The Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum is hosting a solo exhibition of basketry by Sekijima Hisako, running from November 14, 2026 to March 22, 2027. The show features approximately 110 works from the 1980s to the present, exploring the structural principles of interlacing, material, and construction method. Sekijima, who moved to New York in the 1970s and later returned to Japan, has analyzed baskets from around the world and her works are held in major public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. The exhibition is presented in two parts with a temporary closure for reinstallation.
This exhibition matters because it highlights the analytical and conceptual approach of a significant Japanese fiber artist whose career bridges American craft traditions and Japanese folk tool aesthetics. By presenting basketry as a medium for intellectual discovery and structural exploration, the show elevates a traditionally craft-based practice into the realm of fine art. The collaboration with Tomo Museum, following a two-person exhibition in 2014, underscores the growing institutional recognition of fiber arts and basketry as serious artistic disciplines worthy of museum attention.