• はじめに
• 展示会案内
• 開催概要
• 審査講評
• 出品状況
• 入賞・入選作品
• 特別座談会
• 役員名簿

On behalf of the glass artists’ organizations in Japan and as one of the glass artists of Japan, I would like to express sincere respect and heartfelt appreciation to the fact that the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa celebrates its tenth anniversary after experiencing ups and downs for over twenty years since its inception in 1984. I looked at the slides sent from the applicants as if I were also an applicant because I myself have applied to this exhibition before. I tried to find out what kind of difficulty each artist has experienced and to find good points out of each work. It is natural that the preliminary assessment is conducted based on slides for such a large scale competition as this. However, I am sorry that some of the applied slides were not in a satisfactory condition. You do not have to take dramatic photos but you should take photos with enough light which can explain the whole work and in detail as well. It is obvious that those slides are different from the real works, but we can grasp the power of a work by looking at its slides again and again with a great care. All the jurors spent eight hours looking at each slide carefully over and over again. Feeling my self-reproach, I would like to tell the artists who have applied and whose works have been selected several times before that if they submit a work similar to their previous one, the jurors expept, even a little, a new development out of the work. We all know that it is quite hard to create your own work without being influenced by the works created by the artists in the past. It is artists’ fate to have to continue to go even a step forward despite those difficulties. It is so hard to get the notification saying that your work was not accepted. I myself have had such experiences and I can imagine that you feel lost wondering which direction to go. My father, who passed away three years ago, had been involved in this exhibition since its inception. He left me this final remark “ Go your own way with your strong will. “ Any art or artwork has a power to purify your soul and spirit and to cheer you up. The most important thing is to make a sincere effort to create your own pieces.

The Preliminary Slide Assessment was carefully and strictly conducted and it turned out that the ratio of acceptance was 16 percent. The jurors made an effort to understand each work with a great care considering our difficulty in jurying each work based only on its image. The applicants should be careful in taking photos of their works because glass, as a material, is hard to take photos of. A half century has passed since the studio glass movement started and the glass material came to be freely utilized by glass artists for the first time. During those years a variety of techniques and processes have been developed by artists throughout the world and their original way of expressing themselves by using glass has also been explored. Time has already come when only your new technique cannot appeal the value of your work any more. Therefore, I hope that glass art can truly be matured and that each glass artist should make more progress in their competence in creating form and expressing their originality. Among the submitted works, some artists utilize the technique of assembling glass parts as an element in form by making glass bars, glass plates, glass tubes or numerous glass pieces beforehand. Some of them are quite impressive due to the power coming out of the accumulation of the glass pieces and others due to the optical effect of glass. At the same time, however, some of them can be fiascos because their forms are not necessarily refined. On the other hand, both young and master artists sent their excellent works which were created with traditional techniques interpreted in their original way and supported by their craftsmanship, which has enhanced the purpose and meanings of this exhibition.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa and I realized the importance of the purpose of this exhibition once again while performing the Preliminary Slide Assessment. The exhibition drew 456 works. The number of submitted works from overseas a little decreased but from Japan increased; 172 works were submitted from Japan including young artists’ works from Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama prefectures. The previous exhibition drew 163 works from Japan. I am sorry that some of the slides were not in a good condition although it is often mentioned about the assessment based on slides that you have to send the slides of your work in a satisfactory condition. All the jurors spent a long time looking at each slide again and again and jurying the form, sizes, technique, colors, and image of each work. As a result, we selected 74 works submitted from 20 countries as accepted works. My impression at the Preliminary Slide Assessment is that the work is of a higher level than in the past. I felt something new and creative in design and the artists’ attitude to pursue their aesthetic value. Twenty-three years have already passed since this exhibition was established. During those years the public’s understanding of glass art has been deepened and young glass artists have been well nurtured. As a juror from Kanazawa, I hope that this exhibition will help enhance creative activities in the world of glass by reacting on various activities in the regional arts and crafts.

As one of the jurors for the Preliminary Slide Assessment I feel very happy to hear that the jurors for the Final Assessment were satisfied with the result of the Preliminary Slide Assessment. At the 9th exhibition and the 8th exhibition, some works were worse than the image on slides. This time, however, many works are better than the image on slides. My first impression on the body of juried works sent from the applicants is that many of them are interesting. I thought it was going to be difficult to make a choice of the winning pieces. A variety of techniques and processes of expressing has been explored by each artist and each work is of higher level than in the past. This time as well, the exhibition drew many works submitted from Japanese artists and more works by Japanese artists were selected as prize winners. Such a trend today reflects the fact that glass education system in Japan has been promoted and the young artist who have studied glass send their original and creative works each time of this exhibition. I feel pleased with this trend. The Final Assessment was conducted based on the voted points for the works. All the jurors openly exchanged their opinions. Each of them explained why he made a choice of the winning pieces. The discussion itself was interesting and stimulating. In the end, the three works with the highest points were left on the table and any of the three could be the Grand Prize winner, I felt. I am sorry the piece I really recommended could not receive the Grand Prize. Regarding my choice for my award, I chose the work by a Japanese artist. I am very much interested in her intention to express “ Ma “, very delicate shades of a sense of beauty on time and space of Japan by expressing something mysterious using glass. I am glad to get to know such a new direction of a conception of the young artist.

