KENTA WATANABE is an Ai-shi based in Tokushima, Japan. The ancient work of the Ai-shi since the Edo Period is labor intensive and has become economically unviable in modern times. Only five to six aging master Ai-shi remain today. Kenta apprenticed with Osamu Nii, a sixth-generation master Ai-shi. (Rowland Riketts also apprenticed with Nii-san.) Now with his “seed to dye” sukumo indigo expertise, Kenta and his team have developed a Japanese Sukumo Indigo Starter Kit to give contemporary textile artists an opportunity to work with sukumo indigo. WSNF wishes to support Kenta’s efforts to revive and carry on sukumo’s ancient traditions that work in complete harmony with Nature.
DAVID SALAMA is an artist by training with a BFA in graphic design from Tyler School of Art. He cultivates a deep interest in all the arts. A majority of his life has been spent in the decorative arts and culinary arts with him currently running a restaurant in New York City. Lately, he’s had the opportunity to return to his textile craft and has spent the last three years learning and practicing Katazome and Shibori with many trips to Japan for workshops with notable masters. He pushes the limits of possibilities in shibori by combining traditional techniques with machine aided innovation. He is a current trustee of the World Shibori Network Foundation.
JULIE JENSEN, a retired attorney, is part of an impressive lineage of Sogetsu Ikebana practitioners. Her journey with Sogetsu Ikebana began 40 years ago with Rigi (master) Jane Redmon at the Smithsonian Institution. Jane, in turn, was a student of Mary Sugiyama, the Executive Director of the Sogetsu Ikebana School who is credited with introducing Sogestsu Ikebana to the United States in the 1950’s. Julie has taken to heart the Sogetsu philosophy: “Anyone can enjoy Sogetsu Ikebana anytime, anywhere, using any material.” Ties to the Heads of Sogetsu School, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. allow her to be at the vanguard of Sogetsu Ikebana. Julie practices her beloved art in Sag Harbor, NY while contemplating life’s natural rhythms.
YOSHIKO IWAMOTO WADA is a textile scholar, collector, curator, and artist whose research on Japanese shibori, a traditional resist-dye approach, started in earnest when she began teaching its many techniques in 1975 at the FiberArts Center in Berkeley, CA. Her research and work culminated in the book co-authored by Yoshiko, Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing (1983). In 1992 Yoshiko and a number of Japanese shibori producers and artisans organized the first International Shibori Symposium (ISS) to promote shibori textiles inside and outside of Japan. At this time, Yoshiko founded the World Shibori Network, a grass-roots effort dedicated to preserving Japanese shibori and similar heritage techniques across the globe. A second book by Yoshiko, Memory on Cloth: Shibori Now (2002) recognizes the evolution and innovations of shibori for interior design, fashion, and art. Jack Lenor Larsen says, “Perhaps more than anyone else, Wada caused the evolution of fiber focus from cloth structure to the dye patterning that we now recognize as surface design.” Yoshiko received The George Hewitt Myers Award for lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions in the field of textile arts (2016).
The art of oolong tea is a joy Yoshiko was introduced to in 1985 while in Taipei. Yoshiko also enjoyed the wonderful daily ritual of drinking tea while growing up in Japan. During the relaxed and social atmosphere of the afternoon program, Yoshiko will share the art of tea.
Join us for the 12th ISS in Basel Switzerland in Sept 2026.
