P. Kasuri 206 (Red and White)

The Whitworth was one of five museums and galleries to win a share of £75,000 to buy their selected object thanks to Art Fund Collect, an initiative in collaboration with the Crafts Council aimed at championing contemporary craft and increasing its presence in UK collections. This silk by Jun Tomita uses the traditional dyeing technique of kasuri or ikat, a method which effects a hugely intricate blurring and juxtaposition of colour within the silk threads that it binds together. The work will now find a new home within the designated textile and wallpaper collections at the Whitworth; the largest and most significant of their kind outside the national collections at the V&A.