Japanese baskets have been made from bamboo since as early as 7900 BCE. It’s a big art form in Japanese society and there are a few places in the United States where you can get a glimpse of some of the artistry. Even if you don’t want to leave Tucson, I have a few links that you might find worth your time perusing.
In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City had an exhibition of Japanese Bamboo Art which included over 80 examples of baskets and sculptures. You can find a pictorial listing of all of the pieces at this link here. Below are just a few of the interesting items that they had on display.
The Thoma Foundation has a collection of Japanese bamboo art, presumably in both their Santa Fe, NM and Chicago, IL locations. Check out some of their offerings here.
Don’t forget about Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson! They’re closed for the summer it seems, but they’ll open again in October. In addition to a museum of various Japanese art forms, they have an Art Gallery, Classes and Workshops, Bookstore/Store, and – of course – the Garden. Check out their website here.
There’s an exhibit and talk by artist Tanabe Chikuunsai IV at the Japan House in Los Angeles, CA. It’s scheduled for 7/28/22, but the website indicates that the talk will be filmed and available for watching afterwards if you sign up ahead of time. The link is here. This young man has moved away from the traditional baskets and into large scale installations for at least some of his art, as you can see. Historically, this site has created a video/picture walkthrough of their exhibits, so if you miss the date on this one you might check to see if they have an interactive walkthrough for this like they’ve done in the past.
You might have noticed the ‘IV’ at the end of the artist’s name, above. Here are a couple of photos of the work of his great-grandfather Tanabe Chikuunsai I. These are taken from the website of the TAI Modern fine arts gallery in Santa Fe, NM. The link to their site is here. They have some excellent photos from past exhibitions of Japanese bamboo artists, so take the time to click around and enjoy.