MONO MAKERS PROGRAM
Find your next collaborator and develop new products
To stimulate collaboration between Japan and the Netherlands, NN Life and MONO JAPAN joined hands together to start up the new programme “MONO MAKERS PROGRAM (MMP)”. The focus of this programme is to create a new product for the European market, that embodies the quality of Dutch design and Japanese craftsmanship.
About MONO MAKERS PROGRAM
Hands-on support for collaborations
Within the online platform, we host the “MONO MAKERS PROGRAM (MMP)” which will provide hands-on support for the collaboration between makers to create a new product. The members can seek a collaborator and communicate within the platform. When there is a mutual wish to collaborate between two parties, the pair can apply for this hands-on support program.
The focus of this program is to create a new product for the European market, that embodies the quality of Dutch design and Japanese craftsmanship. To achieve this goal, NN Life and MONO JAPAN will give hands-on support to the selected pair for one year, until the end of March 2025.
MONO MAKERS PROGRAM is co-organized by NN Life Insurance Company.
SELECTED PAIR FOR MMP 2024
Thank you to those who applied to the MONO MAKERS PROGRAM.
After much deliberation, we are proud to announce the winning duos of this year.
First prize
Sigrid Calon & Shohei Kubo
Special jury prize
Laura Luchtman & Tsuyoshi Kato
Congratulations!
The winning collaboration pair of the first prize will receive hands-on support through MMP. The progress of their collaboration will be announced on MMM, and they will also have the opportunity to present and exhibit their work at MONO JAPAN Fair in September 2024.
Not only Shohei Kubo from Kanmaki, the winner of the first prize but also Tsuyoshi Kayo will be invited to the study tour in the Netherlands hosted by the NN Life in September 2024.
Sigrid Calon x Shohei Kubo
Sigrid Calon is a versatile artist working across diverse mediums, including prints, textiles, murals, installations, and ceramics. Her art explores abstract identity, guided by intuition within material and technological constraints.
Sigrid Calon
Sigrid Calon: “My work area is diverse & versatile and is reflected in artist books, riso prints, textile objects, murals, spatial installations and recently also ceramics. Identity in its abstraction has my interest. Working within the moment, materials and/or technology. Working within a frame but never without my intuition. Working with limitations gives me freedom. Creating new works gives me the energy for life, alternately this can be free work, commissioned work or new exciting collaborations.”
Shohei Kubo
For seven decades, KANMAKI has been at the forefront of pigment foil manufacturing in Kyoto. Established in 1952, their journey began with the production of gold thread for traditional Kyoto kimono. Today, they harness a rich technological heritage to pioneer groundbreaking products.
For the MONO MAKERS PROGRAM, Sigrid plans to explore new uses for KANMAKI's gold pigment foils, drawing on her background in textiles to add a unique layer to the project. Driven by an insatiable quest for colour, they embrace a planning and development-driven approach, constantly exploring the limitless potential of pigments.
Sigrid Calon: "I think and expect that with many experiments we can be a great source of inspiration for others. I hope this collaboration gives me energy, joy and something fun! It would be great to display that at the end of this project."
Sigrid and Shohei will meet soon online and their collaboration will begin. MONO JAPAN and NN Life will give them support for their successful discovery.
Laura Luchtman x Tsuyoshi Kato
Laura Luchtman, the textile and surface designer from Studio Kukka, is known for her innovative and colorful designs that bridge the gap between craft and industrial manufacturing. Her contemporary creations are deeply rooted in tradition.
Photo: Chromarama expo by Kukka, image by Roza Schous
Kiten.kyoto, founded by Tsuyoshi Kato of Katouken Flag Studio, has been producing luxury Japanese textile products since 1950. They blend traditional weaving, dyeing, and embroidery techniques with modern design to create lifestyle products that enrich people's lives and offer a cultural experience.
In the MONO MAKERS PROGRAM, Laura and Tsuyoshi plan to merge their expertise, breathing new life into their design vocabularies. They aim to expand kiten.kyoto's range to include more lifestyle products that reflect rich Japanese tradition and craftsmanship.
Laura and Tsuyushi: "With the help of the Mono Makers Program, we hope to receive the resources and guidance necessary to transform our shared vision into a truly unique product."
Photo: kiten.kyoto
MMP 2023
Collaboration between Mae Engelgeer & Yohei Oue
The first application was closed in June 2023. The Dutch designer Mae Engelgeer (Studio Mae Engelgeer) and the Japanese washi distributor Yohei Oue (Oue co.) together won the first prize, and Boaz Cohen (BCXSY) and Hirofumi Fujii (Kiribako manufacturer Masuda Kiribako) won the special jury prize. Both pairs convinced the jury that they are meaningful and fruitful matches. To facilitate their collaboration, we were supporting the creators till the end of March 2024. Not only Yohei Oue from Oue co., the winner of the first prize, but also Hirofumi Fujii was invited to the study tour in the Netherlands hosted by the NN Life, as well as to the MONO JAPAN fair in September.
There are several articles about the process of their collaboration, read further from the button below for articles.
Announcement of the MONO MAKERS PROGRAM
Mae & Yohei’s first meeting in Osaka
Visit to Tottori’s Inshu Washi maker
Organisers
NN Life Insurance Company
Since the start of Japan operations in 1986 as the first European life insurance company in Japan, NN Life Insurance Company has been providing products and services to maintain and preserve the value of small-to-medium sized companies. As part of our support for the next generation, we are implementing a program to assist the successors and young managers who will be the future of Japan’s small and medium-sized companies, Our “Family Business Innovation Lab” program is being co-hosted with two local NPOs.
Japan Cultural Exchange
Japan Cultural Exchange (JCE) is the owner of the MONO JAPAN fair and the web shop MONO SHOP. The first MONO JAPAN Fair took place in 2016 in the Lloyd Hotel Amsterdam. Since then, more than 70 Japanese participants have exhibited their works with our support, most of them for the first time in Europe, and numerous collaborations between Japan and the Netherlands were born. In November 2019, the owner of JCE established an NPO “Stichting MONO JAPAN” to organize cultural activities and to separate these activities from the MONO JAPAN fair.