Photo= Chojiro's work, the Red Raku tea bowl named "Tarobo" owned by Urasenke Konnichian (top photo) Raku Kichizaemon XV's work, the Yakinuki Black Raku tea bowl named "Saidofuki"

An exhibition titled "Raku: The Cosmos in a Tea Bowl," featuring the essence of 450-year-old "Raku Ware," is being held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from March 29, and will also be held at two museums in Russia this summer. This is the first time a full-scale traveling exhibition of Raku Ware has been showcased at museums in the United States and Russia.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Japan Foundation and the Raku Museum, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto. Raku Ware was first introduced overseas in 1997 when it was toured through Italy, France and the Netherlands. Now, nearly two decades later, masterpieces ranging from ones by the founder Chojiro to the future family head Raku Atsundo are being shown. The exhibition shows that 16 generations of the Raku family have projected a sense of the times and their own individual aesthetic sense in the small world of tea bowls.

Approximately 100 works are being introduced in Los Angeles during the exhibition continuing until June 7. They include original tea bowls reflecting the spirit of "Wabicha," or a simple tea ceremony, such as the red Raku tea bowl named "Tarobo," an Important Cultural Property, the Black Raku tea bowl named "Mozuyaguro" made by Chojiro, Yakinuki Black Raku tea bowls made by the current generation's innovative Raku Kichizaemon XV, and other works.

Furthermore, approximately 170 works will be shown at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia from July 11 to September 6 and at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow from September 22 to November 15, respectively. The project consists of three parts: one is tracing the history of Raku Ware which includes the Important Cultural Property "Two-colour glazed lion figure" made by Chojiro, the second is introducing a wide range of works such as photographs taken by Raku Kichizaemon XV, ceramics made in France and a tea room built at the Sagawa Art Museum, in Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture, and the third is conveying creativity to the following generation.

There are also projects to broadly promote cultural exchange. The Noh play "Hagoromo" will be performed by Hisanori Kongo, the head of the Kongo school of Noh, at the State Hermitage Museum, and some workshops aimed at children will be held at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.

Raku Kichizaemon XV said, "An exhibition with an arrangement like this is rare even in Japan. We hope that people can feel how these items, which have been gazed upon by each successive generation, exist creatively in the present age."