Saturday, August 9, 2014

Kimono for a Modern Age
with

Sharon Takeda

Senior Curator, Department of Costumes and Textiles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

A blend of the traditional and the modern characterized life and dress during Japan’s Meiji (1868–1912), Taishō (1912–1926) and Shōwa (1926–1989) periods.  During the early 20th century, a majority of Japanese women continued to wear traditional kimono. But, as demonstrated in the exhibition, the kimono evolved to reflect the introduction of vibrant synthetic colors, new modes of textile production, and bold abstract and figurative design motifs, often inspired by Western art movements and important current events, such as space exploration.  Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles Sharon Takeda’s talk will describe these new fashions in Japanese textiles, and how they came about in the early 20^th century, in conjunction with the current exhibition Kimono for a Modern Age (through October 19,) which features more than thirty captivating examples from LACMA’s permanent collection exhibited for the first time.

 Sharon S. Takeda is Senior Curator and Head of the Department of Costume and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Her exhibitions include Kimono for a Modern Age (2014), RODARTE: Fra Angelico Collection (2011-12); African Inspiration: Kuba Textiles and European Modernism (2010-11); Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915 (LACMA 2010-11; Berlin 2012; Paris 2012-13), Japonism in Fashion: The Influence of Japan on Western Dress (1998), The Fabric of Life: Japanese Folk Textiles (1995), and When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan (1992-93). In addition to exhibition catalogues, her publications include Japanese Fishermen's Coats from Awaji Island for the Fowler Museum at UCLA, contributions to Edo: Art in Japan 1615-1868 for the National Gallery of Art, and articles in American, British, and Japanese journals. Sharon serves on the Directing Council of the Centre International d'Etude des Textiles Anciens (CIETA).