Musubi (結び): Att knyta samman
Shogo Hirata, Sofie Karlsson, Esbjörn Grip, Klara Lord, Sara Wallstedt, Sebastian Kok
17 October – 15 November 2025
Musubi (結び), Att knyta samman: The Tottori–Gothenburg Craft Exchange Project is an artistic collaboration between six Swedish artists who spent three weeks in February 2025 in the Japanese prefecture of Tottori. The region is known for its strong craft tradition, where knowledge and techniques have been passed down through generations and continue to be practised in relation to local materials and conditions.
The project was initiated as a platform to explore how contemporary artistic practices in Sweden can relate to, be influenced by and engage in dialogue with traditional crafts in Japan, Tottori. Through study visits, conversations and meetings with local craftspeople, the participants were introduced to different material-based methods and contexts. In parallel, individual artistic investigations and work were also carried out on site.
This exhibition shows the results of the work that began in Tottori and continued to develop in Sweden. It spans several disciplines, including wood, textiles, metal, ceramics, paper and photography, and provides insight into different ways of relating to craft as both a process and a form of expression. The works serve as documentation and reflect the experiences that have emerged from the encounter between different practices, people, materials and places.
@tottorigoteborg_craft
With support from the Swedish Arts Council and the Estrid Ericson Foundation.
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Shogo Hirata www.shogohirata.com
Shogo Hirata (b. 1986, Kyoto, Japan) is a textile and fiber artist based in Gävleborg, specialising in cellulose fibers, whose work explores the intersections of tradition, innovation, and cultural exchange. Drawing inspiration from traditional textile crafts and analog techniques such as photograms, Shogo’s practice is rooted in a deep engagement with materiality and process. His work merges experimentation with meticulous craftsmanship, weaving diverse techniques, materials, and cultural influences into cohesive, thought-provoking creations.
In this exhibition, Shogo works with Washi, traditional Japanese papermaking, reflecting on “Transparency and Shades.” In collaboration with the family-run workshop Nakahara Shoten in Aoya Tottori, he traces the cycle of Kōzo (Japanese paper mulberry) from plant to paper, focusing on its quiet gestures. The dialogue between hands, fiber, and light become experimental works that reveal the subtle sensibility inherent in Washi, along with its long history and deep connection to the region.
Sofie Karlsson
www.sofiekarlsson.com
Sofie Karlsson (b.1990) (b. 1990), Halmstad, currently based in Gothen- burg, holding a Master’s degree in Crafts with a specialization in Textile Art from HDK-Valand, Gothenburg. Sofie artistic practice revolves around how the inherent qualities of textile materials are connected to history and nonverbal communication. By constantly shifting in scale and perspective, her works move between two- and three-dimensionality, in conversation with both body and space. Sofie is interested in textile techniques and the material’s connection to women’s histories and experiences. The significance of the handmade- the slow and repetitive, is explored through knots, colours and the dissolution of grids and lines.
For this exhibition, Sofie has taken inspiration from the kasuri weaving technique, which is deeply rooted in the Tottori region. The technique creates a natural displacement of patterns by tying sections of the threads before dyeing the material. By approaching the method freely, she allows tradition to meet contemporary and experimental expression.
Esbjörn Grip
https://esbjorngrip.com/
Esbjörn Grip (b.1993) is an artist and designer currently based in Stock- holm, working with furniture, drawing, space and sculpture, using wood as his main medium. His work encompasses single objects as well as larger environments. Natural imperfections, branches and marks are embraced in the finished pieces as part of an honest expression, and in order not to deny their inherent beauty. Grip’s work is a continuous exploration of the relationship between proportions, forms and spaces. It explores the steps before the three dimensional shape, through drawing, painting and writing, becoming later, a minimal wood joinery or expressive organic sculptures.
Born out of a joyful and collaborative process during the Tottori-Göteborg Exchange Project in February 2025 , the initial idea was to design furniture using only one modular piece of wood. Through several prototypes and iterations, the focus has been to design a clean, portable and collapsable stool using only rope and wood. The result is an easy to assemble, light and handmade stool in Japanese cedar that you can bring wherever you like. Special versions feature a cutout motif symbolising Sweden, Japan and Tottori prefecture.
Klara Lord
https://www.instagram.com/klaralordceramics/
Klara Lord (b.1982) is a ceramic artist, working with an experimental approach to glaze and other ceramic materials. By the topics of waste, decay, and consumption, she creates sculptures and installations to contemplate on how we value and relate to the material world around us. The materials become a co-creator, expand, grow, flow or collapse in the kiln, expressing material agency. Waste as a local material. Using discarded roof tiles, collected in the small village Shikano, as my raw material. Joining pieces together, giving the tiles renewed attention. The materials of each tile react to the combination of glaze mixtures. The Japanese term “Mottainai” expresses a deep sense of regret over waste, especially when something is still usable or has intrinsic value. The concept is tied to respect, appreciation, and mindfulness toward resources, time, and effort.
Sebastian Koksebastiankok.com
Sebastian Kok (b. 1989) is an artist, based in Gothenburg, whose practice is based on photography, archive and text. His work explores the material and narrative capacities of the photographic image, focusing on themes of memory, temporality, and the shifting boundary between reality and fiction. Through a reflective and research-based approach, he examines how images construct, preserve, and distort memory, inviting viewers to reconsider photography’s role as both document and narrative form.
Roadside Mirror Series
Roadside convex mirrors are designed for traffic safety, allowing drivers to see beyond blind corners. But beyond their function, they also reflect fragments of the landscape, bending reality into curved distortions. In this series, the mirrors reflect roads and its surroundings, and also the viewer within them. They expand the field of vision while simultaneously warping it.
Tottori Sanddunes
In Tottori, the wind carves the landscape as an artisan shapes material. The dunes along the coast are constantly remade, a living surface of lines and textures formed by invisible hands. For generations, this land- scape has influenced the region’s craftspeople, whose work emerges from the same awareness of continuous transformation.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the ar- tisans and studios who welcomed us into their workshops and shared their knowledge and time: Yanagiya Reproduct, Domokudo, Kokuzo-yaki, Yashia Iron, Junsei Fujimoto, Fukumitsuyaki, Inaba-yaki, Nakahara Shoten, Taniguchi Aoya Washi Co. Ltd., TSP, Orimon-ya, Chizu Blue, Coming Saji Paper Gallery, Inkyuuzan-yaki, Matsuda Dyeing Studio, Kugo-gama, Treefrog, Kobo Yumihama, Wagasa Hatsune, Mint Chuchu, Lore + needles, Mitsuyoshi Morishita, Nakamura Kukuri, Cocoro Store, and Engoji-gama.
A heartfelt thank you to NPO Inshu Shikano Machidukuri Kyougikai and TAMI for their kindness and generosity. A special thank you to Fumi-san for your hospitality and support, both during the exhibition and beyond, meant a great deal to all of us.
Our deepest thanks to Taka-san and the Oshinsha team for their hard work coordinating this project, to the Tottori Prefectural Government for their continued support, and to the community of Shikano for their hospitality.
We are also grateful to the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Estrid Ericson Foundation, and Oshinsha for making this exchange possible.