On May 9th, the day after I arrived from Japan, Kusakabe-san and Marc Lancet opened their show at the Trax Gallery in Berkeley, California.
http://www.traxgallery.com/ Before the opening reception they held a Tea Ceremony workshop.
The participants made their walk to the ceremony in the backyard by first passing a water basin to wash their hands for cleansing and purification. The garden around an official Japanese teahouse has a special design and architecture of trees and scrubs and a stone path meanders through the garden before you arrive at the water basin.
Kusakabe-san writes a greeting for the tea ceremony. In a teahouse you have a “Tokoname” alcove in which they have a scroll “takemono” hanging on the wall and a vase with a simple flower arrangement and an art object to admire.
Before pouring water in the “Chawan” with a ladle, Kusakabe-san puts in the matcha powder for the tea. Then he whips it up with a wisk.
On the table you see a simple flower arrangement from different grasses and one flower, a “Chaire”, tea caddy for the matcha tea and a “Mizusasashi”, water container.
Marc talks about the “Kiri” box, a container to put the wrapped chawan in. They had special boxes made for this show from cedar and they smelled wonderfully.
The exposition of Mazakazu Kusakabe-san and Marc Lancet.
Their pieces are fired in a wood-fired kiln. They are both experts in wood firing. Kusakabe-san is a master in designing kilns, especially at the moment the “Sasukenei” smokeless kiln. Please, see my former blogs and category of Kusakabe-san and kilns, and smokeless kiln.
