CARVING THE DIVINE
Japan, 2018, 53 minuten
Yujiro Seki
Japans gesproken, Engels ondertiteld
The documentary Carving the Divine offers a rare and intimate look into the life and artistic process of modern-day Busshi – practitioners of a 1400 year lineage of woodcarving that’s at the heart of Japanese, Mahayana Buddhism.
The story opens as Master Koun Seki, the former apprentice of the renowned Busshi Kourin Saito, interviews a candidate applying to be his own new apprentice. We soon discover this apprenticeship and the Busshi’s life in general to be far less glamorous and far more austere than we (or the candidate) would have probably imagined.
Once Master Seki makes his selection, we are offered a journey through a guild culture unlike anything existing in The West in this day and age. We witness the growing pains of a novice apprentice, we watch the entire guild working together as one body to create breathtaking works of art, and we see the monkish practice of the renowned Grand Master Saito himself, alone on his quest to “leave nothing but great works behind.”
Nagesprek met Amanda Brandellero, researcher/docent Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Amanda Brandellero is Universitair Hoofddocent bij Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication. Haar onderzoek is gesitueerd op het snijvlak van cultuur, plaats, en economie. Haar huidige onderzoeksproject, gesubsidieerd door NWO, is getiteld Crafting Future Urban Economies. Het project bestudeert hoe meer duurzame stedelijke economieën ondersteund kunnen worden door ambachtelijke en lokale productieprocessen, met specifieke aandacht voor het hergebruiken en herbestemmen van materialen en vaardigheden. Amanda doceert in verschillende cursussen over duurzaamheid, creatieve steden en ambacht.