About
Haruka Matsuo is a Japanese visual artist and Ōbaku Baisa-Ryū tea master based in the Netherlands, and the only tea master in Europe who performs leaf tea ceremonies. She trained at the Kyoto City University of Arts and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. As the ninth-generation successor of Kigata Banko-yaki, a Japanese ceramics tradition, she carries this tradition into a Dutch context. Her work is concerned with what is not tangible yet present, such as reflections in water, the atmosphere between objects, and the bond between people and the places they inhabit. Her aim is to make this perceptible: through tea ceremonies, ceramics, drawings and installations rooted in local materials and histories, she creates moments of shared attention in which people connect with each other and with the place around them.
CV
Exhibitions and Projects (selection)
2026 Bach & Tea, performance with cellist Gé Bartman, Naardermeer Teahouse
(April 2026); ReNature, Amsterdam (May 2026) (NL)
2025–present Tea Tree, Tea Treaty – Naardermeer Teahouse, ongoing project, Meentwerf,
Hilversum (NL) (Supported by Stimuleringfonds)
2025 Tea Tree, Tea Treaty – Tea Ceremony, performance, ReNature, Amsterdam (NL), curated
by Imke Ruigrok
2024 Tea Ceremony: Garden Galaxy, performance, Ibasho Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
2023 Tea Ceremony: Forest Night, performance, Het Pinetum, Hilversum (NL)
2022 Provocative Teapot, KunstRAI, Amsterdam (NL)
2021 The Way of Tea, performance, IJssel Orbit by Elmo Vermijs, IJssel Biennale, Deventer (NL)
2021 The Way of Tea, performance, ReNature, Den Bosch (NL), curated by Imke Ruigrok
2018 The Sacred Japanese Trees in the Pinetum, solo exhibition, Het Pinetum, Hilversum (NL)
2000–2012 Group exhibitions incl. Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy (Amsterdam), Central
Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing), Living Design Center OZONE (Tokyo), De Korenbeurs
(Schiedam), Sieboldhuis (Leiden), and Kyoto Art Center (JP); solo exhibition, Galerie Intermezzo
(Dordrecht)
Collaborations and Community Projects
2024–present Collaboration with King Arthur Groep (NL): participatory development of the
teahouse, including construction of an earthen wall with people with early-onset dementia
2024 Workshops with King Arthur Groep and Bartiméus (NL)
2021 Collaboration with Elmo Vermijs, IJssel Orbit, IJssel Biennale (NL), incl. participatory work
with primary school children
Ongoing ceramics workshops and participatory projects with diverse groups, including people
with visual or physical impairments
Research and Artistic Collaborations
2023–present Collaborative research project INFORMART / TACTILE ART, Tsukuba University
of Technology (JP)
• Artistic research into tactile forms of composition and perception, in collaboration with
Mitsunobu Matsuo and an interdisciplinary research team
• Developed within a multi-year, publicly funded research context (2023–2027)
• Explores how spatial structures and geometries can be experienced and composed
through tactile engagement
Selected presentations:
2025 Tactile Reading & Graphics Conference, Amsterdam (NL)
2025 Low Vision Conference, Florence (IT)
2024 ICEVI World Conference, Ahmedabad (IN)
Founding and Organisational Work
2018–present Founder and Chair, Stichting Matsuo Form Art (NL)
Through the foundation, Matsuo develops projects at the intersection of art, accessibility,
healthcare and education, while cultivating international exchange, particularly in relation to
Japanese Kigata Banko ceramics.
Recent collaborations include Tsukuba University of Technology and exploratory partnerships
with Bartiméus.
Education
2004 BA Textile Department, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (NL)
2000 MA Fine Art (Sculpture), Kyoto City University of Arts (JP)
1998 BA Fine Art (Sculpture), Kyoto City University of Arts (JP)
Grants and Funding
2025 Stimuleringfonds Creatieve Industrie (NL)
2023–2027 Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (JP, multi-year collaborative research project)
2009, 2007 Startstipendium, Fonds voor Beeldende Kunst (NL)
2004 Berlage Foundation Grant (NL)
2002 Pola Art Foundation for the Promotion of Traditional Japanese Culture (JP)
2002 Saia Bunka Foundation (JP)
2000 Grants incl. Goethe-Institut, Pola Art Foundation, Japan Foundation, Kyoto Art Centre
Publications
2026 Newspaper article De Gooi- en Eemlander
2026 Article Society and Japanese Arts
2023 Mingei Theory and Ceramics Today: Artists and Craftspeople, Leiden University (Maxime
Damen)
2022, 2024, 2025 Happinez Magazine