Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timeless Beauty: Traditional Japanese Folk Art | 2003 | Edmund de Waal | Buy |
Timeless Beauty: Traditional Japanese Folk Art (2003) is a book that connects naturally with Edmund de Waal’s broader interests in craft, material culture, and Japanese aesthetics. The book examines the mingei tradition of folk art, which celebrates the beauty of handmade, functional objects created by ordinary people rather than named artists.
For de Waal, whose own ceramic work draws on Japanese traditions, this subject is personal as well as scholarly. The book sits alongside his other writing about objects and making, offering a window into one of the cultural traditions that has most influenced his own creative practice.