About the School 1 How did the school start?
About the School 2 What kind of school is it?
About the School 3 Where is the school located?
About the School 4 What is the environment like?
About the School 5 What kind of courses are there?
What are the classes in the Professional Course like?
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| 1st year students' group project |
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| Our partner school, Handarbetets Vänner Skola in Stockholm, Sweden |
Students can learn about textiles comprehensively while devoting themselves to weaving throughout the year. In the first year, students study the full process, starting from thread dyeing to weaving, and achieve basic techniques and expression skills through informative foundation classes.
In the second year, students work with a specific goal, and learn how to plan, make, and present their work in their desired field.
In the third year, students can join the exchange program at Handarbetets Vänner Skola in Sweden, participate in domestic and international competitions, and acquire skills to continue to create independently.
July 21, 2020
About the School 5
An eight-part series introducing the school in the present as we review the 47 years since its foundation.
The "Professional Course" is the basis of the school. Students deepen their skills each year by studying weaving and dyeing techniques and textile design, starting from the basics, with a goal of creating and working independently in the future. In the "Technical Studies Course," which is for experienced weavers, students decide on a theme and the duration, and create starting from researching weave structures and materials.
For people from outside Japan, we offer the "International Students Course" (held in spring and autumn) and "Workshops in English." For groups, we can organize workshops of different levels, from trial workshops to specialized workshops, according to your preferences.
In our "Workshops," students can acquire a particular technique in a short period of time (1-10 days). Students can learn techniques such as the basics of weaving, weave structures, tapestry weaving, spinning yarn, dyeing (natural and synthetic), and get inspiration from artists and researchers.
What kind of courses are there?
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| 1st year Professional Course students' final project (Kiyoka Ueyama) |
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| Technical Studies Course (Momoko Komada) |
The "Professional Course" is the basis of the school. Students deepen their skills each year by studying weaving and dyeing techniques and textile design, starting from the basics, with a goal of creating and working independently in the future. In the "Technical Studies Course," which is for experienced weavers, students decide on a theme and the duration, and create starting from researching weave structures and materials.
For people from outside Japan, we offer the "International Students Course" (held in spring and autumn) and "Workshops in English." For groups, we can organize workshops of different levels, from trial workshops to specialized workshops, according to your preferences.
In our "Workshops," students can acquire a particular technique in a short period of time (1-10 days). Students can learn techniques such as the basics of weaving, weave structures, tapestry weaving, spinning yarn, dyeing (natural and synthetic), and get inspiration from artists and researchers.
About the School Series 1/2/3/4
July 17, 2020
A Look Into Our Classes 1 "Creative Expression"
There are various people who teach in Kawashima Textile School’s Professional Course. In addition to the full time teachers, we invite artists, designers, and technical experts as guest teachers and lecturers from outside the school, to create an open, positive atmosphere.
In this series we will introduce you to some of the classes held in the Professional Course.
On July 9 for Hyôgenron (Creative Expression) class, we invited fiber sculptor Kanae Tsutsumi as a guest lecturer to speak and show her work and material about her time studying abroad, with "About Finland, About Textiles I Saw," as the theme. We were able to feel her sincere attitude toward weaving.
During the 7 years after finishing her Masters Degree, she has worked on tapestry weaving. Her work changed dramatically during her 9-month stay in Finland through 2018-2019. Born and raised in Japan, she took an interest in her own roots, taking inspiration from Japanese textile crafts such as Zabuton, and started to show her own woven fabric as sculptures. The lecture progressed as she traced her time in Finland, such as applying for the scholarship program, how she planned her stay, her interaction with collectors of Ryijy (a traditional craft), about natural dyeing, and holding an exhibition.
To the students, she advised, “Be quick and active to experience now what would help you be who you would aspire to be in 5 years, or 10 years in the future. Even though you might be worried about an uncertain future, you may be inspired by something tomorrow or next week. Work hard on whatever is in front of you until that time comes.”
-What does weaving mean to you?
"Something that has made my life more fun."
“I entered an Art University (Kyoto Seika University) since I loved to draw, but I didn't like my lines. Then I came upon tapestry weaving, found out how interesting it was that the lines couldn’t be perfectly replicated, and that made making much more fun. I love the weight that I feel beneath my nails when I push down the yarn, when weaving tapestries.”
About Kanae Tsutsumi
Facebook: @lanlanae
Instagram: @tsutsumikanae1006
Kanae Tsutsumi creates work with “the act of weaving” as a basis, taking interest in details that are born from the accumulation of fibers, a kind of inconvenience occurring from the composition of the warp and weft, and looms, which have both sides of simplicity and complexity. She has earned a Masters of Arts in the Graduate School of Art (Textiles) at Kyoto Seika University and has been teaching there in the Textiles Course as a lecturer since 2015.
On July 9 for Hyôgenron (Creative Expression) class, we invited fiber sculptor Kanae Tsutsumi as a guest lecturer to speak and show her work and material about her time studying abroad, with "About Finland, About Textiles I Saw," as the theme. We were able to feel her sincere attitude toward weaving.
During the 7 years after finishing her Masters Degree, she has worked on tapestry weaving. Her work changed dramatically during her 9-month stay in Finland through 2018-2019. Born and raised in Japan, she took an interest in her own roots, taking inspiration from Japanese textile crafts such as Zabuton, and started to show her own woven fabric as sculptures. The lecture progressed as she traced her time in Finland, such as applying for the scholarship program, how she planned her stay, her interaction with collectors of Ryijy (a traditional craft), about natural dyeing, and holding an exhibition.
