14.10.2009—5.4.2010
MAK Permanent Collection Asia

The history of tea is directly linked to the history of the tea bowl becoming an aesthetic object. Ceramics from the eight to the twenty-first century – tea bowls from the MAK Collection from China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam as well as loans from private collections – demonstrate that diversity was discovered in the reduction of form to its essentials.

At the center of the exhibition space, Viennese artist Heinz Frank will respond to the calm and simple aesthetic of the displayed objects with his installation “Door of Eternity”, thereby also expressing his spiritual connection to East Asian formalisms.

Beyond being simple items of use, the chawan were made into sculptural
works of art whose designs best expressed the cultivated relationship people had with the object. No one bowl matches another; each one is special and is treated like a personal treasure. Each even bears its own name – and the name of the artist who creates it remains known over the course of time. The Raku masters in Kyoto were the first to sign their works, beginning in the late 16th century, with “Raku” (meaning “enjoyment” or “ease”). The exhibition at the MAK features red and black objects, including ones by other ceramics makers who worked in the technique and style of Raku ware, which is hand formed. The development of new bowl variants continues today.

Ceramics made from the 16th century to the present bear witness to the unbroken tradition which is still being practiced by famous artists today. Present-day examples include the rather crudely fired chawan from the Japanese city of Bizen, which in recent years have enjoyed renewed popularity as tea ceremony implements.

Curator Johannes Wieninger, MAK Curator Asia