一昨年までの金沢青年会議所主催事業、「かなざわＴＯＲＹＯＥ」をベースとし、昨年、文化庁の補助を受け金沢市の主催事業として新たに第一歩を印（しる）した金沢21世紀工芸祭。
初回となる昨年は、街並みや空間と工芸の関係を再考する機会でもある「工芸回廊」。工芸と食がぶつかりながら新しいコンテンツを生み出す「趣膳食彩」。トラディショナルとコンテンポラリーの２つのカテゴリーを用意し、茶会の多様な楽しみ方と解釈を形にした「金沢みらい茶会」。力のある工芸作家が直接指導する事により、単なる工芸制作体験から、唯一無二、自分だけの工芸を創る喜びを伝えた「金沢みらい工芸部」。町中のギャラリーを繋げ、工芸をテーマにまちの回遊性を高めつつ購入機会も増やそうとチャレンジした「金沢アートスペースリンク」。見る楽しみ、使う楽しみ、創る楽しみ、そして持つ楽しみ…工芸を様々な視点から捉えた５つのメインコンテンツ、計98プログラムに、奇跡的に戦禍を免れ藩政期の息遣いを今に残す金沢というまちが掛け合わされ、大都市圏では出来ない地域特性を活かした工芸イベントが展開出来たのではないか。
本年は、工芸とその周りで展開されるコンテンツの「楽しさ」をより身近に感じてもらえるよう、子供から若者、そして大人まで幅広い層の参加を意識し、テーマを「工芸を遊ぼう」とした。日本のアート＆デザインコンテンツの中でも、国際的競争力があるといわれ、注目される「工芸」。工芸の強みとは、アートシーンから生活の一場面まで、ハレの空間からケの空間まで様々な情景に溶け込む多様性にあり、個々人において様々に解釈し、遊び方を創れるところにあるとも思う。同時開催の21世紀鷹峯フォーラムとも連動しながら、文化都市・金沢の空間、文化・人と、新しい感性で創られた今を生きる工芸が時にぶつかり、時に結びつく中から新しい工芸文化が生まれ発信すると同時に、このイベントの創造性がまちに刺激を与えられたらと思う。

Taking as its basis KANAZAWA TORYOE, an event that was organized by the Junior Chamber International KANAZAWA until 2015, KANAZAWA 21st CENTURY KOGEI FESTIVAL made a fresh start last year, organized by the City of Kanazawa with the support of the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Last year’s first edition of the festival encompassed five strands of content: KOUGEI KAIRO, an exhibition offering opportunities to reconsider relationships between craft, cityscapes and spaces; SHUZEN SHOKUSAI, which created new content through the encounters of craft and food; KANAZAWA MIRAI CHAKAI, a strand that developed interpretations of tea ceremony and the many ways that it can be enjoyed through two categories—tradition and the contemporary; KANAZAWA MIRAI KOGEIBU, a workshop event that communicated the pleasure of producing one’s own craft from a simple hands-on experience under the direction of strong artists; and KANAZAWA ART SPACE LINK, a craft-themed exhibition that brought together galleries all over Kanazawa with the aim of increasing opportunities to buy craft pieces and introduce the ease with which the city can be explored. The festival was organized into these five strands containing a total of 98 program events that presented craft from a variety of perspectives: the pleasure of viewing, the pleasure of using, the pleasure of creating, and the pleasure of owning. This, combined with the experience of Kanazawa itself, a city that still carries the atmosphere of Japan’s feudal era thanks to its miraculous escape from war damage, allowed KANAZAWA 21st CENTURY KOGEI FESTIVAL to successfully unfold as a craft event taking advantage of regional character in a way that cannot be accomplished in large-scale cities.
In the desire to provide opportunities to feel the pleasures of craft and everything that surrounds it more closely, and bearing in mind that participants will come from a wide range of age groups—from children through adults—this year’s festival took the theme of “Playing with KOGEI”. Japan has various genres of art and design, but kogei (craft) is receiving attention as it is considered to have strong competitive potential internationally. Craft’s strength lies in its diversity, which extends across different situations—from the art world to the scenes of daily life, from ordinary spaces to ceremonial ones. On an individual level, craft can be interpreted in a variety of different ways and creates opportunities for play. This is also part of its strength. KANAZAWA 21st CENTURY KOGEI FESTIVAL will dovetail with 21st Century Takagamine Forum in Kanazawa, which is being presented concurrently. Created with a new sensibility, contemporary craft will sometimes rub up against and sometimes tie in with the space, culture and people of the cultural city of Kanazawa. We hope that this will bring a new craft culture into being and communicate it to the world as the creativity of the event also stimulates the city.