About

Join William Morris Gallery for an exciting evening exploring and expanding on their new book Mingei: Art Without Heroes with gallery curator Roisin Inglesby and contributors Aaron Angell and Dasom Sung.

Originating in Japan in the 1920s, the Mingei movement was based on the principle that beauty is inherent in handmade, everyday objects created by anonymous craftspeople. Spearheaded by the philosopher Yanagi Sōetsu, and potters Hamada Shōji and Bernard Leach, the movement sought to elevate the status of folk craft in a rapidly modernising society.

Mingei: Art Without Heroes covers a wide range of objects associated with Mingei, from ceramics and furniture to textiles and toys, alongside a series of profiles of leading designers and makers working in Japan today. Contributors from a variety of backgrounds explore Mingei’s origins, interpretations and contemporary implications, shedding new light on the ways in which the principles of the movement remain relevant to today’s personal, social and environmental concerns.

This event is part of the William Morris Gallery’s Mingei on the Move public programme. Designed in response to the Art Without Heroes: Mingei exhibition, the programme explores specifically the diasporic nature of Mingei and why artists from all cultures and backgrounds are continually inspired by the movement’s ethos. Through this, the gallery hopes to inspire audiences to engage reflexively with Mingei and apply its ideas of harmonious balance between people, objects and surroundings to our own daily lives.

During the evening, the gallery is also offering a 10% discount on the book and all other shop items.