Efficacy of Material Culture and Semiotics in Developing Cultural Understanding of Textile Artifacts with Limited Provenance: Elucidating Meanings of Japanese Textile Artifacts for a Museum Audience

Ellen Carol Mckinney,Sophia Luu

doi:10.31274/itaa.12039

Abstract

The objective of this research was to create museum texts and educational materials for a textiles section of a major year-long university museum exhibit focused on exploring Japanese culture and aesthetics through works of fine and applied art. Little background information about the textiles was available. A sample of historical Japanese kimono, yukata, and obi in a university collection was examined using material culture and semiotics research methods. The motifs present in the textiles were identified and explored for how the motifs represent values relevant to Japanese cultural practices throughout time. In particular, motifs were explored for their noted conveyance of a society's religious and cultural values. Motifs were predominantly botanical, emphasizing the respect for nature within Japanese culture. Other motif categories present included geometric, animals/insects, cultural/everyday objects, and landscape motifs. 104 individual motifs were identified. Symbolic meanings were examined and interpreted alongside present materials, colors, and techniques. The use of material culture and semiotics research methods for analyzing Japanese textiles is mapped in this study.

Highlights

Dress communicates ideas about an individual’s self that mirror time and society
Descriptions of each textile artifact were observed and recorded. This included (a) substance such as fiber content, fabric structure, surface design techniques; (b) content or subject matter of motifs present; and (c) form such as color, texture and how they interact with motifs, and overall motif placement
Speculation was pursued regarding how the motifs and colors used in the textile artifacts conveyed information about Japanese culture and aesthetics

Summary

Introduction

Dress communicates ideas about an individual’s self that mirror time and society. One’s identity may be revealed through body modification, supplements, and often most explicitly, through apparel. Prown (1982) posits "a high correlation between clothing and personal identity and values," since individuals take clothing criticism personally (p. 13). In Japan, the variety of colors, materials, techniques, and motifs used in their traditional garments, rather than cut and construction, indicate gender, class, status, and the current zeitgeist (Jackson, 2015). Motifs in kimono and obi often have auspicious significance coming from religious and popular beliefs and allude to an individual’s virtues, reflect emotions, and demonstrate season or occasion (Jackson, 2015). A university museum's exhibit of Japanese works of fine and applied art, including textiles, was the impetus for this study of historical Japanese textiles. While the university had a variety of kimono in the collection to display, little contextual information was known about each kimono or obi. The lack of information produced a deficiency in educational material for museum attendees to consume

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