MAKING NUNO
Japanese Textile Innovation from Sudō Reiko

Virtual Exhibition

Name: Making Nuno: Virtual Exhibition
Start: 2023-06-01T16:53:04+00:00
Location: Japan House London

須藤玲子：
NUNOの布づくり

MAKING NUNO Japanese Textile Innovation from Sudō Reiko showcases the innovative work of Japanese textile designer Sudō Reiko, who is renowned for pushing boundaries of textile production and championing new methods of sustainable manufacturing. Sudō has been the design director of leading textile design firm Nuno for over 30 years and is a member of the Japan Design Committee.

The exhibition was produced in collaboration with the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) in Hong Kong and artistic director Saitō Seiichi of Panoramatiks.

The creation of this virtual exhibition is supported by JTI UK and Yamaha Music Europe GmbH.

Exploring the exhibition

Discover more about Sudō's designs as well as the materials and techniques used by clicking on the information icons beside each exhibit.

The magnifying glass icons will show you the textures of these textiles up close.

You can hop between exhibits using the circular portals on the floor, or via the carousel at the bottom of your screen.

Staircase icons will take you down to the Lower Ground Floor Gallery exhibition space and up to the Tatami Room, where another of Sudō's installations is displayed.

Click on the video icons to hear the NUNO team discuss each of the exhibits in further detail, and transport yourself to the Japanese textile factories where the exhibits were made through the speaker icons.

To immerse yourself in this exhibition, click on the full screen icon on the top right-hand corner of the tour and found out more about its creators below.

Videos

As part of the exhibition, Japan House London invited visitors to enjoy a series of short films in The Hall, featuring exclusive footage of the making of Nuno textiles and produced in collaboration with family-run factories and craftspeople all around Japan.

Filmed by Saitō Seiichi, Director of Panoramatiks (formerly Rhizomatiks) in textile factories located in various regions of Japan, these videos show the day-to-day operation of machinery by factory workers and technicians.

In Depth

Who is Sudō Reiko?

Sudō was born in Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture. After serving as a textile laboratory assistant in the Department of Industrial, Interior, and Craft Design at Musashino Art University, Sudō helped found Nuno Corporation. As Nuno’s Design Director, she combines Japanese traditions of dyeing and weaving with cutting-edge technology to create a wide range of innovative textiles. Sudō received an honorary MA degree from the University for the Creative Arts (UK), and has been an Emeritus Professor at Tokyo Zokei University since 2019.

Since 2008, Sudō has worked in fabric planning and development for Mujirushi Ryohin (MUJI) and the Tsuruoka Textile Industry Cooperative, and in design advising for AZU. She joined MUJI’s Advisory Board in 2016. Recipient of the Mainichi Design Award, the Rosco Design Prize, the JID Award, and many other honours, Sudō has received high acclaim within Museum of Modern Art (USA), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA), Boston Museum of Art (USA), the Victoria & Albert Museum (UK) and Crafts Gallery, The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo (JPN) among many others. Representative projects include textile designs for Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, the Tokyo American Club and Oita Prefectural Art Museum. Sudō is frequently invited to give lectures and hold exhibitions around the world, including the major Koi nobori Now! textile installation at the National Art Center Tokyo in 2018 and Sudō Reiko : Making NUNO Textiles at the Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile Hong Kong in 2019.

Image: Hayashi Masayuki

Exhibition collaborators: CHAT and Panoramatiks

MAKING NUNO Japanese Textile Innovation from Sudō Reiko was produced in collaboration with Takahashi Mizuki, Executive Director and Chief Curator of CHAT (Hong Kong), and Saitō Seiichi, artistic director of the exhibition and Director of Panoramatiks.

Takahashi Mizuki

Takahashi Mizuki is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) in Hong Kong. She completed her MA in History of Art from both Waseda University, Tokyo and The School of Oriental and African Studies, London. After serving as a founding curatorial member at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from 1999-2003, Takahashi worked as senior curator at Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito and realised numerous trans-disciplinary exhibitions addressing various artistic forms including manga, film, fashion, architecture, performance and contemporary art.

Image: CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile), Hong Kong

Saitō Seiichi

Panoramatiks Director (ex-Rhizomatiks Architecture). Born in Kanagawa in 1975, Saitō Seiichi began his career in New York in 2000 after graduating from Columbia University with a Master of Science degree in Advanced Architectural Design (MSAAD). Since then, he has been active in creative work at the ArnellGroup, and returned to Japan upon being selected for the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2003. He produces works in the commercial art field which are three-dimensional and interactive while also being based on the firm grounding in logical thought that he cultivated through architecture. He has won numerous international awards since 2009. Launched Rhizomatiks Co.,Ltd. in 2006. Since 2016, he serves as director of Rhizomatiks Architecture. Vice Chairman of Good Design Award 2018-20. Creative Adviser of 2020 Dubai Expo Japan pavilion. An expert for the Peoples's Living Lab Promotion Council for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.