A Curator’s Perspective on Japanese Textiles

The Japan-America Society of Northwest Florida presents “A Curator’s Perspective on Japanese Textiles: Minneapolis’ New Clothes (The Thomas Murray Collection)” on Tuesday, October 20 at 5:00pm. This free event will take place on Zoom, but registration is required. Register at Eventbrite and we will send you a Zoom link. (Please note: this event was originally scheduled to take place on September 29, but was postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally.)

Dr. Andreas Marks, Director of the Japanese and Korean Art Department at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, provides insight into the textiles of Japan that include rare and colorful kimonos, textiles used by fishermen and farmers, and elaborate clothes made by the Ainu people of Hokkaido.

“Thomas A. Murray began to develop his affinity for the cultures and artwork of the numerous peoples he encountered during his travels throughout the world, some 40 years ago. He eventually became an art dealer specializing in textiles and is now one of the world’s leading experts on ethnographic textiles. Murray’s interest in Japanese textiles stems from spending a year in Japan beginning in late 1982. It was there he first encountered the textiles of the Ainu people from northern Japan and the Okinawan Islands and began to focus his collecting on these two areas along with folk textiles from Japan’s mainland. In 2019, the Minneapolis Institute of Art acquired Murray’s collection of 230 objects which is equally impressive in its quality and depth. This acquisition catapulted the museum to its current status as an institution with one of the foremost collections of Japanese textiles in the world. His lecture will present some highlights of a featured exhibition set to open October 9, 2021.”

This program is sponsored by the National Association of Japan-America Societies and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, as part of the 2020 Richard J. Wood Art Curator Series.