Tanabe Chikuunsai IV

The Mingei Gallery represents Tanabe Chikuunsai IV in France. Tanabe Chikuunsai IV is a Japanese bamboo artist, from a renowned lineage. He combines traditional techniques and contemporary innovations to create monumental works, exploring the strength and flexibility of his material. His sculptures honor Japanese aesthetics and emphasize a deep connection with nature.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 - 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐢 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐢 𝐁𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐄 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐮𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐢 𝐈𝐕 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐚.

Tanabe Chikuunsai IV (born Takeo in 1973) is the son of Chikuunsai III, who passed away in 2014. His first artist's name (gō) was Shouchiku, which means "little bamboo".

Since April of 2017, he has carried the title Chikuunsai - that of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather - which means "bamboo cloud", and he represents the fourth generation of this dynasty of weavers.

Tanabe's family is based in Sakai (Osaka Prefecture). His mother, Mitsuko Tanabe (born in 1944) and his uncle, Yota Tanabe, are also weavers. The Tanabe family is very well known in Japan;

This young artist was initiated into the arts of wickerwork weaving at a very early age, learning first from his father, and then studying fine arts at the Osaka City Crafts High School (1991). He has a degree in sculpture from Tokyo Art University (1999), and is also a graduate of the Bamboo Arts Craft Center of Oita Prefecture (2001). His international activities distinguish him from other bamboo artists. He has been an ambassador for Japanese wickerwork and has shown and given demonstrations all over the world, including in Australia, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Russia, Finland, and Brazil.

Chikuunsai IV creates two kinds of bamboo works. The first, which are made using traditional techniques transmitted from generation to generation, are functional objects destined for used in ikebana and in the tea ceremony. He remains faithful to those traditions, and is currently passing his art on to future generations by teaching eight disciples and his three children. His ten-year-old daughter is already giving her first demonstrations.

His other works fall squarely into the realm of contemporary creation. Tanabe Chikuunsai IV is an artist of his time who expresses his individuality through various organic sculptural forms using Tiger bamboo and Black bamboo along with other natural materials. Both his functional and contemporary works are part of many notable international private and public collections. He has been awarded many prizes in Japan as well as abroad, and was the recipient of the prestigious Lloyd Cotsen Bamboo Prize in the United States in 2007.

Since 2015, he has produced a number of monumental installations: at the MET in New York, the Japan House in Sao Paulo, Takashimaya in Tokyo, the MNAA-Guimet in Paris, the Château de la Celle-Saint-Cloud, and the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (through November 2018), among other places.

Prizes & Awards

1999 Newcomer Prize, Newcomer Exhibition in Sakai City (Sakai-shi bijutsu shinjin ten)
2000 Labor Ministry Prize, All Japan Technical Exhibition (Zenkoku sogo gino ten)
2001 Oita Governor Prize, Bamboo Craft Exhibition (Kurashino naka no chikukogei ten)
2001 Mayor’s Prize, Sakai City Art Exhibition (Sakai-shi ten)
2002 Yomiuri TV Prize, All Kansai Art Exhibition (Zen Kansai bijutsu ten)
2004 Osaka Craft Exhibition Choice Award, All Kansai Art Exhibition (Zen Kansai bijutsu ten)
2004 Sakai Art Association Prize, Sakai City Art Exhibition (Sakai-shi ten)
2007 Cotsen Prize
2010 Bavarian State Prize, Working Area Braiding (Bayerischer Staatspreis, Werkbereich Flechten)
2011 Asahi Newspaper Prize, 13th Exhibition of Traditional Wood and Bamboo Art Crafts
(Dentō kōgei mokuchiku ten)
2012 Newcomer’s Prize, 59th Exhibition of Japanese Traditionnal Art Crafts (Nihon dento kōgei ten)
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐈 𝐁𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐎𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐄 𝟏𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Public Collections

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York, USA
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, USA
Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, Hanford, California, USA
San Francisco Asian Art Museum, USA
Morikami Museum, Florida, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
The Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art, USA
Long Beach Museum of Art, USA
Seattle Art Museum, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
British Museum, London, UK

Musée national des Art Asiatiques – Guimet, Paris, France
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, France

Japan Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo, Japan
Osaka City Crafts High School, Japan
Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan

Museo Nacional de Arte, La Paz, Bolivia

Peruano-Japonés Centro Cultural, Lima, Peru