If you get the chance then do visit this exceptional show of boro cloth at Somerset House.
Boro (rag) cloths and clothes were made in Japan by the rural poor during the Edo period (1603 – 1868). Traders sold worn out cotton garments from the south of the country and the fragments were patched and layered together to make futon covers and jackets. Common people were not allowed to wear bright colours; only browns, indigos and greys, hence the limited colour palette.
I’d only ever seen the odd piece before; here there are 40 items, all very different. Gordon Reece and Philippe Boudin put this show together to celebrate the art of a necessity-driven activity produced by anonymous makers.
The show is beautifully and sparingly hung. Look at the detail on this bamboo hanger. I’m really hoping this achingly beautiful exhibition travels to other cities. I’ll be sure to let you know if it does in my monthly event calendar sent to subscribers.
Thanks for positing this exhibition. I love the rough complicated and rich surfaces as well as the sense of histories in the cloth.
Thanks for positing this exhibition. I love the rough complicated and rich surfaces as well as the sense of histories in the cloth.