One of Japan’s most imaginative contemporary ceramic artists will be visiting Pantechnicon for a one-time only graphic workshop, to celebrate the arrival of his latest designs in Studio at Pantechnicon.

Join Keigo for a workshop to create your own, unique plate. Using a Kutani porcelain plate from the family’s kiln in Japan, choose from a range of quirky KUTANI SEAL stickers illustrated by Keigo to make your own original design. Stick them as you like on the plate, and it will then be fired, so it becomes a permanent design. Pantechnicon will notify you when your plate has been professionally fired and ready for collection. Perfect as a personal Christmas gift, expected collection date is from Saturday 3 December.

Keigo Kamide’s family have been making pottery at the historic Choemon Kiln for six generations. He gave the family-owned business a new lease of life when he dared to make new motifs with one of their icons, the flute playing monk. View hand-painted pieces by Keigo in Studio at Pantechnicon, including sake cups in the shape of ice cream cones, and teacups featuring a monk on a skateboard, as a DJ, and with a 1970s boombox stereo on his robe-clad shoulder.

During the workshop, Keigo will also give a live drawing demonstration, where he’ll talk you through his design process. At the end there’ll be the chance to chat with Keigo over a glass of sparkling sake he is generously bringing over from Fukumitsuya brewery in his home prefecture of Ishikawa. Keigo has been collaborating with the brewery since 2020 to illustrate limited edition sake labels.

About the artist - Keigo Kamide

Designer and illustrator Keigo Kamide (born 1981 in Ishikawa, Japan) graduated from Tokyo University of Arts with a BA in Painting specializing in oil painting in 2006. During the same year, Kamide joined Kutani Choemon, his family-owned Kutani ware manufacturer founded in 1879. As a 6th generation successor to the historical pottery, he has been working with artisans to create various projects and products with flexible ideas unconstrained by tradition, breathing life into Kutani ware to appeal to modern living. Kamide designed contemporary Kutani ware products such as a Japanese teacup collection with a whimsical twist on the traditional Kutani pattern Fuefuki (flutist), and JAIME HAYON × KUTANI CHOEMON collections in collaboration with Spanish designer Jaime Hayon.

Cost: £65