Saturdays,  18 & 25 September, 2021 | 15:00 – 18:00 PST/ Next Day 7:00 – 10:00 Japan
ZOOM Webinar | Slow Fiber Studios ANNEX | 1825 8th St. Berkeley, CA

Stitching as a way of resisting the dye has been explored by the Japanese artisans to a greater extent than by other peoples. Nui (nuu) means to stitch and patterns are created by the type of stitch, whether or not the cloth is folded, and its arrangement (straight, curved, parallel). Arimatsu artisans have been ingenious in innovating a variety of ways to create dynamic designs on cotton yukata, kimono, and tenugui. Murase-san will introduce the history and culture of Arimatsu Shibori and demonstrate artisan methods for Nui-shibori (stitch-resist) and its variations, including Hishaki-hui (simple running stitch), Mokume (woodgrain), Makinui (overcast-stitch-resist), Ori-nui (fold and edge sew), Awase-nui (double fold), and Karamatsu (Larch pine) shibori. This workshop will cover adaptation and exploration of techniques in contemporary practices. You will have an opportunity to share your experiments and samples. You will learn artisans’ methods of using tools that will heighten your ability to create your own hand-dyed textile masterpieces. Yoshiko I. Wada will moderate, bridging the gap between East and West and traditional and contemporary use of techniques, materials, and processes.

Taught by Hiroshi Murase, master Arimatsu Shibori Artisan
Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada will moderate and translate the workshop

The workshop will take place on two Saturdays, 3 hours each on 18 and 25 September 2021 with a week in between to experiment on your own. Our international workshops are taught virtually and will be streamed through Zoom Webinar. A small group of fully vaccinated participants will be welcomed at the SFS Annex in Berkeley with indigo vats for their use. You can bring your own laptop, and the Annex will have a large monitor as well as a staff with a camera capturing participants’ work to show to the instructor. 

Recordings from both sessions and all documents and powerpoint presentations will be shared with all students in different timezones. During the week between the two sessions, you will be given assignments, and you may ask questions by email, which will be answered and added to the shared Q&A document.

The workshop cost is $350.  Students will receive the manual, Students’ Prep & Info Sheet, Q&A Sheet, and access to all recordings for six months. Materials you will need are detailed in the Student’s Prep & Info Sheet.

Also, you will be invited to a PRIVATE Facebook group “SFS Indigo & Shibori Workshop” to share images of your work and exchange comments.

WATCH THE RECORDING

Hiroshi Murase was born 4th generation into a textile family of shibori-stencil pattern making artisans in the traditional shibori production center of Arimatsu / Narumi. He has been deeply rooted in the art of shibori his whole life, well versed in a wide rage of shibori techniques. An internationally respected artisan and an enterprising designer, he has more than 40 years experience in the textile field. Currently, Murase is the chairman of the acclaimed Suzusan corporation. Having assumed the reins of the family business in 1971, Hiroshi Murase is widely credited for the “Suzusan innovation” due to his passion and experience.