I can't think of a better birthday present than the one my husband gave me this year - a trip to Canton, Ohio (a 4 hr. drive each way) to see the Kimono as Art - The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota Exhibit. All I can say is if you even think you might like it - GO! It will only be there until April 26 and who know when or where it will be again?
SOME HISTORY:
In 1937, as a young artist, Itchiku saw a piece of 350 year old fabric in a museum that fascinated him so much he studied it for hours trying to figure out how it was done. It was shibori but it was different -more magnificent than the anything he had ever seen. The technique was called Tsujigahana, but the directions had been lost in time. As with most of us, life got in the way of artistic exploration. He married and was creating kimonos for a living. Then the war. Even as a POW in Siberia he was couldn't shake his memory. When he returned to Tokyo in 1951 he was raising his family and his kimono business began flourishing. But that little scrap of fabric still eluded him.
Then in 1977 - when he was 60 years old - he finally achieved what he considered to be an equivalent piece of fabric. He named his interpretation "Itchiku Tsujigahana" and spent the rest of his life working on his artistic vision of creating kimono's depicting the changing landscape in the four seasons. He fully expected to live to be 120 to realize his full vision (he had plans after the landscapes of creating the universe), but left us in 2003 at the age of 86. The kimono's he left behind are magical.
THE EXHIBIT
Starting with a good example of the work that goes into shibori as well as some fabric to touch the exhibit had a nice 15 minute or so movie depicting Itchiku and his exhibit that was in the Smithsonian over a decade ago.
Then on to the kimono's:
Itchiku wanted the viewer to have a personal experience with his work and the exhibit was generous as the viewer is not hampered by glass between you and the kimono. While, naturally, there is no touching you can bend over and look- getting to within a foot of the fabric to really see it up close! The first half of the exhibit had about 10 different kimono's to enjoy.
But, it was the next part that was so delicious words fail to describe how delightful. You enter the long rectangular room. In a 'U' shape on three sides are 8' tall kimonos arranged cuff to cuff in such a way that they depict one continuous scene - starting with the mountains in the fall and ending with winter. He wanted to do all 4 seasons, but with each kimono taking up to a year to produce time took it's toll. Standing in the middle was a spiritual experience - the majesty of the project and the mastery of the execution was enough to take your breath away. Even people who had no clue how much work went into each kimono were taken aback. You can get some feel for this in this YouTube:
So, if you are even thinking this might be a good exhibit to attend , I can pretty well assure you that it will not disappoint.
For a different look at this exhibit here is another blog I found:
For a different look at this exhibit here is another blog I found:
The link to the museum exhibit complete with pictures to whet your appetite and all that stuff you need to know to go (hours, location etc.):
Now, all I need to do is to take a trip to Japan and see the exhibit the way it was truly meant to be seen - at the museum that Itchiku built in the woods for his kimono's!
1 comment:
Wonderful! Thank you.
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