Kinu & Kapa: Silk & Bark Cloth: an Asia-Pacific Collaboration

February 11, 9:00am - 11:00am
Mānoa Campus, Lyon Arboretum, 3860 Manoa Rd.

February 11 – March 3, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 11, 9:00 – 11:00 am

Kinu, Japanese for silk, is the longest fiber; unreeled from the cocoons of moths nurtured on a diet of mulberry tree leaves. Kapa, bark cloth, reached its zenith in Hawaii where incised beaters watermarked and felted together strips of mulberry’s inner bark and bamboo printers captured the energy of negative spaces of printed patterns with dyes made from ash, tubers, flowers, coral and earth.

Akihiko Izukura, visiting artist from Kyoto, and kapa practitioner Moana Eisele shared their fiber working and natural dyeing experiences with other veteran dyers, weavers and kapa makers in a recent intensive gathering organized by TEMARI, Center for Asian and Pacific Arts and the Lyon Arboretum.

Most had pursued their craft for over 30 - 40 years. Younger novice kapa makers who spoke fluent Hawaiian also contributed. All participants surmounted language challenges, made dyes from plants gathered from the Arboretum, shared dyes that from materials grown in their gardens and prepared silk from cocoons spun on the Big Island.

This intimate exhibition displays shapes formed with kinu and kapa, colored with natural dyes. It reflects the workshop’s energy. As Eisele said on the first day, “We are sharing not only techniques, but also passing on our knowledge.” Pointing to the three younger artists, she added, “You are the most important people here.”

Lyon Arboretum 3860 Manoa Road
Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm Sunday, Closed

For directions to the Arboretum, please call 988-0456, or look up, www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum.


Event Sponsor
Lyon Arboretum, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Jill Laughlin, 988-0461, jlaughli@hawaii.edu, http://www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum

Share by email