Saturday, November 7, 2009

More on Japanese Living Human Treasures

The previous post came about because of a correspondence on Japanese Living Human Treasures and women's art making. I just checked and Wiki and it says what we commonly call the Living Human Treasures are not the official term; the correct name is Holders of Important Non-Tangible Cultural Asset, meaning, nifty skills. I checked the names and under Textiles and Dyeing, there are 29 obviously male title holders, 7 female, and 8 unknowns, because artists sometimes adopt pen names, which seem gender neutral, though sometimes I can guess from the meanings of the names. Many protect dye traditions; there is one embroiderer. Seven folks come from one specific style of dye pattern tradition. In addition, seven organizations have been deemed collective holders of skills; these organizations protect and promote local styles of weaving or dyeing, including specific regional Ikat styles.

Can I also add there are whole bunch of performance art categories, and other craft categories include ceramics, metal (including sward making) and wood work, paper making, lacquer work and doll making, but not painting nor sculptures.

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