Image: Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art is presenting 'Tea Ceremony’s New Wind: The Challenge of 77 Contemporary Ceramic Artists — Collection of the Midorigaoka Museum', an exhibition drawn from the holdings of Midorigaoka Museum and centered on works made for chanoyu. The show runs from July 7 to August 16, 2026, in the museum’s second-floor gallery in Okayama, with opening hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and extended hours until 7 p.m. on July 25.
The museum says the exhibition focuses on vessels used in tea practice, including mizusashi, chawan and chaire, and brings together 77 artists across generations. The selection ranges from established ceramicists such as Ryuichi Kakizaki of Bizen ware and Masahiko Ichino of Tamba ware to artists noted for distinctive techniques including Tomoko Takahashi and Akio Niisato, as well as younger makers such as Moena Kaneda, born in the 1990s. The curatorial emphasis is on the individuality each artist brings to traditional tea wares.
According to the museum, Midorigaoka Museum opened in 2017 in a quiet residential area of Ikoma, Nara Prefecture, and has built its collection around Japanese traditional crafts including ceramics, lacquerware and dolls. The Okayama presentation places that collection in conversation with contemporary ceramic practice, using tea utensils as a framework for showing how inherited forms continue to be reworked by active makers.
The exhibition is organized by Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, with cooperation from Kurayoshi Museum and Midorigaoka Museum, and support from the Fukutake Education and Culture Promotion Foundation. Admission is 360 yen for adults, 260 yen for university students, 170 yen for visitors aged 65 and over, and free for children through high school age, with group rates available.
Several related programs accompany the exhibition. A tea service session featuring works by exhibitor Wataru Yoneda, who is from Kurashiki, is scheduled for July 12 and July 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or until sweets run out. The museum says the session will be held at the indoor plaza and the stair landing at the entrance to the courtyard, with an 800-yen charge including sweets and cash payment only.
Additional events include an artist talk by Bizen ware artist Ryuichi Kakizaki on August 8 at 11 a.m. in the gallery, and a lecture in the gallery on July 25 at 6 p.m. by Yuki Fukutomi, the museum’s deputy manager. From August 1 to 16, the exhibition can also be viewed with a ticket for the museum’s concurrently held special exhibition 'Circus! Welcome to the World of Dreams'. The museum has also made the exhibition leaflet, exhibitor list and catalogue available, with the catalogue priced at 1,200 yen.
