Lunchables are Arts Blog features about exhibitions that can be viewed during lunch or another short break of time in a day.

There are a few days left to see the beautiful Japanese textiles in  Tekunikku: The Art of Japanese Textile Making  at the UC Davis Design Museum. This exhibition offers an exploration of Japan’s iconic textile design methods featuring fabrics and garments from UC Davis alumna Catherine Cerny’s extensive collection. The exhibition opened the UC Davis Design Museum’s 2018-2019 season running through Dec. 9

So don’t miss it.

A highlight of the exhibition is its installation which evokes the aesthetic of a traditional Japanese market where many of the objects were purchased.

“Japanese textiles demonstrate a rich tradition of design making, and exemplify unique techniques that continue to inform contemporary textile/fashion design and education,” said exhibition curator Alicia Decker. “‘Tekunikku’ focuses on the extensive Japanese textile collection of Cerny and pans over 40 years of first-hand cultural exploration and technical study.” 

Cerny loved textiles as a young child, shopping at curio shops with her father while living in Japan. Later, she graduated from UC Davis Department of Design in 1970, and worked as a costume designer for several years before her interests began to shift toward the study of dress and identity. This interest compelled her to complete a PhD at the University of Minnesota and later to enter academia, as a professor at the University of Rhode Island and Virginia Tech. Over the last 20 years, Cerny has identified as a collector; visiting textile producing communities all over the world, and building a diverse collection of unique textiles suitable for university study.

Through the miracles of modern technology, you can get a sneak peek by viewing the video here.

But textiles, with all their texture and body, are much better in person, so take a walk, bike ride, skateboard or any form of wheels to the museum on the edge of campus at Cruess Hall.

Here’s how you do it.

The Design Museum, part of the College of Letters and Science, is in Cruess Hall, Room 124. It is free and open weekdays noon to 4 p.m. and Sundays 2 to 4 p.m.

Click Visit the Design Museum for map and parking information.