𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐢 𝐁𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

Mayu (Cocoon) by Matsumoto Hafū

Matsumoto Hafū was born in 1952, in Haneda near Tokyo.

At the age of 20, he began learning bamboo basketry from IIZUKA Shōkansai (1919-2004), named a Living National Treasure in 1982. He established his workshop in Tokyo in 1976, then settled in Tateyama, at the end of the Bōsō Peninsula (Chiba Prefecture). His career is remarkable, particularly abroad. His first group exhibition in New York took place in 1996 and he won the Cotsen Bamboo Prize in the United States in 2004.

In Japan, he received the Freshman Prize at the Japan Traditional Crafts Arts Exhibition in 2005.

In 2007, he won the Tokyo Governor's Prize and the best prize at the 48th East Japan Traditional Art Competition. Matsumoto maintains an almost mystical relationship with bamboo and likes to remind people that “it is a plant with mysterious power”.

Faithful to the golden rule of his master Shōkansai, and the brilliant Rōkansai, Hafū Matsumoto masters the triple concept of braiding “Shin, Gyō, Sō” (formal, semi-formal and informal).

The work presented at MBP uses the Sō concept.