Harvard Club of Washington, DC

Private Tour of Indigo Threads: Weaving Japanese Craftsmanship and American Heritage - FREE

And In this private tour, learn how antique kimono and traditional work clothes illustrate the long history of Japan's love affair with indigo and cotton and how the Japanese have channeled this love into an extraordinary jeans culture.

For centuries, the Japanese have used indigo and cotton to create beautifully made garments.  Today, Japanese artisan crafted cotton denim jeans provide a window into the continuation of the Japanese craftsman's pursuit of perfection.  In this exhibit, antique kimono and traditional work clothes illustrate the long history of Japan's love affair with indigo and cotton.  The "Wabi Sabi" aesthetic of valuing objects that exhibit wear is explored with the antique textiles, modern Japanese jeans modeled on classic American jeans and the new fashion trend of boro (rags) that gives a nod to how precious indigo dyed cotton was in the past.
 

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About Our Docents:
 

Atsushi Iwai has been the Events Coordinator at the JICC since 2016. Since then he has organized numerous popular and innovative exhibitions and invited notable figures such as Erik Demaine for the 2017 origami show and W. David Marxfor the current exhibition. As a studio sculptor with an MFA from California State University-Chico, he has designed and mounted the exhibitions himself. The walls and hanging system of  "Indigo Threads" were hand madebyhim. These were designed to reflect regional aesthetics and also to harmonize with the denim. "Yakisugi"(charred boards) which are used throughout the exhibition are architectual features common to the Chugoku area where premier Japense denim is produced. His goal is to present Japanese culture to the American public and also see its transformation abroad through the minds and hands of non-Japanese scholars, artists and denim enthusiasats.
 

Ann Marie Moeller is a Japanese textile scholar and independent curator who has collected kimono since her student years at Harvard.  She lectures nationally for a wide variety of institutions including the Smithsonian Associates, the Asia Society, The Textile Museum, The Smithsonian Renwick Gallery and the Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan.  Ann Marie is the main author of Reading Kimono: Nature Symbols and Motifs on Japanese Kimono to be published by Schiffer.  She has curated exhibits for the Kennedy Center, The International Monetary Fund, The National Cherry Blossom Festival, and The Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan.   She has traveled extensively in Indonesia and studied Balinese dance in Abiantuwung, Bali.