PolyU Institute of Textiles & Clothing proudly presents “Self-Organisation: Junichi Arai’s Textile Anthology” A Retrospective Exhibition of World-Renowned Japanese Textile Master Junichi Arai

The Institute of Textiles and Clothing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile by MILL6 Foundation are proudly presenting TECHSTYLE Series 2.0: the second edition of the annual project to explore new meaning, experience and innovation in textile arts.

The exhibition returns with the first retrospective exhibition in Hong Kong of internationally acclaimed textile artist Junichi Arai. His representative textile and artwork are being exhibited at PolyU from 16 December 2017 to 26 January 2018. The astonishing array of beautiful fabrics honours the lifelong efforts and achievements of Junichi Arai.

The opening ceremony was held on 15 December, Mrs Riko Arai, the wife of Junichi Arai, was one of the officiating guests who, along with Dr Hon Tai Fai Lam, Deputy Chairman of PolyU; Prof. Angelina Yuen, Vice President (Student and Global Affairs) of PolyU; Prof. Wing-tak Wong, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Textiles of PolyU; Prof. John H. Xin, Head of the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of PolyU and Ms Vanessa Cheung, Founder of The Mills, unveiled the 2-month exhibition.

Dubbed "The Dream Weaver", Junichi Arai was a world-renowned innovator in textiles and a master of dyeing and weaving. He dedicated his life to textile design. Often dubbed an "expert of the post-industrial age" and a "prodigy of the Japanese fabric world", he is renowned for the complexity and innovation of his textile work. He was a pioneer who began to use computers for textile design, and to treat metallic fabrics with chemical processes from the early 1970s. Combining traditional textile-making techniques with experimental production processes, Arai created many extraordinary pieces that combined both contemporary Western technologies with Eastern methodologies. Aria cooperated with Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons), to bring innovative new kinds of cloth into fashion design, which not only created a stir in the fashion world, but also brought about a new generation of design and textile innovations.

The exhibition, "Self-Organisation: Junichi Arai's Textile Anthology" is the first retrospective exhibition for the master in Hong Kong, and pays tribute to Arai's lifelong efforts and achievements. The exhibition offers an immersive experience into the sensorial, textural, and visual inner world of the artist.

The exhibition also reviews the course of Aria's designs, and demonstrates the artists unique design ideals with several different forms of textiles and clothing. Arai sheds new light on textile art from his unique perspective with a view to providing possibilities for exploring new innovations in clothing and textile art for the future.

The "Self-Organisation" theme of the exhibition reflects Aria's innovative artistic approaches toward traditional textile weaving techniques, which will be fully explored in the future.

Some of Arai's latest masterpieces will be showcased at the exhibition, including his famous "Light Vortex" and "Big Blue Vortex", which portray a Japanese Zen garden. Other major large-scale works include "Vortex" which was inspired by ancient Hmong totems and intertwines the world view of Datong, and "Mountain glacier" which knits wool, nylon and aluminum-cut yarns together. Only the wool in the middle is washed which then forms curves suggesting mountain ranges.

Dr Kinor Jiang, Associate Professor of the Institute of Textiles and Clothing at PolyU explained that, "traditional textile design fell into a period of bewilderment in both the cognition of tradition, and future direction in the face of the mega industrial era of the second half of the 20th century.  In such a special period, the contribution of Arai's research and exploration cannot be underestimated. Junichi Arai's works have become a source of inspiration for textile designers everywhere. The metallic and jacquard textiles he created, in particular have had profound impact.

"Reviewing Junichi Arai's works reminds us of the master's creative thinking, and inspires us to associate textiles with the future. The exhibition shows how Junichi Arai's vision of textiles crossed boundaries between craft and technology, design and art. It sheds new light on textile art design from the artist's unique perspective, and opens up new possibilities for innovation in future clothing and textile art, and for promoting the joint development of the textile and clothing industry in China and Japan."

Venue 1:The Fashion Gallery, MN109, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Venue 2:Innovation Gallery, Jockey Club Innovation Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Exhibition Period: 16 December 2017 – 26 January 2018

Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday 10:00 –19:00

• Institute of Textiles & Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

• Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile by Mill6 Foundation

Junichi Arai(1932-2017), was a renowned master of textile artistry. He was born in Kiryu, Japan. He started hand weaving at an early age in his family's mill, and then devoted himself to innovative fabric design. In the 1970s and 80s, he collaborated with renowned fashion designers, such as Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo, to bring innovation new fabrics into fashion design.

His unconstrained creation of fabrics brought entirely new materials into fashion, and inspired many original new ideas. From the 1970s, Arai worked on Jacquard textiles producing oriental style textile designs, which were a synergy of artistry and utility.

The Works of Junichi Arai displayed a perfect integration of textile dyeing, and traditional craft, with a knowledge of modern chemistry, and new technology, thereby creating textiles of unsurpassed allure.

He called himself a "Textile Creator", but was also called a "Post-Industrial Expert" and a "Talent of Japan's Fabric Industry". He and other Japanese avant-garde fashion designers are regarded as the core group for contemporary textile products. His works are included in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum London, the Museum of Modern Art New York and the American Craft Museum.

香港理工大學紡織及製衣學系呈獻 日本紡織大師新井淳一首個回顧展 「自組織化 : 新井淳一經緯世界藝術展」(Chinese)

明報高中升學網	香港理工大學紡織及製衣學系呈獻 日本紡織大師新井淳一首個回顧展 「自組織化 : 新井淳一經緯世界藝術展」	27Dec 2017
星島日報	理大辦日紡織大師回顧展	29 Dec 2017