In our daily lives, we are surrounded by ceramic object. But we are usually not really aware that these objects are made of actual soil, in the form of clay: A finite resource that is millions of years old. In the Mino area, there are a number of clay quarries that are still mining the soil that is the raw material for countless products and objects and the foundation of entire industries. For more than 1300 years, clay has been mined in Mino, yet the techniques and vast knowledge related to clay accumulated over the centuries and the characteristics of this particular clay itself are widely unknown: In the past century, the awareness of soil as a primal material and essential resource has disappeared behind cheap, uniform, mass-produced ceramic products.
Making well designed, lasting objects locally, from local clay, MINO SOIL tries to raise awareness of the excellence of crafts in Mino and “soil” as an important, finite resource and essential material.