The Mingei International Museum is a non-profit public institution that collects, conserves and exhibits folk art, craft and design. The museum was founded in 1974, and its building opened in 1978. The word
mingei
The concept of , variously translated into English as " folk craft", "folk art" or "popular art", was developed from the mid-1920s in Japan by a philosopher and aesthete, Yanagi Sōetsu (1889–1961), together with a group of craftsmen, including ...
, meaning 'art of the people,' was coined by the Japanese scholar Dr.
Sōetsu Yanagi by combining the Japanese words for all people (''min'' 民) and art (''gei'' 芸).
History
Mingei International Museum was founded by
Martha Longenecker, Professor of Art Emerita, San Diego State University. As an artist craftsman who studied pottery-making in Japan, she became acquainted with and learned from the founders and leaders of the Mingei Association of Japan. Under her guidance, the museum was established and developed over more than 27 years.
In May 1978, Mingei International Museum of World Folk Art opened at University Towne Centre in San Diego with the exhibition, Dolls and Folk Toys of the World.
In August 1996, Mingei International was relocated to the historic
House of Charm
The House of Charm is a historic museum building in Balboa Park, San Diego. It was built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition, and like most buildings from that Exposition it features Mission Revival Style architecture. It acquired its c ...
on the
Plaza de Panama in
Balboa Park. It shares the central square with the
San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...
and the
Timken Museum of Art
The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum, established in 1965 and located at 1500 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art.
History
The groundwork for the museum was laid in 1951 when Walter ...
.
In 2003, Mingei International opened a second museum in downtown
Escondido, in North San Diego County. The premiere exhibition, ''Niki de Saint Phalle Remembered'' featured the
artist's work from the museum's permanent collection and loans from the Niki Charitable Art Foundation.
In its 30-year history, Mingei International has presented 140 exhibitions, accompanied by related lectures, films, demonstrations, workshops, music, theater and dance.
Mingei International Museum closed its Escondido museum galleries to the public on June 26, 2010.
Collections
The museum's collections comprise 17,500 objects from 141 countries. The collections contain artifacts from the 3rd century BCE to the present day and include objects as diverse as ancient clay vessels and 21st-century Venetian glass.
Collections
/ref>
Several regions of the world are represented.
* Mexico: pottery, wood carvings, textiles, retablos, masks
* India: bronzes, wood carvings, pottery, textiles
* China: costumes, jewelry, wood carvings, pottery
* Japan: pottery, textiles, wood carvings, lacquer ware, metal work
* Indonesia: ancestral monuments, wood carvings, textiles, masks, sculptures
* Africa: pottery, head rests, stools, masks, textiles
* Pre-Columbian: pottery and textiles from Central and South America
* Middle East: textiles, jewelry, wood carvings
* US: mid 20th-century pottery; contemporary furniture, textiles, glass; Navajo weavings
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
See-Mingei, an online interactive presentation of the museum's collections
{{authority control
Balboa Park (San Diego)
Museums in San Diego
Decorative arts museums in the United States
Folk art museums and galleries in California
Art museums established in 1974
1974 establishments in California