Small Birds of the Ocean (Ai-kōzaa umi tōiguwaa) Kimono

1996

Not on view

Banana fiber fabric (bashōfu) is made from a tree-like plantain plant native to Okinawa (distinct from fruit- or flower-bearing varieties). Making the unique regional textile is a laborious process requiring great skill. Stems of the ito-bashō plant are split, softened by boiling, and then scraped. Once the strips have dried, the fibers are separated to achieve the desired thickness, knotted end-to-end, spun, and woven. Beginning in the 1940s, Taira Toshiko worked to preserve and revitalize traditional banana fiber craft in the Kijōka district of Ogimi village. Small Birds of the Ocean is made of Kijōka banana fiber dyed with Okinawa (or Ryūkyū) indigo. The fabric is a handwoven kasuri, a textile in which the warp and weft threads are resist-dyed to form a pattern. The Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs designated bashōfu an Important Intangible Cultural Asset in 1974, and Taira Toshiko was named a Living National Treasure in 2000.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

平良敏子作　「藍コーザー　海トゥイグヮー」着物
Title: Small Birds of the Ocean (Ai-kōzaa umi tōiguwaa) Kimono
Artist: Taira Toshiko (Japanese, born 1921)
Period: Heisei period (1989–2019)
Date: 1996
Culture: Japan
Medium: Japanese banana fiber (bashōfu), kasuri weave
Dimensions: 66 1/8 × 52 3/4 in. (168 × 134 cm)
Classification: Costumes
Credit Line: Gift of Taira Mieko, 2017
Object Number: 2017.309
Rights and Reproduction: © Taira Toshiko
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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