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| Smokey Sunset Beatrice Thompson* |
*Please read our interview with Beatrice at the end of the post.
This year's Graduate Exhibition will be held from March 10 (Wed) to 14 (Sun) at the Annex of Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. Please note that depending on the situation, dates are subject to further change. If so, we will announce them as soon as possible on our website.
Kawashima Textile School Graduate Exhibition
2020.3.10 (Wed.) -14 (Sun.) 10:00 - 17:00 Admission Free
*Please note that the opening hours have changed this year.
Annex of Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (Kyoto-shi Bijutsukan BEKKAN)
Google Maps
We will be taking the following measures to prevent the infection or spread of Coronavirus. We kindly ask for your understanding and cooperation.
Requests to Visitors
*Please wear a mask.
*Visitors’ body temperatures will be checked upon entry through thermography and/or thermometers (by Kyoto City). Those who have a fever over 37.5 cannot enter.
*Please write down your full name, address, and phone number upon entry (required by Kyoto City). Those who cannot cooperate will not be able to enter. (updated Mar. 3, 2021)
*Please wash and sanitize your hands.
*Please refrain from visiting If you have any of the following symptoms:
cold symptoms, strong fatigue, difficulty of breathing
-You have travelled to a region or country where COVID-19 is spreading, in the past 14 days.
*Please keep a distance of 2m from other visitors/staff.
*Please do not touch the artwork.
*Please refrain from having loud conversations.
Our Measures
*Staff will wear masks and check their temperatures.
*Hand sanitizer is provided upon entry.
*Handrails, coin lockers, etc. will be sanitized.
*There is a possibility that we will limit the number of visitors to prevent overcrowding.
We asked Beatrice, whose tapestry is shown in the exhibition images, about what life has been like since studying at Kawashima Textile School. Beatrice studied in the Foundation Kasuri Course and Applied Kasuri Course I to III in autumn 2019.
-Has your work broadened from your experience of learning Kasuri in Japan? If so, could you tell us how?
I left Kawashima Textile School feeling like a whole new world had opened up to me. I have long been fascinated by ikat textiles and understood on a basic theoretical level how they were created but could never get my head around how it was possible to keep all the threads aligned according to the designed pattern through all the different stages. It was wonderful to have the process explained step by step on practical level and I now feel like I have an excellent foundation to develop from.
In the past I have experimented with screen-printing photographic images onto the warp threads prior to weaving – so the imagery found on my work had a strong photographic quality about it. While at KTS I really enjoyed focusing more on geometric and abstract patterning and feel inspired to take that much further. Also, prior to studying at the School I did not have much experience with dyeing threads, I left feeling much more confident in this skill and look forward to doing much more dyeing in the future.
My time at KTS was the first time I had been to Japan and I absolutely loved the experience. It was very inspiring, and I hope to make my way back to Japan soon and also back to KTS to have the opportunity to have some dedicated focused time weaving and learning more kasuri skills. Like everyone I hope that the coronavirus will be brought under control soon.
-What have you been working on since your time at KTS?
I work full time so I do not have as much time as I would like to spend weaving and creating but I have managed to find some time to work on a few projects since leaving Kawashima Textile School in December 2019. In my last week at the School I prepared a kasuri warp for a wall hanging which I wove once I returned to Australia. The workshop spaces at KTS, the weave rooms and the dye studio were so fantastic and well equipped. Since returning home, I have mostly been doing some sampling and trying to figure out ways I can continue to explore the kasuri technique at home in a more limited space and with the equipment I have at home. In 2020 I also completed a couple of non-kasuri commissions – a tapestry wall-hanging and an upholstery job for which I shiboried some cloth. This year I would like to work towards creating some more wall hangings.
You can visit follow Beatrice on instagram at @beatrice_t_thompson
Kawashima Textile School Graduate Exhibition
2020.3.10 (Wed.) -14 (Sun.) 10:00 - 17:00 Admission Free
*Please note that the opening hours have changed this year.
Annex of Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (Kyoto-shi Bijutsukan BEKKAN)
Google Maps
Measures to Prevent the Infection or Spread of Coronavirus
We will be taking the following measures to prevent the infection or spread of Coronavirus. We kindly ask for your understanding and cooperation.
Requests to Visitors
*Please wear a mask.
*Visitors’ body temperatures will be checked upon entry through thermography and/or thermometers (by Kyoto City). Those who have a fever over 37.5 cannot enter.
*Please wash and sanitize your hands.
*Please refrain from visiting If you have any of the following symptoms:
cold symptoms, strong fatigue, difficulty of breathing
-You have travelled to a region or country where COVID-19 is spreading, in the past 14 days.
*Please keep a distance of 2m from other visitors/staff.
*Please do not touch the artwork.
*Please refrain from having loud conversations.
Our Measures
*Staff will wear masks and check their temperatures.
*Hand sanitizer is provided upon entry.
*Handrails, coin lockers, etc. will be sanitized.
*There is a possibility that we will limit the number of visitors to prevent overcrowding.
Interview with Beatrice Thompson (Australia)
We asked Beatrice, whose tapestry is shown in the exhibition images, about what life has been like since studying at Kawashima Textile School. Beatrice studied in the Foundation Kasuri Course and Applied Kasuri Course I to III in autumn 2019.
-Has your work broadened from your experience of learning Kasuri in Japan? If so, could you tell us how?
I left Kawashima Textile School feeling like a whole new world had opened up to me. I have long been fascinated by ikat textiles and understood on a basic theoretical level how they were created but could never get my head around how it was possible to keep all the threads aligned according to the designed pattern through all the different stages. It was wonderful to have the process explained step by step on practical level and I now feel like I have an excellent foundation to develop from.
In the past I have experimented with screen-printing photographic images onto the warp threads prior to weaving – so the imagery found on my work had a strong photographic quality about it. While at KTS I really enjoyed focusing more on geometric and abstract patterning and feel inspired to take that much further. Also, prior to studying at the School I did not have much experience with dyeing threads, I left feeling much more confident in this skill and look forward to doing much more dyeing in the future.
My time at KTS was the first time I had been to Japan and I absolutely loved the experience. It was very inspiring, and I hope to make my way back to Japan soon and also back to KTS to have the opportunity to have some dedicated focused time weaving and learning more kasuri skills. Like everyone I hope that the coronavirus will be brought under control soon.
-What have you been working on since your time at KTS?
I work full time so I do not have as much time as I would like to spend weaving and creating but I have managed to find some time to work on a few projects since leaving Kawashima Textile School in December 2019. In my last week at the School I prepared a kasuri warp for a wall hanging which I wove once I returned to Australia. The workshop spaces at KTS, the weave rooms and the dye studio were so fantastic and well equipped. Since returning home, I have mostly been doing some sampling and trying to figure out ways I can continue to explore the kasuri technique at home in a more limited space and with the equipment I have at home. In 2020 I also completed a couple of non-kasuri commissions – a tapestry wall-hanging and an upholstery job for which I shiboried some cloth. This year I would like to work towards creating some more wall hangings.
You can visit follow Beatrice on instagram at @beatrice_t_thompson
