again to look at therare, if somewhat faded images.

Other films in the loop are 

Mashiko Village Pottery, 1937

Onda Pottery

Bernard Leach films theMingei model room at Takashimaya department store, 1934

Hamada Shoji OverglazeDecorating. This is an extract from the 1971 film, ‘The Artof the Potter’ in which 



David Outerbridge and Sidney Reichman made adocumentary in which they interview Bernard Leach in St. Ives and film ShojiHamada at work in Mashiko.


Looking back at the exhibition page, I now see links to two Youtubedfilms of Gross:-

Highlights from the Mingei Archive.Some of the 9 minutes, but not all, are shared with the films above.

Making Objects for Daily Use1934-1976. This material seemed to me mostly new, apart from some from Outerbridgeand Reichman’s film.

Roger

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