JETAA Northern California: Pacific Bridge: Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers Opens
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This summer and fall, the Museum of Craft and Folk Art (MOCFA) in San Francisco is proud to present a traveling exhibition co-organized by the Japan Society (New York), Tama Art University (Tokyo), and International Textile Network Japan. Fiber Futures: Japan’s Textile Pioneers explores a new art that is emerging from a remarkable fusion of Japanese artisanal and industrial textile making. Coaxed from materials as old as hemp and as newly developed as microfilaments, a varied array of more than 25 works by artists from multiple generations will be on view in this extraordinary two-part exhibition.
By transcending and cutting across the limitations imposed by the inherited oppositions between art, craft, and design, this two-part exhibition brings together over 20 contemporary Japanese artists who are active at the cutting edge of the global fiber-art movement. These men and women transform fabrics into sculptures, pictures, emulations of nature, and even abstract meditations on memory and identity. The materials range from silk, cotton, recycled cocoons, antique paper scraps, jute, and hemp to stainless-steel wire and weaving and dyeing technology. Ultimately the goal is expressing an environmentally sustainable ethos.
The opening reception of Fiber Futures was on July 20, 6-8pm and offered an exciting opportunity to preview the exhibition and meet several artists and curators visiting from Japan. Special guests in attendance included Joe Earle, Vice President and Director of the Japan Society Gallery, and distinguished artists, Machiko Agano, Akio Hamatani, and Hiroko Watanabe (President of International Textile Network Japan). In addition to a delicious sake tasting hosted by the innovative and contemporary Japanese restaurant, Ozumo, who shared some of Japan’s finest premium and limited edition sakes, entertainment included TOMOSAITO, the guitarist/beat producer of FOTOS. The exhibit runs until the 3rd of November this year.
Nicole Crescenzi, Development and Curatorial Associate
Museum of Craft and Folk Art
51 Yerba Buena Lane
San Francisco, CA 94103
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