An Encounter with Karen and Corentin — Germany Business Trip 9
Hello.
This is Tomotake Ichikawa from 1basketry.
In the previous journal entries, I have been sharing records from my business trip to Germany in 2025.
Among those stories, I also introduced the basket weaving festival held in the town of Lichtenfels, Germany.
For the past several years, there has been a French maker who participates in this festival every year.
That couple is Karen and Corentin.
As I mentioned in “Germany Business Trip 3,” this couple was holding a workshop in the event space attached to the Dalhausen Basket Makers’ Museum. In the photo, Karen is on the left. 
And the person on the right is Corentin. Each of them was teaching participants how to make the type of baskets they usually produce in their own work. 
As I mentioned in “Germany Business Trip 3,” when I stayed in Dalhausen and was kindly hosted at Hansgert’s home, 
this couple welcomed me as housemates and even treated me to their home cooking.
After finishing their workshop in Dalhausen, the two of them headed to Lichtenfels by car.
At the basket weaving festival, they were selling their work from a relatively spacious booth, and it seemed to be quite busy.
The story of how I first met them goes back, like my meeting with Hansgert,
to the World Basket Weaving Festival held in Poland in 2015.
As I mentioned in an earlier journal, it was my first time participating in the World Basket Weaving Festival in Poland. With so many participants gathered there—and with my own booth to manage—I did not have the chance to take my time looking at each maker’s work. 
Even so, there were a few makers whose work immediately stood out in the venue. One of them was Corentin. What he was creating was this artwork, made using basket weaving techniques. 
He worked carefully, as if confirming each step one by one. The form was unlike anything I had seen before, and the sight of Corentin creating it has remained vividly in my memory ever since. 
And this is the piece that was completed in the end. Remarkably, it was finished over the two days of the competition, and it won an award in the art category. The image of him working on it and the form it finally took stayed with me for a long time. Yet at that time, I never had the chance to speak with him properly, and without even exchanging contact information, the competition came to an end.
And then, before I knew it, four years had passed. In 2019, at the World Basket Weaving Festival in Poland once again, I finally had the chance to meet the two of them. 
This time, Karen was participating in the competition and was weaving a basket. 
Of course, Corentin was there as well. I felt quietly happy in my heart to see the two of them again. 
At the 2019 festival, Ryuki Sunami from Okayama—who makes baskets from igusa rush—was also there and held a workshop on weaving bottle baskets. Karen joined that workshop as well, and I still remember how happily she was weaving. 
The person in the lower center of the photo is Karen, and the person in the lower right is Ryuki Sunami. 
Corentin had attached a bottle basket to his backpack and was wearing this wonderful smile. At that time, we had a little time to talk with the French team, and I mentioned that I would love to ask them to make baskets for us. From then on, we began keeping in touch. However, the situation soon changed dramatically with the pandemic, and as the two of them were also very busy, it became difficult for the conversation to move forward.
And then, after another six years had passed,
we were finally able to meet again in Dalhausen, Germany.
During the time we had not seen each other,
it seemed that the two of them had expanded their activities even further.
In addition to participating in events across Europe,
they were also taking part in exhibitions at museums and galleries.
I also heard that Karen had given birth,
and that while raising their child they were also taking care of their willow fields.
As makers—and as a duo—
it felt as though the two of them were shining even more brightly in their own unique way.
And now, the baskets made by the two of them—whom I was so happy to meet again—
can finally be introduced here at Ichikawa Basketry.
This will also be the first time their baskets are being sent to Japan.
The two of them travel across Europe, holding workshops and exhibiting and selling their work.
Karen also sent me a message saying,
“Our baskets will reach Japan before we do. I’m jealous of the baskets!”
In our shop, we are also displaying a wall decoration specially made for Japan in a custom size.
Please take a look when you visit.
And finally, here is a short video from the festival venue.
In it, Corentin is finishing one of the traditional “Bouyricou” baskets, carefully attaching the handle.
Please take a moment to enjoy this glimpse of the final step of the process.
In the next journal, I will introduce the story of their journey as makers.
To be continued.
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“The One Table” Special Exhibition
European Baskets We Discovered in Germany
2026
February 19 (Thu), 20 (Fri), 21 (Sat), 22 (Sun), 23 (Mon, Holiday)
26 (Thu), 27 (Fri), 28 (Sat)
March 5 (Thu), 6 (Fri), 7 (Sat)
Open | 11:00–16:00
In-store | 1basketry, Minami-Senju, Tokyo
