Summer Special 2025
Last year’s summer special proved to be pretty popular so here I am at it again with highlights of what to read, listen, watch and visit in the next few months, all of them relating to craft and design in one way or another.
But I’m also curious about what are your must see/read/attend for this season (Southern hemisphere recommendations are welcome too). Let me know by replying to this email, on Instagram, LinkedIn or BlueSky.
The Summer Sessions: Craft & Design
This summer I'm hosting a series of online conversations with craftspeople, designers, academics and storytellers. These dialogues will look into the human stories behind exceptional work, exploring not just technique but why makers choose their paths and how their craft speaks to our moment.
The first session was Miracle Fibres: From Patagonia to London with Cindy Lilen (watch the video).
The next one will be Off the Hump: Poetry of Clay with Tarragon Smith (register now) on Thursday 10 July, 12:00pm UK time.
Podcasts & Videos
The Crit by Disegno is a podcast that “invites designers to review their own careers, picking out their highlights, lowlights and ambitions for the future”. Never banal, recent favourite episodes include Nipa Doshi, Nina Tolstrup and Jay Osgerby.
How an American became Japan's foremost boatbuilding expert by Unpacking Japan. A video-podcast with Douglas Brooks, an American boatbuilder and writer specialised in traditional boats from several Japanese regions. It's fascinating to hear him describe the differences between teaching methods in the West and Japan, in particular the principle of “watch and learn” (見て分かる, mite wakaru) and how, although less efficient, it might prove to offer a much deeper learning experience.
Ken Sakata is a doctor turned fashion entrepreneur who shares compact but rich research videos on TikTok and Instagram and is documenting the process of developing his own brand, Front Office, on YouTube.
Forget hustle culture. Behold the Artist Corporation by Yancey Strickler. This recent TED Talk (hold your judgement!) by one of Kickstarter’s co-founders is both timely and radical in presenting a new economic model that could allow creative people to build sustainable careers and thrive in an economy that tends to favour giant corporations. Must watch!
Makers
Jasmine Bradbury, artist and sculptor. Jasmine invited me to Cockpit’s Open Studios in Deptford for a live bronze pouring demonstration. I like the organic feel of her sculptures and it’s always a pleasure to see how things are done.
Randon Burns, woodturner. Another maker whose work I was delighted by at Cockpit’s Open Studios. He makes wooden mini globes with metal inserts, a dot to represent the North Pole and a line indicating a route between two cities. Obviously the one that caught my attention featured a connection between London and Tokyo.
Books & Articles
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata is a novella from 1952 that Penguin has recently re-released as part of their playful (and affordable) Penguin Archive series. The reason I feature it in this craft and design-related list is because ceramics, in particular Japanese tea utensils, play an important role in this delicate story of love, loss and yearning.
Draw by Kenya Hara, published by Lars Müller. This is the least philosophical of Kenya Hara’s books so probably not the first one to start with. What’s interesting about it is that the Japanese designer shares the sketches, illustrations and detailed storyboards that originated many of his projects, including several that never materialised. He writes: “Sketching is the process of making a vague idea floating in your mind and bringing it into the dimensions of this physical world.” Disclaimer: Lars Müller Publishers sent me a free review copy.
“With clumsy line drawings, I delve into the unknown” - Kenya Hara
Compelling Minimalism by OEO Studio, published by Rizzoli New York. I’ve known Anne-Marie Buemann and Thomas Lykke of OEO Studio for several years, and I’ve always admired their ability to synthesise the essence of Danish and Japanese craftsmanship in their designs, with utmost respect for materials, an intuitive feeling for culture and just pure good taste applied to architecture, interiors and products. But this book is not a catalogue of their work, although it’s featured too. Instead, they put together a collection of their inspirations, curiosities found along the way and four conversations (one with René Redzepi of Noma). The photography is superb and you can tell it’s not led by ego by the fact that their manifesto is at the end of the book. Disclaimer: they sent me a free copy.
I recently sat down with Thomas to talk about the publication of their first book. Read it on Musubi Academy: Reimagining Tradition
‘I was brought in to be bold’: the women driving change in Danish design, article in the Financial Times. It features a cohort of female talent bringing change to Denmark’s historically male-dominated design sector, including Els Van Hoorebeeck (Creative Director at Fritz Hansen), Marie Kristine Schmidt (CEO at Gubi), Maria Bruun (Head of Design at Fredericia) and Paula Gerbase (Creative Director at Georg Jensen) among others.
“When a brand has more than 150 years of history, almost everything you could suggest has, in some form, already been done,” says Els Van Hoorebeeck, recently appointed creative director at Danish design company Fritz Hansen. “It’s not about reinventing the wheel; it’s about knowing where that wheel has been before deciding where it rolls next.”
