Making Nuno – Japanese Textile innovation from Sudo Reiko. At the Japan House London.

17 May – 11 July 2021.

I was recommended by a family friend that if I was up in Kensington – I should go see the small but beautiful textile exhibition at the Japan House.

The name ‘Sudo Reiko’ was new to me, and the same with the Japan House. The Japan House describes itself as ‘the cultural home of Japan in London. Full of free events, exhibitions, a Michelin-listed restaurant, and a range of crafts, homeware, and accessories for an authentic encounter with contemporary Japan.

Japan House is a building where they value the making process and creative stories behind the vast and varied material culture in Japan (this is clear from their shop.)  Key themes that surrounded the exhibition were the focus on sustainability of regional manufacturing, sustainability of materials, and craftsmanship.

The exhibition was short but sweet. A snapshot into the workings and process of paper/textile production by craftspeople in small production houses around Japan. The textiles are incredibly fragile and beautiful.

In the leaflet at the exhibition, Japan House London stated that the exhibition/collection was created to encourage visitors to experience the collective wisdom and techniques of numerous professionals that are woven into Nuno textiles to get a glimpse into the cultural spirit of Japan.

The exhibition title is ‘Making Nuno’ – textiles are a language, a religion.

Sudo Reiko is the textile designer of ‘Making Nuno’ he grew up in rural Japan. ‘I do believe that my childhood dream was the major motivation behind my becoming a textile designer.'

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Japan is long, thin but mighty, many different fabrics and materials are made from different regions using what that place has to offer. Raw materials may be sourced in one place, spun unto yard in another, dyed somewhere else with tools that are specialist to the maker. No two designs can/would be the same.

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In the exhibition, there were five installations showing the different processes of making the textiles. These installations were combined with digital graphics/video showing the making process. It was great as you really got to grips with how they create these materials and the manual labor which goes into them.

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The five installations, if made in Japan require 27 manufacturers in 14 cities in 13 prefectures to operate.

Japan was the world's top silk producer before WWII. Now 2 places in the whole country spin silk.

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One of the installations showed the creation of this beautiful red coiled-up design coming out of a machine, I thought it was a cotton base material. They wanted to create a flat spiral that has this life-like coiled energy. After developing and experimenting they found a way of stitching onto paper, removing the paper – it is called the ‘chemical lace’ method which was invented in 1883. It leaves this amazing delicate and fragile pattern which is beautiful. It looks like red seaweed or rolled-up tissue paper. It is truly amazing.

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One of the installations that I really liked but thought was quite subtle was the ‘Mongami Punch Cards.’ – these reminded me of train tickets, a little throwback to the polar express. The installation showed hundreds of punch cards with different designs on them being strung up in a wall formation by a thin string. You could see where the string was, but it worked well with the piece and did not distract from the design at all. It was a simple and elegant way of presenting this design. I really loved it a lot, I personally love working with paper and love big installations, so it worked perfectly in my eyes.

As well as the large installations there were sections on smaller objects used to make these amazing textiles:

Burn out Ball – created using paper threads during the Edo period in Japan. Used to weave recycled fabrics with paper in the Tohoku region of Japan. The burnout technique used to melt the silk to create a pattern, resulting in translucent fabric. The material is 63% paper and 37% silk. For me, it is a subtle elegant material that is very pretty and perfect.

Silk Ribbon Lines – is a dyeing technique crafted to incorporate diverse materials and techniques. 4mm wide ribbon string warps around a Jacquard loom. It is made from 100% Silk.

Silver Leaf – it is stretched on Japanese paper and oxidized with sulfur; this gives the material a unique metallic reflective look. The brightness and shinnies of the leaf are dependent on craftsmanship. The material contains the mother of pearl, silver, and gold leaf.

I learned a lot from this short and small exhibition. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would and most of all I learned loads of new information about craftsmanship in Japan, the materials that have come out of Japan, and how they have been collated and processed by ‘Making Nuno.’

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Like I always say if you find yourself in High Street Kensington before the 11th of July – try pop in and have a look for yourself as the designs and materials themselves give you a true feel for the materials and traditions of Japan.