Textile

Shihoko Fukumoto (b. 1945) is one of Japan’s foremost textile artists and a pioneering presence in the field of contemporary indigo dyeing. For more than four decades she has pursued a deep engagement with color, cloth, and the meditative qualities of natural dye, creating works that merge traditional techniques with a distinctly modern sensitivity. Born in Shimizu City and raised in Osaka, she first studied Western painting at Osaka City Kogei High School before earning her BFA from Kyoto City University of Arts. This early training in drawing and color theory has remained central to her approach to textile art. Fukumoto is known for indigo works that reveal glowing layers of blue, as if light were rising slowly from within the textile itself. Her compositions feel spacious and atmospheric, offering a quiet sense of depth that encourages slow looking. Rather than treating cloth as a flat surface, she engages it as a living material shaped by time, touch, and the subtle movement of dye through fiber. Her work often evokes the natural world, yet does so through abstraction, allowing texture and tone to suggest seasons, weather, or the passage of time.

Shigeki Fukumoto (b. 1946) was born in Shiga Prefecture and raised in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto. Fukumoto studied Western painting at Kyoto City University of Arts (formerly Kyoto Municipal College of Fine Arts). After graduating, he took over the family business of traditional Kyoto yuzen dyeing. Fukumoto's practice is grounded in the belief that both theoretical and cultural research are essential to dyeing. He has engaged in studies of dyeing techniques and ethnographic art, while also contributing to education and continuously exploring new forms of expression within contemporary art. Using large panels, he has developed innovative techniques that combine traditional dyeing methods with new ideas, such as his intricate "cloth patterns" (布象嵌). Through these, he creates works that evoke both inevitability and chance, exploring the natural principles of dye permeation and the unique expressive qualities of dyed surfaces.

Located on Kyoto's Muromachi-dori, Kondaya Genbey is a long-established manufacturer and purveyor of obi with a history stretching back over 280 years, created by the first generation in 1738. The current head of the company is the tenth-generation Genbey Yamaguchi; a formidable innovator he uses the skills passed down to him through the generations to create highly artistic new kimono and obi. In addition, he devotes himself to the resurrection and preservation of paper fabrics, koishimaru silk, and traditional dyeing techniques.