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Object Timeline

-0001

1981

  • Work on this object began.

1985

  • We acquired this object.

2012

2013

2014

2024

  • You found it!

Textile, Nuno me Gara (Cloth Patterned Cloth)

This is a Textile. It was designed by Junichi Arai. It is dated 1981 and we acquired it in 1985. Its medium is cotton and its technique is two intercrossed plain weave structures (double cloth), jacquard controlled; overspun yarns. It is a part of the Textiles department.

Junichi Arai was born in Kiryu, the center of traditional Japanese silk weaving, and was trained in his family’s mill. He went on to become one of the most innovative textile artists of our time. Over the past fifty years he has won dozens of patents for his work in fiber chemistry, metallic fibers and finishes, and other surface treatments, including a unique melt-off process for creating metallic textiles.
Arai is often called a textile engineer, and Nuno me Gara, woven in 1981, shows he was also an early adopter of computer-aided loom technologies. Using just two colors, red and black, in a double-cloth construction, he creates an image that is both illusionistic and abstract. The image of a pile of narrow fabric strips follows in a long tradition of using photographic imagery to showcase the loom’s capabilities, but Arai focuses equally on the sensuous tactility of the subject.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Weaving Illusions.

This object was donated by Junichi Arai. It is credited Gift of Junichi Arai.

  • Frieze (France)
  • block printed on handmade paper.
  • Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
  • 1928-2-69-a,b
  • Dado (France)
  • block printed on handmade paper.
  • Museum purchase from the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition....
  • 1994-101-2

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Its dimensions are

H x W: 259.1 x 120 cm (102 x 47 1/4 in.) Repeat H: 60 cm (23 5/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Textile, Nuno me Gara (Cloth Patterned Cloth); Designed by Junichi Arai (Japanese, 1932 - 2017); Japan; cotton; H x W: 259.1 x 120 cm (102 x 47 1/4 in.) Repeat H: 60 cm (23 5/8 in.); Gift of Junichi Arai; 1985-31-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18805153/ |title=Textile, Nuno me Gara (Cloth Patterned Cloth) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=25 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>