URUSHI Workshop “An Introduction in practice” by Kenta Takeshige and Simonetta Capetta
30 june – 18 september 2023

We are proud to host Kenta Takeshige and Simonetta Capetta of the Guild LacArt-association, for a practical workshop on Urushi (Japanese for “Asian lacquer”).
The Guild LacArt-association coordinates exchanges on lacquer-research and holds exhibitions in order to realize borderless dialogue, a wide range of interest and create a place to learn lacquer art at the grass roots.
The aim of this workshop, is to gather people who are, in one way or another, interested in Asian lacquer work. And to let you experience working with Urushi, an outstanding way to get to know this exceptional material in depth, by executing yourself the Jet black Urushi surface from the preparation of the wooden base, via the several different layers.
In order to get a somewhat truthful process and rewarding result, it is necessary to give the different layers enough resting and hardening-time.
This is why the 32-hour-workshop is cut into 8 days, in 2 sessions.
The layers of lacquer are thin and applied on top of each other. In order to form the minimum amount of lacquer layers at our workshop, it will become difficult if even one session is skipped.
All the participants receive a state of the art Urushi-kit, containing all the needed materials, tools and necessities, all high quality, imported directly from Japan.

SENSEI

Kenta Takeshige was born in Osaka, Japan. He graduated from woodworking course, Nagano Agematsu
Technical School, and studied under wood master Tatsuya Furuse and Urushi artist and professor emeritus of Tokyo University of the Arts Nagatoshi Onishi.
He worked for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, dispatched to Botswana as a woodworker.
After a passage at the Restoration & Conservation-faculty of Royal Academy of Antwerp, 3 years in the furniture restoration atelier Jean Christiaens in Ghent, and the violin making course at Puurs Music Instrument Building Center, he established his own woodworking, lacquer work and restoration workshop
in Evergem, Belgium. He is a guest professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre, Faculty of Conservation-Restoration of Art Works of Brussels and collaborator at the Royal Academy of Ghent.

Simonetta Capetta was born in Turin, Italy. She graduated with a Master’s Degree in Conservation and
Restoration of Cultural Heritage. After her master’s degree she participated in an internship at the Museum of Oriental Art in Turin via an historical-artistic investigation of Japanese lacquer objects (urushi).Then she has participated in four levels of the International Workshop in Conservation and Restoration of Lacquered Objects (urushi) at the Museum of Oriental Art in Cologne held by the sensei Yoshihiko Yamashita.
After years of practice at various restoration ateliers, she established her own studio founding Restart, a restoration company based in Milan. She also carries on the work of Urushi-lab, a project created with the
intention of experimenting with urushi lacquering techniques.

Deadline for application: 15 May 2023

info at info@urushilab.com

Urushi workshop program

All the sessions will start at 14h

Session 1, Day 1 of 4 hours (3 Session 1, Day 1 of 4 hours (30/6):
Introduction, wood preparation, Ki-gatame.
Introduction: explanation Urushi, lacquer art history in Japan, general techniques & tools

• Applying Ki-Urushi (raw Urushi)

Session 1, Day 2 of 4 hours (01/7): Nuno-kise

• Making rice glue
• Making Nori-Urushi (mix of raw Urushi with rice glue)
• Applying textile with Nori-Urushi

Session 1, Day 3 of 4 hours (02/7): Ji-tsuke

• Nunome-zoroe (cutting out and sanding textile)
• Making Kiriko (mix of raw Urushi with Jinoko & Tonoko)
• Ji-tsuke (applying Kiriko)

Session 1, Day 4 of 4 hours (03/7): Sabi-tsuke

• Sanding Ji surface
• Making Sabi (mix of raw Urushi with Tonoko)
• Sabi-tsuke (applying Sabi)

Session 2, Day 5 of 4 hours (15/9): Shita-nuri

• Sanding Sabi surface
• Shita-nuri (applying the 1st black Urushi)

Session 2, Day 6 of 4 hours (16/9): Naka-nuri

• Sanding black Urushi
• Naka-nuri (applying 2nd black Urushi layer)

Session 2, Day 7 of 4 hours (17/9): Uwa-nuri

• Sanding black Urushi
• Urushi-koshi (ltering Urushi)
• Uwa-nuri (applying 3rd black Urushi layer)

Session 2, Day 8 of 4 hours (18/9): Do-zuri & Migaki

• Sanding black Urushi
• Do-zuri (sanding with Tonoko) and Sumi-togi (polishing with charcoal powder)
• Polishing with compound

info at info@urushilab.com

For more information please download the poster