Dated: 02/09/2009

Japanese exhibition a first for a major British Art Gallery

Visit the exhibition website

The first major museum exhibition of Japanese Sashiko Textiles to be displayed at a major UK art gallery opens on October 10.

The show and subsequent national tour will present traditional and contemporary textiles and garments, designed to decorate and protect the wearer both physically and spiritually.

Entitled Japanese Sashiko Textiles, it sets out to present a sense of time and place in which these works were created.
The exhibition has been selected by textile artist Michele Walker whose research has been facilitated by a three year Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Fellowship.

It is supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Arts Council Yorkshire, Japan Airlines, Renaissance Yorkshire, The Japan Foundation and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

Michele says: ‘The objects have been chosen for the stories they tell. My research is taking place at a critical time when the last generation of (now elderly) makers is rapidly drawing to a close together with their traditional way of life and the disappearance of the natural landscape to which they belong.’

The exhibition will investigate two major aspects of Japanese sashiko. The first will look at the lives of women who made and wore sashiko. Until the mid twentieth century it was the traditional method of making work wear in fishing and farming areas throughout Japan. The makers were the cornerstones of communities but their lives passed unrecorded. The historical work in this exhibition dating from the nineteenth to mid twentieth century documents these women’s achievements, perseverance and hardships.

The second aspect will focus on the fact that the physical protection of sashiko garments was reinforced by the spiritual protection thought to be associated with the stitched patterns.

Sometimes these ‘talisman’ took the form of small stitched symbols hidden on the inside of the garment, so as to protect vulnerable parts of the body, for example the neck and back. Or they may take on a more flamboyant character, as seen on the inside of fireman’s garments that picture heroic images applied using tsutsugaki (freehand resist-dyed technique.)

In total around 75 -100 garments and related objects, including videos and significant works from Japanese photographer, IWAYIMA Takeji (1920-1989) will be displayed in the exhibition.

Most of the exhibits are being shown in the UK for the first time. Lenders include The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, The Aikawa and Ogi Folk Museums, Sado Island, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Fukuoka City Museum and private collectors.

Alongside the historical items are examples of more recent work inspired by sashiko. NUNO Corporation creates innovative textiles that combine traditional aesthetics with the latest technologies. Textile artist TOKUNAGA Miyoko hand stitches one-off fashion garments. She combines sashiko and sakiori techniques and will produce a special collection for this exhibition.
A fully accessible on-line publication including images of works, installation shots and contributions from leading Japanese and British experts, will be created for the exhibition. .

Tour

The exhibition will launch at York Art Gallery 10 Oct 2009 – 24 Jan 2010, and will then tour around the UK.
27 February – 11 April 2010 (closed 2 - 5 April) Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
8 May – 4 July 2010 to be confirmed
31 July – 26 September 2010 Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery