Panel Discussion

LAURSEN ───── This is the third time I have been a juror for the fantastic Glass Kanazawa exhibition. It has been very moving and fantastic to be involved with new glass art from many parts of the world. Everything worked wonderfully with the help of the secretariat.
Turning to the Grand Prize, I would like to say that in this country surrounded by the sea, Japan, a powerful image of the roaring sea is my first impression. As Mr. Musler mentioned, this is a very powerful work. This interesting cross-over of mixed ceramic and glass materials, is a masterful new expression. I voted confidently for this piece as the Grand Prize winner. I think that we are lucky to have such a powerful work for the Grand Prize.

TAKEDA ───── Thank you. Next, Mr. Fujita, your comments on the Final Assessment as a whole and the Grand Prize, please.

FUJITA ───── This exhibition started some thirty years ago. At the beginning, I participated in this exhibition as a glass artist who submitted work to the exhibition. Since 2007 I have participated in the Preliminary Assessment as a juror. This is my second time to be a juror for the Final Assessment. For this world-renowned and long-standing international exhibition, I was nervously excited for the Final Assessment.
The moment I entered the Final Assessment venue, I thought that the selected works at the Preliminary Assessment were of rather high level, because those works are only 20% of the total submitted works. Turning to the Grand Prize winner “Oscilliation ’19-3”, its artist Hidenori Tsumori received an award at the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa 2016, three years ago. This time, however, his work looks quite different from his previous work although the technique is the same. It is powerful, with a high degree of perfection and full of tension, so I voted for this work at the first round of assessment. For me it was clear that the Grand Prize should go to this work. I see that the artist has made great efforts in these past three years to create a new type of work, and to make the work reach a high degree of perfection. I strongly sympathize with his attitude of breaking through what he had previously created.

TAKEDA ───── Thank you. I would also like to comment on the assessment as a whole, and on the Grand Prize winner.
Regarding submitted works as well as selected works, most pieces are sculptures and objects. We can hardly find works in the field of arts and crafts. I have realized this time that in the field of glass art, one of the new fields of art after the Second World War, quite a few glass artists tend to follow this new trend.
Among the prize winners, it has turned out that many are Japanese glass artists. Looking at the entries and the prize winners, the number of entries from Europe and the US has been gradually decreasing since the year 2000. These last few years, the number has been almost the same. From the perspective of the quality of the exhibition, we have assessed the submitted works without worrying about the quantity.
This time as well, interesting works were selected. From the first round of voting, the Grand Prize winner received full scores. Only this work received full scores. Although something that everyone likes is not necessarily the best, after discussing it standing in front of this work, we came to the conclusion that the Grand Prize should go to this work. Thus, the Grand Prize winner was easily decided.
I have come across Tsumori’s works many times. This time, he created special materials of his own and figured out a good way of thinking of what should be expressed. Thus, he has made great efforts. As other jurors already mentioned, I also feel energy and vital force from the work. I feel as if I were pulled by the work while something was escaping from it when I feel the movement of invisible vital forces. It is not decorative, neither by the shape nor the color. He strived for his conceptual expression and he succeeded in expressing his concept at a high level.
Next, I would like Ms. Laursen to comment on the Gold Prize winner. The work cannot be seen properly from the audience, I am afraid.

FUJIHARA (MC) ───── The digital image can be seen on the front screen.