In the frame: RINN features work by six Japanese and six Irish makers

Joe Hogan, artist pictured at the launch of RINN – Ireland and Japan.
WOOD, stone and clay are the materials predominantly showcased in RINN, the new exhibition at the Glucksman Gallery in UCC. The word ‘rinn’ has various meanings, in Gaelic and Japanese, most of which relate to place, circularity, and the sharing of ideas between cultures. It sums up perfectly the spirit of the exhibition, which features work by six Japanese and six Irish makers, including the Fartha, Co Cork-based designer and sculptor, Joseph Walsh. Walsh has curated the exhibition with Wahei Aoyama, of the A Lighthouse called Kanata gallery in Tokyo.
“The primary focus is on work that’s crafted,” says Walsh. “It’s about making, the process of making, and the celebration of making.”
The RINN exhibition first ran in April, at the Government’s new Ireland House in Tokyo.
“The Ireland House is designed by Henry J Lyons, practicing in Ireland with a Japanese partner architect. It’s a very substantial undertaking, located beautifully in the centre of Tokyo. It’s a new approach in that it has cultural spaces and is kind of open and inviting as opposed to the more guarded image we have of embassies. Ireland House wanted an exhibition for the opening, and that led to a conversation with Wahei, who I’ve known since 2012. We got talking about the possibility of a dialogue between artists and makers in Ireland and Japan, and then that naturally led to the idea of bringing the exhibition back to Ireland.”
Walsh employs a number of Japanese craftspeople at his workshop in Fartha, County Cork, and several more have participated in Making In, the gathering of international makers he has hosted every year since 2017.
“Three of the Japanese artists in the exhibition have spoken at Making In,” he says. “And most of the Irish and Japanese artists met at the opening in Ireland House in April. I suppose ordinarily, if you talked about a dialogue between Ireland and Japan as represented in the exhibition, you’d be referring to a dialogue between the objects. And that’s true, there’s a definite conversation between the objects and the process, but there is also quite literally a dialogue between the people. And hopefully the project will have longevity, and there will be consequences into the future.”

When Walsh and Aoyama began planning the exhibition, both brought ideas to the table. “I would have known maybe half the Irish artists, and half the Japanese. They’re a very individual group of people with very different paths, but there’s a shared focus on the material and making. Kan Yasuda, for instance, is 80 years of age, and is long established as a sculptor. His obsession with carving brought him to Italy in pursuit of perfect white blocks of marble. He realised that it wasn’t good enough to just go and buy a block, he needed to be living in close proximity to the quarry. So he moved to Italy, and for the past 50 years, he’s spent half of the year there, and half in Japan.”
“Sueharu Fukami is known for his porcelain, and particularly his use of a qingbai glaze that was developed under imperial patronage in China maybe a thousand years ago. Today in China, you can’t find anyone doing qingbai glaze to this standard. It’s interesting that Fukami is not alone preserving a Chinese technique, he’s pushing it further.”

RINN includes one of Walsh’s sculptures in wood and stone, along with examples of Irish artist Frances Lambe’s stoneware, Sara Flynn’s exquisite vessels, and Deirdre McLoughlin’s abstract black and white sculptural forms. “Deirdre’s an amazing lady,” says Walsh. “She’s been a big figure in Ireland for years. But what I didn’t know until we were in Japan together is that she’d lived and practiced in Kyoto early on, and that’s where she found the style that’s informed the rest of her career.”
Also featured are two of Joe Hogan’s woven ‘nests’: “I’ve known Joe for a long time, and what I love is the fact that he became renowned for his mastery of basket making and impeccable crafting. But as the years go on, it’s almost like he’s got so competent that he doesn’t need to prove that he can do a complex weave. He’s got looser and looser, and you get these exquisite objects emerging that just look so natural, they could be found nests, albeit very large ones.”
The best-known of the Irish artists is Seán Scully, represented by a tapestry he produced in collaboration with Mourne Textiles in County Down. “That was something we brought about specifically for the exhibition,” says Walsh.
“We showed three prototypes in Japan, but the piece in the Glucksman is the first ‘final’ work, as it were. It’s one of the things I’m very excited about. Scully absolutely loves the tapestry pieces. He’s decided to do a show with Mourne Textiles for the Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, and they hope to send that exhibition to Japan.”

RINN also features a work called Bridge by the architectural partners O’Donnell Twomey: “One of the unique things about bringing the exhibition back to the Glucksman was, of course, that the building was designed by O’Donnell and Tuomey and completed 21 years ago. John Tuomey and Sheila O’Donnell have featured prominently at Making In over the years. They’ve been very active and supportive, and that led to us collaborating on the building of three experimental pavilions at Fartha.
“The Sisk Gallery, downstairs at the Glucksman, features an installation about the process of constructing the pavilions, rooted in what the traditional farmhouses around Fartha were built of; stone, timber, and thatch.”
Walsh is busy preparing for this year’s Making In seminar, which runs from September 5-6 and features makers such as Tarlach de Blácam of Inis Meáin Knitting Company, the Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, and Frére Paolo, a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint-Benoit d’En Calcat in France: “Pat Collins, the filmmaker, has made a documentary on the last few seminars called Making II. That will be screened on RTÉ 1 a few days earlier, on Monday September 1.”
Walsh’s own work continues as his primary focus. He employs a team of 20, including designers, makers and administrators. “We’re working on projects in about 25 countries,” he says, “in the US, Europe, and Asia and some other far-flung places. I’m also working on a solo exhibition in Paris next year. It’s always interesting.”