The KURA gallery at ISSEY MIYAKE KYOTO presents KURA Exhibition “SALT DYE.”

IROGAMI is one of the series developed by GOOD GOODS ISSEY MIYAKE. It is characterised by its rich forms, reminiscent of layered sheets of coloured paper. A newly introduced technique, “Salt Dye,” has now been added to the series.

Salt dyeing is a technique developed by a dyeing workshop in the Kojima area of Okayama Prefecture, overlooking the Seto Inland Sea, where dyeing and processing skills have been honed over many years. In Kojima, where vast salt fields once spread across the land, cotton capable of withstanding saline soil was cultivated as part of efforts to improve the salt-rich terrain. This practice eventually became the foundation of the area’s textile industry and dyeing culture. Drawing on this local history, salt, long used as an auxiliary agent in the dyeing process, is reimagined as the central element of expression. It was from this inquiry that salt dyeing was born. By sprinkling and rubbing dye-infused salt onto the fabric by hand, artisans create textures and patterns that are truly one of a kind.

This exhibition features textiles treated with salt dyeing techniques, alongside a video installation capturing the landscapes of Kojima and the dyeing process. Together, they evoke the passage of time embedded in the land and the human hands that have shaped it. You are invited to experience the “memory of salt” as it emerges through this interplay across the entire space.