This exhibition presented metal, textile, wood and clay from the Museum’s renowned collection of Japanese folk art, craft and design. Highlights of the exhibition included kimono and textiles by Keisuke Serizawa, selections from the Museum’s Arlene Cox Collection of indigo-dyed, stencil-painted and sashiko- decorated rural and village textiles and recent Museum acquisitions. In memory of Tatsuzo Shimaoka (1919-2007), the renowned potter and Japanese National Treasure, Mingei International displayed some of this master craftsman’s classic ceramic works.
_*SHIBUI*_ was planned in collaboration with San Diego Museum of Art and the Timken Museum of Art to complement their exhibition Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of _Itchiku Kubota,_ which were on view from November 1, 2008 through January 4, 2009.
Mingei International participated in several events in conjunction with this collaboration. On November 9, 2008, three illustrated lectures comprising The Kimono Artistry of Kubota were given in the Museum’s Theater Gallery. On November 16, 2008, a free Fall Family Festival included two performances by Rosemary Tyrrell and Mark Robertson formerly of Icarus Puppet Company of _The Crane Daughter,_ a _bunraku_-inspired play. The presentations on Sunday, November 23, 2008 featuring Kimono as Art were a kimono dressing program and a lecture on _bingata_ textile history and technique. In addition, gallery tours in Spanish were scheduled in the afternoon. _Shibori_ and Indigo – Japanese Textile Techniques, was a workshop given by Mimi Levinson, textile artist and educator on February 28, 2009 and Shibui – The Essence of Elegance was the title of a lecture by Hollis Goodall, curator of Japanese art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art took place on May 9, 2009.