Unique ceramic art of Artist Haruhiko Kaneko is on display at OIST Tunnel Gallery from May 18 through Aug 31st.

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, OIST, plays host to several remarkable exhibitions and cultural events throughout the year. An art exhibition at the OIST Tunnel Gallery at the entrance to the institute, is the venue of still another remarkable exhibition titles ‘Ishigaki Blue.’

Ceramic artist Haruhiko Kaneko has developed his unique pottery technique over 50 years.

It’s and art exhibition consisting of 128 individual tiles, each with a different configuration reflecting the blue and turquoise colors of the seas around Ishigaki Island. Ishigaki-based pottery artist Haruhiko Kaneko created the work making the tiles as a fusion of glass with traditional clay-based pottery.

Kaneko began to develop the unconventional pottery technique some 50 years ago. “As glass and porcelain are two inherently different materials, mixing the two was considered practically a taboo, as no such technique existed,” Kaneko says. “I use a transparent glass board as a canvass, on which green and blue ocean colors are directly applied,” he explains.

The results are impressive, and others apparently agree. In 2015 Kaneko was formally nominated by the Embassy of Japan in France, as the representative of Japan for the French National Society of Art (SNBA), the 164-year-old French art exhibition. Subsequently, he was awarded two gold awards simultaneously. The judges evaluating Kaneko’s work issued a comment stating. “Kaneko’s blues are comparable to paintings, and the uniqueness o his work has changes the traditional concept of pottery.”

The Ishigaki Blue exhibition will run from May 18 through Aug. 31st. The OIST Tunnel Gallery is open every day from 09:00 to 17:00 including weekends and holidays. The admission is free.

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