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Craft Portrait: Dorozome

A dialogue of twisting colours and voices leads you to Amami Oshima, the Southern Japanese island where designers Satomi Minoshima & Pauline Agustoni have conducted their research on the traditional craft of dorozome.

Dorozome is a mud-dyeing technique during whose process white yarns are repeatedly dyed - the technique requires more than 85 dyeing steps - until they reach a deep black colour. Using the rhythm of the twisting motions present in the dyeing process, the designers accentuate the repetition of the artisans’ movements throughout the completion of the craft, and highlight the transitioning colours in their installation.

The emphasis on the repetitive cycle of the craft then meets the voices of the artisans themselves, whom we can hear discussing their relationship to their craft, their learning process and the island on which they live and work.

A publication involving the full interviews of the craftsmen completes the installation’s stories. Pauline Agustoni & Satomi Minoshima present eleven artisans’ visions in their book, allying personal and universal perspectives about the act of creation. The publication is available for sale at the museum shop.

Dorozome dyed textiles, motor, screen and speaker

2,2m x 2,2m x 4m