The Grand Prize winner is a little surprise as well as the Grand Prize piece last time three years ago. It is not the same as other pieces which are more like glass. This is a most sculptural work. Mr. Myers pointed this work because this shows something different, another idea about glass. The Special Prize was chosen also very well. It is very appropriate to this 10th anniversary of this International Glass Exhibition Kanazawa. It is very Japanese and a nice symbol of the celebration. The Gold Prize winner’s artist is somebody who lives in Japan after studying glass art in Europe. So you can see this meeting of two worlds here in Kanazawa, which is the best part of this competition. About the Silver Prize winner, I am sorry that there is no other Gold Prize any more for this piece. It has a special Japanese atmosphere in the shape. Next Silver Prize winner is a German feather-like glass with a touch of something from Europe. The Honorable Mention winner doesn’t remind you of glass. It looks like iron. It was applied from Estonia, which is also a very good point of this competition. I gave my prize to an engraving piece. The artist has made a lot of progress in engraving. It is more like painting. I wish I could give more smaller prizes because some other pieces are good enough to be given the Honorable Mentions.

First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to be a member of the jury to the final assessment for the Exhibition. I wonder if those artists who submitted work realize the demanding standards of the preliminary jury. The body of work which we have to jury today is an indication of that high standard. The work we see today is, in my opinion, of a higher level than in the past. This is a definite indication that the artists realize the need to submit their very best work to this exhibition. A multitude of techniques and processes is currently being explored by artists worldwide. In this body of juried works we see the artists exploring creative expression through unorthodox as well as traditional ways. In this respect the view is global. When I first saw this body of work, I thought it was going to be difficult to make a choice of the winning pieces. During the process of eliminating and selecting the final winning pieces I found it amazing that we all of us five jurors seemed to share or at least, accept a common vision about each prize. I think that it speaks well about our objectivity and professionalism. Regarding my choice for an award, the first impact of seeing the work and recognizing something in it is what stays with you. It is that emotional response to a piece of art that draws you to it at first, and not an intellectual response. First impressions are often right! After 45 years of looking at glass I’m entitled to a “love at first sight” reaction. We see a great variation in style, in form, in technique and to some degree in new ideas expressed in glass. This exhibition is a wonderful and accurate expression of what is happening in glass today. This exhibition demonstrates that creativity and technique can be combined into glass works of important aesthetic value.

I am so impressed by the way how our jury members of the preliminary assessment have chosen among a lot of submitted slides sent from all over the world. So we have a fantastic choice of glass from around the world here. I have seen so many glass exhibitions in my life where people have tried to put together many different glass from many places. At the preliminary assessment you have seen the most interesting and fantastic way of what is going on in glass around the world. This exhibition would be one of the best exhibitions you can imagine of modern glass in the world. When you make a concept of such an exhibition and such a competition here in Japan, you will have to know that the competitions must show what is going on in glass art in the world. The exhibition should not have another direction or another level and it is a very hard work to have this combination and balance. I am very impressed by the work in front of us, so wellformed that we do not have to think of from where the work was submitted, from Japan or from other countries. As a result, at the end of the assessment, it turned out that quite a few Japanese pieces were selected as prize winners. All the prize winners are to be selected for the exhibition. All the jurors have chosen right pieces of quality and level with so many good things in them. We had the feeling of having the same directions we want to choose the winners for. In making my personal choice, I chose my award winner in another way. Other jurors have chosen the things which are not taken into consideration for the high prizes. In the same way I chose a Japanese artist who made a set of small craft boxes made from very skillful craftsmanship. They are not museum pieces but I like them and I would personally like to admire them at home.

My first impression on this body of juried works for the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa 2007 is that the exhibition drew many excellent pieces of high level. Above all, the pieces by Japanese artists are very good. Most of them are tours de force and it turned out I made a choice of more Japanese works than from overseas. I had seen quite a few glass art competitions so far and I thought that this exhibition is truly an international competition. I found many refined works, so I had difficultly in making a choice of the winning pieces. All the jurors recommended some works and discussed the reasons to the full, which made us feel satisfied with each other’s opinions. Thus we could conduct quite objective judging. As one of glass artists, I myself always think about how and what I should do to make my own works with originality and creativity. I try to express myself in my works as if talking to the viewers in front of my works and I value the way of expressing myself. Regarding my choice for an award, I am attracted by the very good balance between technique and expression of a work. This work is well designed with a good taste. I feel out of the work beautiful expression and ideas to create delicate shades of expression. At the Final Assessment, I tried to get rid of many different kinds of thoughts out of my mind and to look at each work by setting brand new film in my mind and make a choice of a work which is immediately exposed to the film. That is how I juried all the submitted works.