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Experience the fabulous world of kimono style at the Immigration Museum
Experience the fabulous world of kimono style at the Immigration Museum
A new exhibition of breathtakingly beautiful kimono and accessories direct from Japan will show for the first and only time in Australia at the Immigration Museum, from 15 May 2008.
Kimono: Osaka’s Golden Age showcases the sumptuous culture of the traditional kimono - its style, design, meaning and forms, as well as how to wear one.
Including lavish kimono and accessories direct from the Osaka Museum of History, Kimono highlights a golden age of prosperity experienced in Osaka 150 years ago - a time when wealth was expressed through luxurious and splendid fashions. Part of the Immigration Museum’s 10th birthday program, this stunning collection also celebrates and 30 years of the Melbourne-Osaka sister-city relationship, and is supported by the City of Melbourne.
In its more than 1300 years of history, the harbour-side city of Osaka rarely experienced such a moment of glory as during the late Edo and Meiji eras (1850-1900) when it was the commercial capital of Japan. Spectacularly rich merchants and their families could not join the nobility or the warrior classes, so they competed in displaying their wealth through their homewares and clothing.
“In this era, everyone in Japan wore kimono - from farmers to warriors,” comments Padmini Sebastian, Manager, Immigration Museum. “But Osaka’s aristocracy and merchants opted for a spectacular display of wealth through their fabulous and flamboyant kimono, by using the most expensive fabrics and the most intricate designs.”
Showing around 60 highly decorated kimono, along with accessories such as shoes and hair ornaments, the Kimono exhibition provides a perspective on the history and culture of the kimono: how the garment was worn and its rich symbolism to the Japanese. Kimono in the exhibition include those worn by men, women and children, along with more unusual examples, such as a fireman’s kimono.
A special area unique to the Kimono exhibition will encourage families to actively experience Japan’s clothing traditions by learning how to dress in a yukata kimono. This interactive experience will include an information video on the kimono and how to wear it, as well as adult and child samples for visitors to try on.
With a history stretching over more than a millennium, the kimono originated during the Heian period (794-1192), and its style has remained largely unchanged for at least the past 400 years. A kimono is created by cutting and sewing a length of cloth about 40cm wide by 12m long; and fabric was specially woven to the exact dimensions required.
The kimono’s simple tailoring allows for expressions of individual taste through fabric choice - silk, cotton or hemp could be chosen - and through embellishments such as dyeing, painting, embroidery or appliqué. Common motifs were symbolic animals, flowers and family crests, adding layers of meaning to the garment.
The Immigration Museum will also offer education programs in conjunction with the Kimono exhibition, including teacher professional development sessions, and a special winter school holiday program.
Kimono: Osaka’s Golden Age will show at the Immigration Museum, 15 May until 14 September 2008.
Immigration Museum, 400 Flinders St, Melbourne $6 Adult; FREE children/concessions.
Enquiries: 13 11 02 or museumvictoria.com.au
