Designer Joo Kawasumi’s elegant Nami collection of tableware which he designed for the Suisse Langenthal brand, part of one of the largest Czech porcelain factories G. Benedikt Group in Karlovy Vary, references the author’s Japanese roots. Kawasumi has translated into porcelain the moment when a drop touches water and disturbs its calm surface. “When the droplet touched the surface, energy spread around and changed everything.” In Japanese, ‘nami’ means ‘wave’ and is also one of the terms for beauty. As part of the exhibition, his work represents the successful combination of original art and industrial production.

Joo Kawasumi (* 1983) graduated from the Ceramics and Porcelain Studio of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague where he studied under the supervision of Maxim Velčovský, and at the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of J.E. Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem, where he studied at the Ceramics and Porcelain Studio under the supervision of sculptor Pavel Jarkovský. Between 2014 and 2016, he worked in the G. Benedikt porcelain works in Karlsbad as a designer and CAD technician. His works often work through the logics of construction and production.

If you go to a restaurant, café or bistro anywhere in Czechia, chances are that your order will be served on porcelain made by the Karlsbad-based G. Benedikt Group. The company has been on the market for 140 years, and for the last 65 years they have focused on producing items for the hospitality and accommodations sector, producing porcelain with strong and durable grade of fracture. The Group includes the brands G. Benedikt, Suisse Langenthal, Lilien Austria and Rudolf Kämpf. With respect for tradition, but also frequent innovation and a taste for the most recent trends, it remains one of the favorite market suppliers both in Czechia and abroad.