Visit Japan for free - from London
We spotlight our favourite exhibitions currently showing at the Embassy of Japan in Piccadilly and Japan House in Kensington...
March 8, 2023
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
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Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
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Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
Pass through the airport scanners at the Embassy of Japan on Piccadilly, and there’s a wealth of temporary exhibitions. They’re completely free to enter, though some officialdom remains; cameras are forbidden, meaning some works, unavailable online, can only be experienced in its glass-cased space.
The Beauty of Transience takes Japan’s global position quite literally. Surrounded by sea and shifting air masses, and stretched long from north to south, Japan’s mid-latitude location means it has four clearly distinct seasons, which have long influenced the island’s artists.
It begins with Winter, our present in London, and a subtle challenge to the stereotype of cherry blossom (sakura) in Spring. From the ‘solitary monochrome’ of northern snowy countries, we pass through April – ‘the start of the school, company, and fiscal year’ – to the ‘dramatic’ scarlet, crimson and ruby red maples of Autumn, pine needles and bamboo shoots against blue skies.
Each season features the same handful of artists, a continuity which permits us to see how the climate changes their practice. Two Mount Fujis, reproduced in hanging scrolls, are curated in conversation - or opposition. The fiery ‘Red Fuji’ almost glares in defiance at Kobayashi Keigetsu’s ‘Fuji and Cranes’, a bare sign of the coming winter.
Transience is diverse in media, if not gender and time. The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shibiku, buried in the caption of a shell-matching game, is the only reference to the role of women artists. The Embassy leaves it to us, the viewers, to write and display our own haiku, and expand its representation.
There’s certainly a deference to the well-established, artists already known outside of Japan - Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige – in part, due to the exhibition’s size, but there is space for more contemporary work too. First educated in oil painting, Kitaoko Fumio trained under Un’ichi Hiratsuka, a master of 20th century creative print (sōsaku-hanga).
Most of the artist’s woodblock prints bear these same, soft impressions. But others embody his multiple influences, including Chinese wood carvings, and abstraction and individual expression in European artworks, encountered in his travels to Paris. These prints are the most complex and modern, but many are unavailable online. (Transience makes sure to tell that he ‘remained true to the Japanese school of art, despite incorporated techniques.’)
Where the Embassy of Japan returns to tradition, Japan House London reimagines and reconstructs. Though part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it offers a more independent, forward-facing programme. Its temporary exhibitions are exercises in mindful curation, paying close attention to everything from the Tokyo Olympics to architecture for dogs.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO, is no exception. Literally translated as ‘joining threads together’, kumihimo is an intricate practice of cord braiding. Over time, its strong and flexible ‘structure’ has lent its use to everything from samurai sword scabbards and handles, to tying high-fashion kimono and haori.
The exhibition platforms the work of DOMYO, a Tokyo-based workshop established in 1652 which still practises the traditional craft today. Much of their work involves the research, restoration, and reproduction of ties found in Japanese temples, in collaboration with the Shōsōin (Imperial) Repository in Nara.
‘Only by deconstruction and reconstruction can we understand how things are made,’ the tenth-generation craftsman Dōmyō Kiichirō told me during a preview. (Japan House mirrors the practice of these artisans in its curation, recreating their workshop on the ground floor shop and tourism centre.)
Like its predecessor, The Carpenters' Line: Woodworking Heritage in Hida Takayama, KUMIHIMO explores the role of young people in continuing traditional craft. It implies historic connections to the European Arts & Crafts movement, whilst continuing to look to the future.
Exhibition architect Mitsui Rei draws on historic Japanese shrines and tea rooms in his modern, open design. Kumihimo frames, traditionally made from wood, are enlarged in Perspex, making the process clear and accessible for viewers.
Yamaguchi Geiko, a braider from the workshop in Japan, demonstrates her practice at the preview, using the frame like a musical instrument. On her return, she’ll commence work on a cord for the Ise Grand Shrine, which is demolished and rebuilt every twenty years. She has left herself twelve years to braid it, but it will take her skilled hand just one.
Kumihimo is not unique to Japan. Imported from the Asian continent, curator Hashimoto Mari suggests the simultaneous evolution of braiding in China and South America, and its surprising overlaps with Western textile designs like tartan.
These exchanges create the most exciting moments in KUMIHIMO. We see contemporary modeller Hasegawa Akira reconstructing Napoleonic army jackets, replacing ‘Russian braids’ with kumihimo to hint at the common threads between Japanese and European military histories.
These two institutions, both backed by the Japanese government, offer unique perspectives on the country from London. The line is often official, but reading into it reveals much about the country’s efforts to define its own image - how it would like to be seen, from one island to another.
For more on KUMIHIMO, listen to this episode of the EMPIRE LINES podcast, with Japan House curator Hashimoto Mari and translator Eyre Kurasawa.
The Beauty of Transience: A Journey through the Seasons of Japan is on show at the Embassy of Japan until late March 2023.
KUMIHIMO: Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO is on show at Japan House London until 11 June 2023.
Make sure to collect your Yamos on the gowithYamo app with each exhibition you visit!
