Suiko Buseki

About the Artist

Making Artwork by Listening to The Voices of Bamboo

Suiko Buseki was born to a family of bamboo artists, creating bamboo work since his grandfather's generation. After studying under his grandfather and father, he studied under Living National Treasure Shokansai Iizuka and started his career as a bamboo artist. Bamboo has many aspects depending on the type of bamboo and where they are grown. Buseki listens carefully to the "bamboo's voice" and creates bamboo work to bring out the beauty of the delicate material. Buseki has elevated flexible and durable bamboo to beautiful art, and his artworks have been awarded at several top level traditional art exhibitions in Japan. His artwork has been added to the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Galleries of Scotland and other famous art museums around the world, and is highly recognized in Japan and overseas.

Biography

• 1958
  Born in Arakawa, Tokyo
  Studied under his grandfather Suishin, father Suigetsu and Shokansai Iizuka (Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property)
• 1986
  Selected for the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition for the first time, selected consecutively from this year onward
• 1987
  Selected for the Traditional Kōgei New Works Exhibition for the first time, selected consecutively from this year onward
• 1988
  Selected for the Wood and Bamboo Traditional Kōgei Exhibition for the first time, selected consecutively from this year onward
• 1999
  Evaluator and Judge at the Traditional Kōgei New Works Exhibition (2002)
• 2001
  Evaluator at the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition (2004, 2008, 2015, 2020)
• 2009
  Sent to Germany as Japan Cultural Envoy by the Agency for Cultural Affairs
  Judge at the West Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
• 2010
  Solo exhibition at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store
• 2012
  Submitted to Exhibition of Tea Ceremony Today - Utility and Form (Musee Tomo)
• 2013
  Submitted to Contemporary Kōgei Styles in Japan (Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Florida)
  Submitted to "From Crafts to Kōgei In Commemoration of the 60th Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition" (National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo's Crafts Gallery)
• 2015
  Submitted to the "Senshinkai" Tea Ceremony Crafts Exhibition held by the Dainihon Chado Gakkai at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store
  Submitted to "Contemporary Japanese Crafts – The Kikuchi Kanjitsu Prize" (Musee Tomo)
• 2016
  Solo exhibition at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store
• 2017
  Submitted to the Japanese Bamboo Art Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
  Submitted to the Mokichi Okada Award Exhibition (MOA Museum of Art)
  Submitted to "83 Selected Treasures of the Heisei Era" (Yakushiji Temple, Nara)
• 2018
  Submitted to the "Senshinkai" Tea Ceremony Crafts Exhibition held by the Dainihon Chado Gakkai at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store
  Submitted to "Japonism 2018" (Paris)
• 2019
  Submitted to the 21st Mokichi Okada Award Exhibition (MOA Museum of Art)
  Submitted to "Bamboo Works 2019 – 26 Artists" (Nihombashi Takashimaya）
  Judge and Evaluator at East Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition (2023)
• 2020
  Solo exhibition at Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store
  Submitted to "Kōgei 2020 – The Art of Crafting Beauty from Nature" (Tokyo National Museum)

Awards

• 2012
  Received the Art Fund Award at the Collect 2012 (London)
• Awarded twice at the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
  Awarded once at the Traditional Kōgei New Works Exhibition
  Awarded 3 times at the Wood and Bamboo Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
• 2025
  Mitsukoshi Isetan Award, 65th East Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition

Public Collections

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Imperial Household Agency
• The Gotoh Museum
• Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum
• The National Galleries of Scotland
• Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G)
• Yakushiji Temple
• Sanzen-in Temple

Official Site / Social Media etc.

• Official Site