Atelier Seiran Brings Awa Indigo Craft to Venice Biennale

The event, titled "From Indigo to the World," is an official Collateral Event within the "Fissures of Light Diaspora" exhibition. Studio director Hatsuko Ukigawa will anchor the sessions, detailing the history of Awa indigo, a craft refined since the studio’s founding in 1970 by artist Yoko Hashimoto. Hashimoto’s legacy, now managed by Ukigawa and Kiyoko Hashimoto, remains rooted in a unique fusion of traditional indigo dyeing and wax-resist techniques known as roketsuzome.

Beyond technical demonstration, the program examines how Japan’s reverence for nature dictates its modern creative aesthetic. A central focus of the discussion is "Les Lucioles," a collaborative project between Ukigawa and Cameroonian designer Serge Mouangue. The piece serves as a case study for the studio’s broader goal: using the medium of indigo to foster cross-cultural dialogue. By presenting these works in Venice, the studio aims to position its ancestral craft within the fluid, international environment of the Biennale, emphasizing that the value of the practice lies in the cultural philosophy it protects rather than just the pigment itself.