Miwako Ando

Anne Meerpohl Why did you decide to continue your studies at HFBK Hamburg back in the early 1970s?

Miwako Ando My former professor Isaburo Ueno at the Kyoto University of the Arts highly recommended HFBK Hamburg to me. He had studied architecture in Germany before the Second World War and had befriended Herbert von Buttlar who later became the president of HFBK. The two of them used their connection to support students taking part in exchanges. A year before I went to Germany, a fellow student of mine had already moved to Hamburg, so I was keen to try it out myself, and I already had good contacts here.

Anne Meerpohl In which class did you study and what was your everyday life at the academy like?

Miwako Ando I had brought some of my enamel work with me from Japan and was therefore recommended to the lecturer for metal technology, Rudolf M. Mentz, in the Industrial Design department. However, he told me that if I wanted to continue working in this direction, I would first have to learn how to make the tools for it and know exactly which ones to use and how. I still have a homemade mortar for cloisonné from that time – a first design task. That was a lot of work in the first semester. In the second semester, we did bigger things. Mr. Mentz successfully recommended me for a scholarship for foreign students. Unfortunately, it only lasted one year, but at that time there was still free lunch in the canteen. You always had to register for it at the beginning of the semester and we were given tickets for each day. If we didn’t manage to eat during the day, we could use them for dinner instead.

Anne Meerpohl How did you work in the classes; did you work more collaboratively or on your own projects?

Miwako Ando Both. We also worked on joint projects in the design department, but I mainly worked a lot on my own and developed my skills in one-to-one meetings with my professor. He often gave me feedback on whether something was good or too difficult, or how to get the right material

Anne Meerpohl What works did you create during this time?

Miwako Ando I designed jewelry, for example. But even for that, I first had to make the tools. After that, I was able to realize larger projects and devote myself to enamel again. We always had to procure the material ourselves, which wasn’t always easy and was also very expensive. I often couldn’t get enamel and glass in Hamburg. At some point I also began to work with bronze and copper, and later with silver and gold. I experimented a lot with the enamel paintings and some of the silver was too soft for certain objects. I tried out so much and worked at the university, I was constantly having to argue with the janitors who wanted to send me home after ten o’clock in the evening. But I wanted to keep working and was often there for over twelve hours a day, Monday to Friday. Fortunately, there was also a shower.

Anne Meerpohl In the 1970s, several student groups were politically active at HFBK Hamburg. How would you describe the atmosphere at the university?

Miwako Ando When I came to the HFBK Hamburg in 1971, there were many protests. There were so many students who had been enrolled at the university for a very long time and therefore had time for it. The student status had many advantages, for example if you already had children. In my time, there were about eight percent foreigners among the students. Every now and then there were also problems between German and international students.

Anne Meerpohl We became aware of you and your work through the publication Foreign Students at the HFBK (Ausländische Studenten der HBK) for the exhibition of the same name in 1973. Do you still remember the exhibition and how it came about?

Miwako Ando I think it was an initiative by foreign students. The catalog shows one of my works which is a rotating object made of brass with a candlestick in the middle and several compartments for offering different snacks. Brass was a popular material, we could use it for free in the metal workshop, as well as copper. Whenever I didn’t have any money, I worked with it. I still remember Michio Takehara very well; he also took part in the exhibition and is represented in the catalog. We were good friends and often both worked from morning till late at HFBK. Unfortunately, he passed away ten years ago, but he was always very active and held many exhibitions. For example, he experimented with polyester in his paintings and prints, which I still remember well. We often had lunch together with other Japanese students in the cafeteria, and there were a few others there through DAAD or private funding.

Anne Meerpohl After your studies, you didn’t produce any art for several years. Was this a conscious decision, and what made you return to your artistic practice?

Miwako Ando I had two children after graduating and therefore took a break. After my studies, I had two or three exhibitions with former fellow students, but then I stopped working as an artist for about ten years. When I started again, I realized that working with metal at home was a bit difficult, so I returned to painting which I had done at the very beginning of my first degree in Kyoto. There I also studied calligraphy and ink painting, among other things. I also realized that Japanese art and culture are in demand. So I started teaching traditional Japanese art, as there were many people interested in it, especially Germans.

Anne Meerpohl Where do you teach, for example?

Miwako Ando I used to give courses at various adult education centers and at some point, also at home. I’ve been working at pro linguis, a language school, for some time now. Sadly, everything was canceled during the corona pandemic. Fortunately, I can now teach again. Every year, I put on an exhibition with my students and publish a catalog.

Anne Meerpohl Did your studies at HFBK Hamburg have an influence on the fact that you are now teaching yourself? Or how you teach?

Miwako Ando I learned neither painting nor calligraphy – which is what I mainly teach now – at HFBK Hamburg, so no, not so much. It’s been such a long time since I was a student and the university has changed a lot. The subjects are now different and the structure is also completely different. I used to have to learn a lot more crafts and get to know materials such as wood, metal, ceramics, paper, and textiles. The courses back then usually lasted a whole semester.

Anne Meerpohl You have already told us that you are, for instance, involved in the Japan Festival in Hamburg. What other cultural work do you do besides your artistic practice and teaching?

Miwako Ando I always work at the Japan Festival and the Japan Week, and I used to work at the Museum am Rothenbaum, now MARKK, for the Girls’ and Children’s Day. There, we help workshops on Japanese art that were organized in cooperation with the consulate.

Anne Meerpohl What are you working on at the moment and what’s next for you? 

Miwako Ando After a three-year break due to the pandemic, the Japan Festival is now taking place as usual at Planten un Blomen. This year, I’m showing some works with my students again. We often also had a stand at the festival in Hanover, I took part in it for many years. There used to be a lot more events like this in Kiel, Berlin, and many other large cities, but unfortunately, their number has gone down quite a lot.