Textiles artist Maki Aizawa’s original line of kimono-inspired jackets are featured in the prestigious Santa Fe International Folk Arts festival this month. She’s humbled to be sharing kimono-making techniques which she applies to the modern-designed jackets, her way of giving visibility to what she describes as “a dying art form.” But despite designing and sewing…

Kimono Style at Metropolitan Museum of Art (7 June­–20 February) features a selection of more than 60 kimonos from the John C. Weber Collection of Japanese art. The display traces the evolution of the garment from the late Edo period (1615–1868) through to the early 20th century when the T-shaped design was adapted to suit the lifestyle of…

In Layering Sukesuke is all in how things show through. NUNO inserts small, light objects between layers of sheer silk organdy to accentuate the translucency. This is much more laborious than it sounds: computer-driven looms must be stopped over and over again, row after row, so that feathers can be hand-positioned. Alternatively, organdy is shot through…

Welcome to an enlightening virtual videoexhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, showcasing the genius ofJapanese Kimono.

Welcome to an enlightening virtual video exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, showcasing the genius of Japanese Kimono.  

Things were different at our recent 10 Day Tokiwa Gallery! Silly! Quirky! Unexpected! Laughable! and Surprising! Starting with a SPECTACULAR SHISHI MAI DANCE performed by Father and Son who live in the neighborhood. Son, an evolved and accomplished 40 year old Down’s Syndrome artist, was the head. Father was the tail. Their teamwork, punctuated by…

On November 15, 2019 our group of travelers had the great privilege of taking an indigo workshop at Buaiso’s home in Tokushima We were welcomed by the young farmers, dyers and business associates who served us lunch and indigo tea. Kakuo Kaji then showed us various methods of resist dyeing and we folded and clamped…

NHK World Video  

Text and Photos by Alice Gordenker Masao Nagata of Nagata Indigo Dyeing Works (長田染工場) in Izumo, Shimane demonstrates their hands-on dyeing process done just as in the olden days before mechanization. First, he moistens the cloth before lowering it into a high-alkaline dye bath of fermented indigo and lye. Indigo appears green when lifted from…

by Amy Katoh After 43 years of Blue & White, my eyes only see BLUE. And it may well be that BLUE is taking over the color spectrum. From the skies, to the rivers to the bridges, and even the netting that surrounds them under repair, BLUE is the reigning color The autumn skies in…