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Countdown to the Kimono Exhibition

By Marie Via, Director of Exhibitions

IMG_1853Memorial Art Gallery‘s Grand Gallery has been buzzing with activity this week! The Art Deco kimono have arrived and the Exhibitions Department, aided by members of the Curatorial Department, two textile professionals, and a high school volunteer have been busy unpacking them. The gallery has been filled with a steady stream of “oohs” and “ahhs” as all 94 kimono, each more beautiful than the last, were unwrapped from tissue paper. Led by on-site curator Chiyo Ueyama and assistant registrar Ann Kuebel, three working teams padded and customized stands before carefully hanging each garment. One section of the show features traditional women’s kimono, one is devoted to men’s and children’s kimono, and the largest introduces kimono transformed by western Art Deco patterns and worn by Japanese fashionistas of the 1930s and ‘40s.

IMG_1854When you visit, be sure to notice the two elaborately decorated bridal kimono. Other favorites are sure to be various boys’ kimono featuring airplanes, baseballs, and puppies. See if you can figure out how these dazzling designs were made (hint: tie-dyeing, stenciling, and resist all play a part, and some are woven directly into the fabric). And you’ll have fun identifying all the motifs, which range from classic chrysanthemums and swallows to the Empire State Building, racecars, and crazy polka-dots.

IMG_1855Fashioning Kimono: Art Deco and Modernism in Japan‘s exhibition opening party is fast approaching and there is still a lot of work to do, but now that the gallery is pulsating with color and pattern, it’s easy to imagine the final result. If you come to the exhibition opening party on the evening of January 30, you’ll get to see a professional stylist, recently arrived from Japan, dress both male and female models in kimono—it’s quite a complicated process!

Comments

Comment from jo Cowan
Time: February 6, 2010, 3:42 pm

I was referred to you about your kimono exhibit.
I have a collection of Contemporary Handbags made from modern Kimono which I
sell exclusively outside of Japan. I collaborate with the artisans on many of the designs and sold them at the Kubota exhibit in Canton along with various art Galleries and museum stores such as the Smithsonian, Cleveland Museum of Art, and several Frank Lloyd Wright establishments.I don’t know if you have a museum store. Please look at my site and see if you are possibly interested. They are hand made by four Artisans. Jo

Comment from Maria
Time: March 17, 2010, 3:45 pm

I was very satisfied with the kimono styling show, demonstrated by a kimono stylist, Hiro. Hope you show it for many people coming to your gallery. It was really great!!

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