Where can I see Japanese bamboo baskets?

June 12, 2015 11:25 AM

Where can I see collector-quality Japanese bamboo baskets, including museums, stores, art galleries, etc. I live near Kansas City, but suggestions anywhere in the US would be appreciated and factored into future travel plans. Baskets like those in this video from SF's Asian Art Museum (which I have not visited).
posted by Jackson to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Best answer: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (which has long had a highly-regarded asian art collection) has in the last couple years received two large gifts of Japanese art, including bamboo baskets. Annoyingly, per their website it doesn't look like many are on view currently, but it looks like they are having a exhibition of some of their new booty starting this September.
posted by Esteemed Offendi at 12:15 PM on June 12, 2015

Best answer: In 1994 the Smithsonian did an exhibit on the baskets of Hiroshima Kazuo called A Basket Maker in Rural Japan. Here's a little online exhibit. Here is a short documentary online. Exhibit catalogue is still available.

If these types of more recent beautiful functional Japanese bamboo baskets are of interest, the actual baskets the exhibit pulled from are in the Nakamura basket collection (Accession No. 380491) of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. They are not currently on display but are in the research collections facility just outside Washington, D.C.. The research collections can be accessed if you make an advance appointment (at least one month or longer in advance.) You can find appointment information here (follow the links from Research the Collections). There should be at least a few older baskets in the research collections as well.
posted by gudrun at 8:48 AM on June 13, 2015