Traditional art with beautiful fabric
Play
About 2,000 rolls of colourful cloth decorate the walls of chirimen artist Yasuko Maruyama's studio in Musashino, Tokyo.
Based in Mitaka, Tokyo, the 72-year-old artist makes chirimen with fabric called kofu, an antique kimono cloth from the Edo period (1603-1867) and the Meiji era (1868-1912).
Chirimen handicraft, which include objects such as flowers, birds and dolls, are created by stitching together pieces of cloth.
Maruyama encountered chirimen cloth for the first time as a child when her great-grandmother gave her a pouch to hold adzuki beans and soybeans. Maruyama was struck by the colours and lovely patterns, and 20 years ago, she took up the craft herself. She was working for a company at that time. Today, Maruyama shares her knowledge by holding classes with more than 300 students.
Her works feature kofu cloth, which has a unique wrinkled texture known as shibo. “Fabrics woven in the Edo period and the Meiji era are much softer than other types. When an artwork is created with such fabrics, the completed work has a warmth in its texture,” she said.
However, there is little kofu fabric in the Tokyo metropolitan area, as much of it was destroyed in air raids during World War II.
Maruyama sometimes travels to Kyoto, where many old families still keep storehouses, to buy antique kimono. The kimono that she purchases are then taken apart and turned into kofu cloth.
As Maruyama cuts the fabric following paper patterns and sews the pieces together, figures such as dolls and animals gradually start to appear.
She puts the finishing touches on her works by drawing eyes and mouths on the figures’ faces, which are each about the size of a fingertip.
Maruyama said: “Kofu cloth itself is a work of art. The fabric contains the memories of those who once wore the kimono. The memories become part of the crafts’ texture.”