Exhibitions
Nawageshō - Buaisou 10th anniversary at Ryosokuin Zen Temple, Kyoto. This mischievous collective of natural indigo dye farmers and artisans celebrates its tenth anniversary with an exhibition running until 13 July 2025.
Across the Spooniverse at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, California. I wish I could visit this one! On show until 17 August 2025. From the official description: “This exhibition presents over 100 spoons from across the globe, each a reflection of a specific cultural context–between intimate traditions of home and family, celebratory preparations of food and drink, and the spiritual gestures of giving thanks for sustenance.” Listen to this short interview with the curator on Monocle Radio.
Morris Mania: How Britain’s greatest designer went viral at the William Morris Gallery, London. Until Sunday 21 September 2025. From the official description: “Morris Mania explores a complicated legacy. Over 125 years since his death, Morris’s work continues to grow in popularity. His patterns are now affordable, well-loved and available to people across the globe, something he failed to achieve in his lifetime. However, this has been achieved in the context of mass-production, computer-generated design, global capitalism and environmental crisis. Morris Mania considers the ongoing impact of Britain’s most iconic designer in our increasingly cluttered and commodified world.”
Do Ho Suh: Walk the House at the Tate Modern in London. Until 19 October 2025. “Is home a place, a feeling, or an idea? Suh asks timely questions about the enigma of home, identity and how we move through and inhabit the world around us.” I liked it a lot and it made me reflect on my own homes from past and present, and what a future one might look and feel like.
Arti Fiant Summer Exhibition in London featuring Tomoo Hamada, Kan Matsuzaki and Kei Shimaoka. These three living master potters from the renowned town of Mashiko in Japan belong to prestigious lineages and are outstanding makers in their own right. This will be a small and intimate exhibition, and if their previous show serves as a guide, it’ll feature some stunning pieces (all for sale). Saturday 1 July and Sunday 13 July, 2025.
The Shakers: A World in the Making at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein. This exhibition might be the right excuse to finally make the trek to this wonderful place to check out the architecture and their collection archives. From the official description: “The Shakers were a religious group for whom design and architecture were an expression of beliefs surrounding community, labour and social equality. The new exhibition [...] examines how this resulted in meticulously crafted furniture and vernacular architecture that continue to resonate centuries later.” Until 28 September 2025.
Tadao Ando / Youth at the VS. Grand Green in Osaka. Until 21 July 2025. A dear friend gave me a copy of this exhibition’s catalogue (signed by Ando himself!), which is nice consolation for the fact that I won’t be able to visit it. Although Ando is in his 80s, he doesn't seem to be slowing down even after several operations in which he lost five internal organs ("My body is now lighter!" he says). The show features many of his greatest hits, including full-scale reproductions. Among Ando’s latest projects are libraries for children called 'Kodomo Hon no Mori' (Children's Book Forest). He funds and designs them himself before donating them to local governments in Japan.
The exhibition title relates to the poem 'Youth' by Samuel Ullman, a favourite of Ando's. The first line reads:
"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life."
Workshops, Events & More
A Capsule in Time, Serpentine Pavilion 2025 by Marina Tabassum. The latest iteration of the Serpentine Pavilion is fabulous, even on an overcast day. Tabassum shared how the inspiration came from her native Bangladesh and the Bengal Delta, where architecture embraces adaptability and ephemeral stances to deal with the consequences of climate change. What I always love about the Serpentine Pavilions is that they have no doors and are thus open to all, becoming a gathering space during the summer. Until 26 October 2025.
Chawan & Tea Ceremony Experience. A Two-Day Masterclass with Taiga Mori (Bizen), organised by ceramic artist Magali Kivatinetz. Hosted in Ry (Denmark) on 23-24 August 2025 and in London on 6-7 September, it’s an incredible opportunity to learn about Japanese tea ceramics and the rich tradition of Bizen, one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns. It includes learning to hand-build (no wheel) a chawan using techniques rooted in Bizen's clay traditions. They will also host ceramic workshops in Japan in November 2025.
Sparkling cold brew tea by Postcard Teas. London is going through a heatwave, so drinking cold tea becomes more appealing than its hot brethren. This recipe by my friends at the best tea shop in the world is a must. Another personal favourite is a Matcha affogato.
Once at Studio134 Fundraising: Restoring a High Street Gallery by Anna Stewart. I collaborated with Anna for a project during my time at the London Design Festival and was happy to find out that she’s launching a new contemporary crafts gallery and shared ceramics studio in London. She’s currently running a fundraising campaign to make her dream come true.
GO FOR KOGEI 2025 Symposium at the V&A South Kensington. This event will examine contemporary Japanese craft through the lens of women artists and makers working outside traditional institutions, challenging established notions of Japanese craft and tradition. It features speakers including women artists, diaspora creators, and craft experts who present fresh perspectives on Japanese craft in a global context. Entry cost is just £5. I’ll be in attendance, let me know if you’ll be there too. Thursday, 24 July 2025
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つづく
