Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop
染司よしおか
The Living Colours: Kasane – the Language of Japanese Colour Combinations exhibition at Japan House London (5 April – 19 May 2019) explored Japanese people's deep appreciation of colour, as well as the often close relationship with their natural surroundings and sensitivity to the changing of the seasons. This passion for colour was presented through the work of the 200-year-old Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop in Kyoto.
This family-run workshop creates vivid colours from plant-based, natural materials, using historical documents and textile samples to continue to recreate colours from throughout Japan’s history. The workshop has managed to save these almost forgotten skills from extinction, using age-old natural dyeing techniques in order to bring colours to life – from light cherry blossom pinks through to deep shades of indigo.