Kimono 着物

Thrilled today to get to the Kimono exhibition at the NGV in Melbourne. Down and back in the day - phew! But worth it. Second last day of the exhibition. Wow!

Kimono is pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable. I looked it up on Google Translate. I have been saying it with the emphasis on the 1st syllable. So there you go.

The Kimono dates back to 1185 but really prospered during the Edo Period (1600-1868) and is preserved in the Noh masked dance-drama costumary.

I have been reading about the traditions of Kabuki and Noh in ‘Lost Japan’ by Alex Kerr and it was wonderful today to put his account into context. I have been finding the book interesting: Kerr (an American who has lived many years in Japan) bemoans the loss of culture and the built and natural landscapes as Japan has hurtled headlong into the era of the post-war modernisation. 

He was the first foreigner to be awarded the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction published in Japan.

[As an aside, Kerr references the book I have yet to finish: ‘In Praise of Shadows’. In his essay on architecture, Kerr says:

The use of space has everything to do with lighting.

Both authors lament that the Japanese have lost the art of lighting, specifically the beauty of shadows and that modern architecture suffers the overuse of bright light, particularly fluorescent lighting.]

Interestingly, the NGV exhibition in its section of older, rarer, historically significant kimonos, was curated in black with moody lighting; the more modern fashion items like those of Issey Miyake were displayed under bright lights.

Kimono with the Heron Maiden is inspired by the Kabuki song and dance performance first performed in 1762.

I particularly loved seeing this beautiful wedding kimono (Uchikake Furisode) recently gifted to the collection and which I had read about in a review of the exhibition some months ago.

It is made of satin silk, detailed shibori tie dyeing, embroidery, gold thread and the symbols of good fortune: viz. strength and resilience (pine, bamboo and plum) and long life and happiness (the cranes).

I also loved the woodblock prints and there was a set of prints from a calendar produced by the Deer and Stag Pure Silk Co. in Yokohoma in 1910 as a souvenir for customers. As we’ll be in Yokohoma in November, this is the November calendar print!

And the delightful Dancing Floating Pumpkin is still at the NGV. I took Sophie and Niah to see this at Xmas. Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, now aged 96! She is one of the world's top-selling female artists; born in Matsumoto - which we are visiting - so, hoping to see more of those polka-dots!