Terms and conditions of use
Rag kimono
(Boro kimono ボロ着物)
Meiji period 1868-1912
- Medium
- cotton
- Measurements
- 140.7 cm (centre back) 129.5 cm (cuff to cuff)
- Place/s of Execution
- Japan
- Accession Number
- 2014.23
- Department
- Asian Art
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Asian Art Acquisition Fund, 2014
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation - Gallery location
- Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International - About this work
-
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, boro kimono were made from recycled cotton scraps by impoverished Japanese people out of necessity. This example has been made from more than one hundred pieces and consists of resist-dyed, tie-dyed, ikat-dyed and check-woven fabric. Boro textiles are the creations of unknown craftspeople who never intended for them to be viewed as things of beauty. However, in a contemporary context they have a collage-like quality, their spontaneous designs imbued with a life and spirituality of their own.
- Physical description
- Boro kimono were made from recycled cotton scraps in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by impoverished Japanese people out of necessity. This example has been made from more than 100 pieces and consists of resist-dyed, tie-dyed, ikat-dyed and check woven fabric. In the true spirit of mingei, boro textiles are the creations of unknown craftspeople who never intended them to be viewed as a thing of beauty. However, in a contemporary context they have qualities of random collage and spontaneous design imbued with a life and spirituality of their own.