Joshibi Art Museum 25th Anniversary Exhibition: Joshibi Textile Collection Part 14 - Joshibi Sarasa-cho

About this event

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, the Joshibi Art Museum is holding an exhibition titled "Joshibi Sarasa-cho," focusing on "sarasa" (chintz) from its textile collection. Originating predominantly in India, sarasa is fabric dyed with vivid patterns through hand-painting and block printing, which gained worldwide popularity. Made from durable cotton cloth, sarasa brightened daily lives and was loved as a practical fabric. In Japan, it was prized within the tea ceremony and antiquarian culture, where even small fragments were collected, appreciated, and preserved in swatch albums known as kire-cho. This exhibition introduces carefully selected works from the sarasa collection of the Joshibi Art Museum. Tracing the traces of hand craftsmanship conveyed by fabric "painted" freely like pictures, visitors can enjoy the world of sarasa cherished across various cultures. Approximately 45 works will be displayed, allowing visitors to experience sarasa across a wide range of eras, from fragments unearthed from Egyptian ruins dating back hundreds of years to large bedcovers tailored for Europe and sarasa albums treasured in Japan from the Edo period onward.

Venue

Joshibi Art Museum

1F Building 10, 1900 Asamizodai, Minami Ward, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0328