Weavers

Weavers presents the craftswomen who produced the textiles that were among Japan's greatest cultural contributions — the silk weavers of Nishijin in Kyoto, the cotton weavers of various regional traditions, all engaged in the technically demanding and aesthetically sophisticated craft of textile production. The weaver's loom, with its complex arrangement of heddles, reeds, and bobbins, created a visual subject of considerable mechanical interest, and the weavers' bodies in the act of throwing the shuttle and beating the weft created a composition of rhythmic, purposeful motion. Mori's documentation of this trade honored a craft that was central to Japan's aesthetic identity.