We are pleased to welcome you to Shiga Museum of Art 40th anniversary exhibit, The 100th Anniversary of Her Birth: The Woven Colors and Words of Living National Treasure Shimura Fukumi.
Born in Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, Shimura Fukumi aspired in her thirties to become a dyeing and weaving artist due to the influence of her birth mother. Working without guidance, Fukumi discovered the rich colors of plant dyes and the texture of tsumugi weaving using slubbed silk yarn. She continued to pursue her art, dedicated to following her own path rather than working under any particular master, and in 1990 was designated a Living National Treasure for sustaining the Important Intangible Cultural Property of tsumugi weaving and dyeing.
This exhibition traces Shimura Fukumi’s career from her early years to her more recent endeavors through more than 80 items selected from the Museum’s collection, one of the best of Shimura Fukumi’s works in Japan, as well as many excellent pieces and other items related to the artist brought in from various locations. Also on exhibit is her lifework, The Tale of Genji series, as well as other items reminiscent of Shiga, the roots of her being and an integral part of her work.
Shimura Fukumi is also a weaver of words that resonate with her dyeing and weaving. Her first publication, Isshoku Issho (One Color, One Life, 1982, Kyuryudo), won the 10th Osaragi Jiro Prize, and she has since published more than 20 writings. This exhibition focuses on her essays, introducing her words on dyeing and weaving, her feelings for her hometown, and her thoughts about her work.
It has been a decade since her last solo exhibit at Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Shimura Fukumi: Nature and Inheritance, which took place in 2015. We hope you will enjoy the way in which the current exhibition weaves the warp and weft of her colors and words.
Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who helped to make this exhibition possible: Shimura Fukumi, Shimura Yoko, and Shimura Shoji, as well as the members of Tsuki Koubou for their cooperation in organizing this exhibition, those who contributed to its preparation, and those who generously lent their valuable artworks.
October 2024
Shiga Museum of Art
The Kyoto Shimbun