Barcelona Llibres

Conceived as a trilingual edition in Catalan, Spanish and English, the book uses an excellent set of specialist voices to offer a detailed path through the origin and history of the Japanese collection at the Museum, dwelling on the figure of Seriwaza —his context and importance—, evoking the fascination in Japanese popular art shared by the textile maestro himself and Eudald Serra, and following the Japanese artist on his journey to Spain, and in particular Barcelona.

This is the first time an unparalleled and unique set of heritage —from the Museum itself and other historical collections conserved in Catalonia— has been presented, and comprehensively so, where the focus is on one of the main collections of works by Serizawa and his disciples conserved outside Japan. These collections are essentially the result of the ties that the sculptor Eudald Serra (1911-2002) and the Museu Etnològic de Barcelona —now the Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món— established with the Japanese popular art movement.

One of the great maestros of Japanese textile design in the 20th century, Serizawa Keisuke was the first artist to be declared as a National Living Treasure in 1956, for his contribution to the country in the realm of kataezome printing. 

This lavishly illustrated publication also gives detailed explanations of Serizawa’s pieces, as well as the work of his disciples.

By way of a colophon, entitled Experimentacions contemporànies, the book follows the thread of this cultural tradition through to more contemporary artistic expressions, with the Catalonia-based Japanese artists Mako Artigas and Yoko Kataoka, and five artists from the Escola Massana.