Material Symphysis is a collaboration between the The University for the Creative Art's School of Craft and Design and its Japanese partner, Tokyo University of the Arts, to showcase the work of the staff within the craft departments. It is from the staff that styles and schools of thought stem and futures are subsequently shaped. Firm and fertile links between the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts, and Tokyo University of the Arts have been forged as a result of their prominence in the field of crafts and previous collaborations, such as last year's Shima Kara Shima E exhibition.