Special Design Demonstration: Traditional Japanese Katagami

Katagami: Water Pattern, late 19 th -early 20 th century. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Helen Snyder. 1976-103-111. Photo: Matt Flynn © Smithsonian Institution.
Intricately carved into numerous layers of Japanese mulberry paper, joined together with fermented persimmon juice, katagami, a Japanese paper-stencil dying technique popular in the Edo and Meiji period, were deeply influential in late 19 th and early 20 th century Western art and design. Cooper-Hewitt,… Show more National Design Museum’s holdings of nearly 400 katagami represent one of the most significant collections outside of Japan.
In a rare visit to the United States, katagami master Masao Aida, with the assistance of Airo Aida and Isao Uchida, will demonstrate the unique craft of cutting and printing katagami .
This program is organized by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and Mie Prefectural Art Museum, supported by the Pola Art Foundation.

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