Marubeni is pleased to announce that the upcoming Marubeni Gallery exhibition Yawatagaki Mutsuko's Quilt Art: The Metamorphosis of Antique Fabrics will be held from November 26 to December 21, 2024. Since starting out as a quilt artist around 1990, Yawatagaki Mutsuko has produced 350 artworks, of which 24 will feature in this exhibition. Mainly large-scale pieces, the exhibited works range from Yawatagaki’s early pieces to her latest creations.

Yawatagaki Mutsuko’s creative process draws on traditional European and American quilting techniques, but her materials are Japanese. Working from highly detailed plans, she carefully salvages small pieces of antique fabrics from kimono dating from the Edo to Showa periods (the early 17th century to the late 20th century), stitching together as many as several thousand scraps to create her own sensitive interpretations of beloved themes from Japanese art, such as birds and flowers of the season. Indeed, by taking scraps of old cloth and transforming them into a new work of art—a true metamorphosis—she passes on the stories that dwell within the fabric while also communicating her own thoughts and dreams.

The upcoming exhibition at the Marubeni Gallery, aligned with the gallery’s design concept of providing “a space where the aesthetics of the East and West in ancient and modern times resonate with each other,” offers visitors the opportunity to appreciate the blend of diverse art styles and cultures presented by Yawatagaki’s quilt art and contemplate the multilayered stories her pieces convey.

Exhibition Details:

Dates:	Tuesday, November 26 to Saturday, December 21, 2024
Hours:	10 am to 5 pm (Last admission: 4:30 pm)
Closed:	Sundays and public holidays
Admission:	General admission: 500 yen All proceeds from general admission sales will be donated to the Marubeni Foundation. Note 1: The Marubeni Gallery is only able to accept cashless payments (such as transportation IC cards, credit cards, and QR code payments). Note 2: Admission is free for the following groups. ・ Children under 18 and 18/19-year-old senior high school students (with student ID) ・ Visitors with an official disability certificate, plus one accompanying caregiver ・ Visitors wearing a kimono, yukata, or other traditional Japanese attire
Organizer:	Marubeni Gallery
Co-organizer:	The Izumo Museum of Quilt Art

About the Marubeni Gallery:
Designed under the concept of “a space where the aesthetics of the East and West in ancient and modern times resonate with each other,” the Marubeni Gallery is a facility where Marubeni’s art collection is on display to the public. Marubeni’s art collection consists of the three main categories: textiles (such as kimono, Noh robes, and fabric fragments), textile designs, and paintings. Since its founding in 1858, Marubeni has pursued the aesthetic beauty of Japan through its textile business. This resulted in the collection and preservation of ancient textile products (such as kimono, obi, and silk gift-wrapping cloth) and designs primarily from the 17th to mid-19th centuries—the first and second pillars of the collection. Gaining contacts in the art world through this pursuit of textile designs, Marubeni also acquired modern Japanese paintings through art dealers or from the artists themselves. Later, in the 1960s and 70s, Marubeni expanded into the international art business, acquiring Western paintings as well. Together, these Japanese and Western paintings form the third pillar of the collection. Since its opening in 2021, the Marubeni Gallery has featured rotating exhibitions on a variety of themes to share this collection and other works of historical and cultural value with the public.

Official Website: https://www.marubeni.com/gallery/en/
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Future Exhibits (Tentative Titles/Details):
Spring Festival Special Exhibition ― Botticelli: La Bella Simonetta ― (March 18 to May 24, 2025)