Commemorating our ten year anniversary, this exhibition focuses on the handwork of northwest India. In the two terms of the exhibition, we will introduce beautiful dyed fabrics created by the people of the desert that the museum director Iwatate collected from her first trip to Gujarat and Rajasthan in 1970.

The first term exhibit will be of dyed fabrics from the Kutch district of Gujarat where embroideries and patchworks are abundant. The villages in the area are like treasure chests of women’s needlework that colorfully enriched life in the desert: Children’s clothes that women decorated with auspicious patterns and mirrors to ward off evil spirits with wishes for their daughters’ happiness, ceremonial costumes for their husbands, and dowries.