Art in the Garden
Mottainai: The Fabric Of Life
Lessons in Frugality from Traditional Japan

Fall 2011Mottainai: The Fabric of Life
Lessons in Frugality from Traditional Japan

This exhibition is part of the Art in the Garden series
on this year’s theme of “Living in Harmony withNature.” It features two superb private collectionsof simple Japanese folk textiles made by hand fromforaged plant fibers and recycled rags in the spirit offrugality and mottainai.
Mottai (勿体) was originally a Buddhist term thatreferred to the “essence of things.” Applied toeverything in the physical universe, the word
suggests that objects do not exist in isolation but
are intrinsically linked to one another. Nai (無い) is anegation, so “mottainai” is an expression of sadness
for the disrespect that is shown when any living or
non-living entity is wasted. “Mottainai!” parents
say, admonishing their children not to waste a grainof rice or a scrap of paper. In a land where natural
resources have always been scarce, people have long

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A RT IN THE GA RDEN

understood the importance of respecting the valueof all things and of wasting nothing. It was the onlyway to survive in less affluent times.
In 2005, the late Nobel Prize winner Professor
Wangari Maathai of Kenya visited Japan andlearned of the concept of mottainai. As a lifelong
environmentalist and the founder of the GreenMovement in East Africa, Professor Maathai
embraced mottainai enthusiastically, launching aninternational campaign to bring the attention of thewhole world to this very old Japanese concept.
The garments in this exhibition represent the spiritof mottainai. Laboriously made by hand a century
ago, they are poignant symbols of an ingenious
people who knew how to make do with what little
they had—and do so in a beautiful way. In the true

spirit of mottainai, the warmth and quiet intensityof these simple garments speak to us across timeof a resilient people who have much to teach theirown modern progeny, as well as the rest of the world
today.
The garments in this exhibition represent the spiritof mottainai. Laboriously made by hand a century
ago, they are poignant symbols of an ingenious
people who knew how to make do with what little
they had—and do so in a beautiful way. In the truespirit of mottainai, the warmth and quiet intensityof these simple garments speak to us across timeof a resilient people who have much to teach theirown modern progeny, as well as the rest of the world
today.

FA L L 2 0 1 1

3S P ON S OR E D BY :James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation; Regional Arts & Culture
Council and Work for Art; Wessinger Foundation; and Katherine andMark Frandsen.

S PEC I A L T H A N K S T O :Kei Kawasaki of Kyoto, Japan and Stephen Szczepanek of Brooklyn,
New York for sharing their remarkable collections and helping to keep
the spirit of mottainai alive by bringing the special qualities of thesefabrics to the attention of a busy material world.

Diane Durston
Curator of Culture, Art, and Education
ddurston@japanesegarden.org

All Photos: Jonathan Ley

Portland Japanese Garden | Post Office Box 3847 | Portland, Oregon 97208-3847© 2018 Portland Japanese Garden. All rights reserved. Printed on 100% recycled fiber content with 100% post-consumer waste. Processed chlorine-free. FSC certified.