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.

Galerie Mingei held its first MINGEI BAMBOO PRIZE competition.

Eleven works have been selected and exhibited at the Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet from October 21st 2020 through May 2021.

Galerie Mingei has been championing the Japanese wickerwork and bamboo arts for ten years, and has established itself as the first and virtually only European gallery with this area of specialty.

Japanese wickerwork objects are the fruits of a long tradition of bamboo weaving, and have been attracting an ever-increasing number of collectors in recent years. They have risen to the status of highly acclaimed artworks, and have been seen at major institutions, most notably the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, in an exhibition titled “Fendre l’Air, Art of Bamboo in Japan” (November 27th 2018 through April 7th 2019) which Galerie Mingei actively participated in producing.

Promoting the continued and enduring recognition of this art and encouraging contemporary creation are Galerie Mingei’s main objectives as it sets out to award an annual prize. The competition for this prize is open to all Japanese artists regardless of age, and particularly to those who use bamboo as their medium. Artists may also enter the competition as many times as they wish.

A call for submissions was launched in Japan in September of 2019, and twenty-seven artists responded. In mid-April 2020, a pre-selection based on the criteria of technical mastery, innovation and creativity was made using photographs.

Although the world of bamboo has traditionally been predominantly male, it is interesting to note that three of the eleven finalists’ works selected were created by young women.

The 2020 jury met at Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet on January 26th and is made up of:

Honorary President:
1 - Sophie MAKARIOU
President of the Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet

Members of the Jury
2 - Caroline ELIACHEFF
Child psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, essayist and collector

3 - Sheila HICKS
Internationally known textile artist

4 - Monique LEVI STRAUSS
Author and textile history researcher

5 - Alfons-Jean KNAUF
Collector

6 - David LEBARD
Business executive and collector, and member of the administrative council of the Friends Society of the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac

7 - Philippe BOUDIN
Director of Galerie Mingei

The viewing public will also have the opportunity to vote between October 21st 2020 and May 2021 using a QR code system for the PRIX DU PUBLIC GUIMET - MINGEI