Hosoo Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition titled The Hemispheres, which began on June 27, 2025. This exhibition presents the Japan premiere of the new Hemispheres Collection, a set of textiles created in collaboration with the Milan-based architecture and design firm Dimorestudio. Building on the previous presentation of this widely noted collection at the Milan Design Week in April 2025, the exhibition features three newly produced screens, a fusion of traditional Nishijin textile designs and Italian decorative sensibilities.

The exhibition title, “The Hemispheres,” derives from the ancient Greek word for “two halves of the globe,” summing up the idea that pairs of different values—East and West, traditional and modern, static and dynamic—complement each other to form a single world. At the core of the collection is the archive of approximately 20,000 obi designs passed down in the Hosoo family. A significant proportion of these designs are “atari,” or deliberately uncolored drawings intended to ensure the longevity of the patterns by enabling their utilization across multiple generations. It is arguably this matrix, untouched by pigment, that enables the unique creative process of Nishijin textile, in which artisans from different generations and periods make their own contributions toward perfection. For the Hemispheres Collection, Dimorestudio engaged in a creative experiment, exploring the application of distinctive colors to unfinished designs that have been meticulously archived by Hosoo over the course of numerous years.

This show features a new set of folding screens made from 33 different textiles from the Hemispheres Collection, The Atlas of Hemispheres, as well as selected fabrics from the same collection, such as Optical, Skyward, Insignia, Nami Levitas, and Hishi Small, all presented vertically on the wall like paintings. The exhibition thus showcases a collection of works that explore the crossover between the decorativeness and color sensibilities of the East and West. Additionally, Longevity Screen, a collage of Nishijin fabrics from the mid-Edo to Taishō periods[1736-1926] belonging to the Hosoo family, will be on display. This important reference allows visitors to witness the evolution of Nishijin textile designs and techniques. Finally, the exhibition features the original sketches (atari) that served as the inspiration for the Hemispheres Collection, as well as a video work produced using artificial intelligence to digitize and analyze a vast array of designs. A key highlight is the interplay between traditional techniques and modern technology.

The Hemispheres aims to illustrate the convergence of inherited tradition and modern creativity, examining a point of intersection beyond the established East/West dichotomy. Through this exhibition, Hosoo hopes to open a novel horizon for contemporary creation, while elucidating the function of textile as a medium that chronicles its long history.