The Art Collections and Exhibitions Department at the University of Michigan- Dearborn enhances the academic and educational experiences of students, faculty, staff and the general public by offering dynamic educational programming, curating and managing a thriving exhibition program in the Stamelos Gallery Center, making the growing permanent art collection accessible for research, and loaning the collection to other institutions. The department complements and augments university curriculum, engages diverse audiences, facilitates outreach to the community, and supports emerging artists as well as artists from underrepresented groups, by promoting the understanding and appreciation of the visual arts.
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Taketori Tale,
Kyohei Fujita (b. 1921),
n.d.,
Mold blown glass with gold and silver foil inclusions
Gift of Richard and Louise Abrahams,
Collection of UM-Dearborn (Adp39),
Photograph by Kip Kriigel
World renowned artist Kyohei Fujita was born in Japan in 1921. He is known as the father of Japanese studio glass. Many of his works, including this one, were inspired by early Japanese boxes that were richly decorated with lacquerwork and mother-of-pearl inlays, and traditionally used to store Buddhist writings, jewelry, inkstones and brushes. Fujita's celebrated ornamental glass boxes revive conventional Japanese aesthetics in a contemporary form. This breathtaking piece was mold blown with gold and silver foil inclusions. Whenever asked by collectors what to keep in the boxes, the artist usually stated "You should put your dreams in them."
---Laura Cotton, Art Curator and Gallery Manager
