Tea bowl (chawan) c. 20th century

Curator: The Minneapolis Institute of Art holds a beautiful object, a 20th-century tea bowl, or chawan, by Uematsu Eiji. Editor: There’s a stillness, a quietude, that emanates from this bowl. Its muted earthen tones and imperfect, almost wabi-sabi shape evoke a sense of humble simplicity. Curator: Indeed. And this is what I find so striking about approaching art and cultural objects like this chawan through the lens of social history. In traditional Japanese culture, the tea ceremony is deeply intertwined with ideals of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. How might such values resonate in the contemporary moment? Editor: Certainly, when contextualizing a functional piece of art within social or cultural tradition, its values are often amplified, while also running the risk of obscuring its complexities. The glaze looks to be deliberately uneven, and where the lip pulls slightly askew to an almost subtle and rebellious wave pattern, I feel a sort of challenge to rigid aesthetics of beauty. Curator: That’s astute. In its materiality, primarily ceramic earthenware, we see an integration of process. It asks: what dialogues and political interventions are opened or closed depending on the artist and the community? Is this object for all people to appreciate and be accessible to those historically barred or underrepresented from the conventional tea ceremonies and their aesthetics? Editor: I would posit it asks who defines beauty, tradition, access… And what are their agendas? In art institutions especially, are we reifying colonialist expectations? What kind of representation, narratives, and frameworks can shift perception, even as simply and humbly demonstrated in a tea bowl? Curator: An apt summary. It calls for continued intersectional reassessment when studying art, artists, and institutions that preserve art for us. Editor: Indeed, such questions are never far from the surface of interpretation. Thank you.