Crimson Gilt
Year: 2025
Materials: Knitted cotton & polyester, Bamboo
Size: 780 cm x 484 cm x 308cm
Crimson Gilt reflects on the intertwined histories of Japan, Indonesia, and the Netherlands through the VOC. The installation takes the form of a suspended ship, based on the 1748 VOC vessel Amsterdam, recreated from a thousand knitted strips in gold and crimson. Gold represents the prosperity the VOC brought to Japan; crimson reveals the exploitation, colonialism and slavery sustained elsewhere across its trade routes. Visitors can walk through the ship’s center and experience the shifting light and colour — a journey through shared yet conflicting histories. After its presentation in Hirado, the work will ‘sail’ to the Maritime Museum (Museum Bahari, Jakarta) and the National Maritime Museum (Scheepvaartmuseum, Amsterdam), reorienting its form and perspective at each site.
Sound: Yoichi Kamimura
Textile: Knitwear Lab
Planning & coordination: Cave-Ayumi Gallery
Funding: Hirado City, Embassy of The Netherlands in Japan, Mondriaanfonds, Creative Industry Fund NL
Collaboration: Hirado Dutch Trading Post Museum (JP), Maritime Museum of Indonesia (Museum Bahari, ID), National Maritime Museum of The Netherlands (Scheepvaartmuseum, NL)
Sponsored by: Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan) • Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare • Nagasaki Prefecture • Executive Committee for the 40th National Cultural Festival & 25th National Arts & Culture Festival for People with Disabilities Nagasaki • Hirado City