To the students, she advised, “Be quick and active to experience now what would help you be who you would aspire to be in 5 years, or 10 years in the future. Even though you might be worried about an uncertain future, you may be inspired by something tomorrow or next week. Work hard on whatever is in front of you until that time comes.”
“I entered an Art University (Kyoto Seika University) since I loved to draw, but I didn't like my lines. Then I came upon tapestry weaving, found out how interesting it was that the lines couldn’t be perfectly replicated, and that made making much more fun. I love the weight that I feel beneath my nails when I push down the yarn, when weaving tapestries.”
About Kanae Tsutsumi
Facebook: @lanlanae
Instagram: @tsutsumikanae1006
Kanae Tsutsumi creates work with “the act of weaving” as a basis, taking interest in details that are born from the accumulation of fibers, a kind of inconvenience occurring from the composition of the warp and weft, and looms, which have both sides of simplicity and complexity. She has earned a Masters of Arts in the Graduate School of Art (Textiles) at Kyoto Seika University and has been teaching there in the Textiles Course as a lecturer since 2015.
July 14, 2020
About the School 4
An eight-part series introducing the school in the present as we review the 47 years since its foundation.
The school is located in a peaceful, rural area, surrounded by mountains and beautiful nature. The change of the seasons can be sensed and experienced, birds can be heard singing, and families of deer sometimes appear.
Both the school and dormitory were designed by architect Shozo Uchii. Awarded with the Building Contractors Society Prize in 1975, the facilities are also valuable pieces of architecture. Mr. Uchii elaborately designed a building suitable for the school, taking the spirit of the school, and the situation of the land into consideration. "The search for the starting point of the relationship between people and objects, through weaving a piece of fabric" was the perspective the Atelier was designed from. The beams, which are usually set horizontally, are arched structures that are one with the wall, built across the space in a steady rhythm. The building is built along the slope of the foot of a mountain, respecting the connection to nature. Skylights and large glass windows bring in natural light, and views of green landscapes. Because of the space, warmly surrounded by nature and the architecture, students can concentrate on creating.
What is the environment like?
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| Architecture Model of Kawashima Textile School |
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| Atelier 1970s |
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| Deer (seen from the Atelier) |
Both the school and dormitory were designed by architect Shozo Uchii. Awarded with the Building Contractors Society Prize in 1975, the facilities are also valuable pieces of architecture. Mr. Uchii elaborately designed a building suitable for the school, taking the spirit of the school, and the situation of the land into consideration. "The search for the starting point of the relationship between people and objects, through weaving a piece of fabric" was the perspective the Atelier was designed from. The beams, which are usually set horizontally, are arched structures that are one with the wall, built across the space in a steady rhythm. The building is built along the slope of the foot of a mountain, respecting the connection to nature. Skylights and large glass windows bring in natural light, and views of green landscapes. Because of the space, warmly surrounded by nature and the architecture, students can concentrate on creating.
About the School Series 1/2/3
July 7, 2020
About the School 3
An eight-part series introducing the school in the present as we review the 47 years since its foundation.
The school is located in Ichihara (Sakyo Ward), in the northern part of Kyoto. It is an area in Kyoto City still rich with nature, and is adjacent to the head office of Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co., Ltd.
The area is blessed with rich water resources, and the amount required for dyeing can be obtained from the limpid streams of Kurama River. Due to additional factors such as clean air, and the possibility to acquire a vast piece of land, the head office was relocated from Nishijin and a new headquarters plant was founded in 1964. Kawashima Textile School exists as a place of education with its doors open to students from within and outside Japan, building a new flow of weaving techniques and culture, while staying in harmony with the land.
Kurama and Kibune, which are called the "okuzashiki (back room)" of Kyoto, are only a mountain away, and there are beautiful valleys, clear rivers, and a range of mountains. Approximately an hour away from Kyoto Station by public transportation, there are many opportunities to explore the history, traditions, and cultures of the ancient capital.
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Hannah Waldron is an artist and designer based in the UK. She studied in the Foundation Kasuri Course of spring 2019.
Where is the school located?
 |
| Drawing: Hannah Waldron |
The school is located in Ichihara (Sakyo Ward), in the northern part of Kyoto. It is an area in Kyoto City still rich with nature, and is adjacent to the head office of Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co., Ltd.
The area is blessed with rich water resources, and the amount required for dyeing can be obtained from the limpid streams of Kurama River. Due to additional factors such as clean air, and the possibility to acquire a vast piece of land, the head office was relocated from Nishijin and a new headquarters plant was founded in 1964. Kawashima Textile School exists as a place of education with its doors open to students from within and outside Japan, building a new flow of weaving techniques and culture, while staying in harmony with the land.
Kurama and Kibune, which are called the "okuzashiki (back room)" of Kyoto, are only a mountain away, and there are beautiful valleys, clear rivers, and a range of mountains. Approximately an hour away from Kyoto Station by public transportation, there are many opportunities to explore the history, traditions, and cultures of the ancient capital.
---
Hannah Waldron is an artist and designer based in the UK. She studied in the Foundation Kasuri Course of spring 2019.
About the School Series 1/2
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