bauhaus imaginista: Corresponding With

Corresponding With places Bauhaus teaching in the context of contemporaneous art and design schools in India and Japan that were founded at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Seikatsu Kosei Kenkyusho (Research Institute for Life Configurations; later renamed as Shin Kenchiku Kogei Gakuin, School of New Architecture and Design), founded in Tokyo in 1931, has been a highly influential educational experiment in Japan. Its founder, Renshichiro Kawakita, was on of the key figures in the early introduction of Bauhaus pedagogy to Japan and sought to try to translate Japanese craft traditions into a regional but also common form of modernity. In an effort to publicize his educational concept, in 1931 he organized an exhibition at Bunka Gakuin (School of Culture) in Tokyo, the essence of which will be on display in this show. Using a variety of exhibits ranging from syllabi, primary course and workshop materials, study works to contemporary art education writings, the exhibition Corresponding With which will be held at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, relates elements and ethos of educational ambition in these three schools in Germany, Japan and India.

A planned symposium in Japan will present new research on Kawakita’s educational programme by leading scholars and discuss this in relation to international developments in experimental pedagogy. Date, location and other information will be made available later.