“Savoir-faire des Takumi” is a collaborative project to support artists and artisans from Kyoto and Paris, where they can interact and create new works geared towards the global art market while gaining inspiration through each other’s culture and techniques.

Kyoto, a cultural city of Japan where the essence of traditional arts and crafts is found, and Paris, the communication hub transmitting leading trends of Europe to the world – the “Savoir-faire des Takumi” project was created through the collaboration of these two historical cities.
20 artists and artisans selected from both cities visit ateliers of their counterpart cities, learning foreign techniques and developing originality through hands-on workshops and discussions in order to create new works oriented towards the global art and interior design market.
These new works, exhibited in both countries, find new audiences from different cultural backgrounds. One of the objectives of this project is to build the foundation for the artisans and artists to become economically independent and grow, envisaging global art market development.
“Savoir-faire” is a French word integrating those characteristics that “takumi” would have: “ingenuity”, “technique” and “creativity”. And “takumi” is a Japanese word referring to highly skilled artisans. Their works are beautiful not only as finished products, but there is a distinctive beauty and creativity in the process. This project is an endeavor to develop new realms of art through the interactive dialogue of craftsmanship and sensibility nurtured both in Japan and France.