Today I met up with my friend Kyoko to go to a tenugui show in Ginza. Previously this week, our friend Yuma said her friend Makotou would be showing some of her work at a studio there. When we arrived in Ginza, we took a short lunch break in an Indian restaurant before heading to the gallery. Kyoko reminded me that this area of Ginza was famous for its high fashion stores. As we walked up and down the busy streets--most were blocked off for the Sunday holiday--I noticed Gucci, Prada, Armani, and many other names decorating the building facades. In other words, nothing I could afford. :)
Makotou's (I think her artist name is "boky".) tenugui exhibition took place at the Scott store and gallery. It was a very small gallery not much bigger than my kitchen. The warm lighting focused on four main pieces while on the opposite wall there was a table with samples of her work for sale. We were fortunate enough to meet Makotou herself and talk to her about her work. She explained some of the meanings and inspirations for her designs and also explained--with some translation help from Kyoko--that the tenugui towels could be used for many things. Therefore, her work was not only stylish but practical. I'm assuming that all of her images where done using silk screening techniques. I took home a few of my favorite pieces and Kyoko, who is a collector of tenugui towels, also found something she liked.
In the top right corner of the above picture is a little pouch/case decorated with blue and green people. This image is supposed to represent people going in and out of the 18 ticket gates (see the orange rectangles) in Ueno station. In the left corner is a tenugui towel with repetitive images of Mt. Fuji. There is also a flier from the show depicting one of the four main tenugui towels that was on display in the gallery.
The design for this tenugui was inspired by the area around Sugamo. It is known as "Grandmother's Harajuku" because there are so many elderly people gather there to shop. Just as a reminder, Harajuku is famous for it's outrageous style as well as being a gathering place and shopping district for many young people.
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