■ A boundary to concentrate on the Kumihimo
As we wondered how best to express the charm of small, delicate kumihimo
within a large gallery, our first thought was that we needed a quiet and
clear space, to make the small objects stand out and draw attention to
them. The ideal space had to be something like water, transparent yet filled
with vitality.
We therefore formed a boundary, like a Himorogi*, to create spaces where it is possible to focus solely only on the kumihimo.
Nothing is present within the white frames other than the kumihimo themselves.
All the information panels and other explanatory elements are placed outside
the boundary.
*Himorogi
A Shintō yorishiro, a place to attract and welcome kami deities. A himorogi
usually comprises four thin bamboo branches with shide (rope-like streamers
made from folded paper). The materials themselves are light and weak, but
form a borderland with great significance, showing the presence of the
kami.
Project Year: 2021, 2023
Location: JAPAN HOUSE SÃO PAULO, JAPAN HOUSE LOS ANGELS, JAPAN HOUSE LONDON
Exhibition Production: 有職組紐道明 道明葵一郎
Curation: 橋本麻里
Graphic design: 下田理恵
Ceramic works: 安洞雅彦
■ Grid of nine
The frames are arranged in a grid of nine, inspired by mandalas, which
show time repeatedly flowing towards the centre. In the middle of a mandala
you would normally find a Buddha. This time, a historical kumihimo has
been placed in that position.
<Spatial structure: details>
■ Fine detailing, integrated texture
The frame that forms the boundary is thin and at first glance appears to
be just a frame, painted white. In fact, however, it incorporates a lot
of intricate detail.
- Wood and gofun
The frame itself is made of cedar, with a gofun* coating. We carefully
considered which materials would best suit the texture of silk kumihimo.
A gofun coating has a grainy feel that is quite different from paint, or
oil staining. The layered, translucent texture allows the reddish cedar
grain to be perceived underneath the white gofun, adding a sense of depth,
like skin coated with o-shiroi*.
*Gofun
Powdered seashells
*O-shiroi
A powder foundation used in traditional Japanese makeup
- Earth plinths
We could not conceive of delicate frames being laid directly on the gallery
floor. We therefore placed some plinths under each frame. These plinths
are not made of stone but of ceramic blocks, created from fired earthenware.
Our aim was to link the gallery’s stark white, industrial space with the
delicate frames through a material having the strength and texture of earth.
The blocks were made by ANDŌ Masahiko, a ceramic artist from Minō in Gifu
Prefecture.
Perhaps we ought to provide some historical background on how pillars are
erected, to explain the concept of these earthenware plinths. The oldest
method of pillar construction is hottate-bashira, which literally means
‘dig and erect’. This is the simplest way to set up a pillar, and is found
in many other countries too. Over time, pillars came to be erected on bases
made of stone.
The history of kumihimo is similarly ancient, so we thought it appropriate
to use a combination of materials that would be reminiscent of hotttate-bashira.
Of course, digging into the earth to raise pillars is not possible within
a gallery, so instead we decided to place the pillars on top of earthen
blocks that had been hardened and fired.
Some might question whether such attention to the finer points is truly
necessary. People might wonder if there is a need for details so delicate,
they cannot even be expressed in photographs.
The reason is that when you are confronted with a kumihimo, your own vision,
spatial awareness and sense of touch become more precise and sensitive
than usual. When you gaze at a kumihimo, you start to notice all kinds
of material qualities that you never noticed before, from the proportions
of the gallery to the look of the paintwork, and anything that fails to
match the precision of the kumihimo is perceived as stressful noise.
Merely building a square frame is not enough to create a strong boundary
enveloping the delicate braids. That said, the exhibition is about the
braids, so the exhibition space itself must not make too strong a statement
– the space should appear at first glance to be simple, even frail. That
is why we needed to be so thorough about getting the proportions right,
and incorporating details that are gentle yet deep and dense.
But at the same time as including these elaborate details, the venue has
to be designed to work at a subconscious level. Essentially, there is no
need for people to be conscious of any of this. If people did notice the
details and perceive them as elaborate, that would obstruct access to the
kumihimo themselves. The concept underlying the spatial composition of
the current exhibition was thus to create an atmosphere that felt natural
and well suited for displaying kumihimo –in other words, to produce a subconscious
design.
飛鳥時代に中国からもたらされた組紐の技術は、千年以上の長きに渡り日本独自の発展を遂げてきました。貴族たちの美意識に合わせて改良され、武家の感覚が加わり、さらに庶民の暮らしの中へと取り入れられた組紐は、現在では帯締めを中心に、和装の必須の工芸として親しまれています。
《KUMIHIMO: The Art of Japanese Silk Braiding by DOMYO》展（2021年12月〜）は、道明が長らく取り組んできた、文化財の復元作品のアーカイブでたどる日本の組紐の歴史的発展、数学・工学系研究により導出される構造的特徴、そして現代の多彩な分野で活躍する才能と組紐の協働を統合し、古くて新しい組紐の魅力を伝えます。
2021年12月から2022年にかけて、JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles、同São Paulo、同Londonという３館への巡回を予定しています。巡回に先立ち、2021年3月には東京都千代田区の「アーツ千代田3331」にて試行版として《KUMIHIMO
by DOMYO》展が開催されました。
JAPAN HOUSEは、日本の魅力の諸相を｢世界を豊かにする日本｣として表現・発信することにより、日本への深い理解と共感の裾野を広げていこうという、外務省による海外拠点事業です。2017年にロンドン、ロサンゼルス、サンパウロの3都市に事業拠点を開設。展示スペース、シアター機能のある多目的スペース、物販、飲食、書籍／web／カフェなどの活動を通じて、日本の魅力を発信しています。
