Indian Chintz Exhibition “A Story That Traveled the World” at the Fukuoka Art Museum Until December 20; How Chintz Spread Across the World

The special exhibition “The Karun Thakar Collection – Indian Chintz: A Story That Traveled the World” is on view at the Fukuoka Art Museum (Chuo-ku, Fukuoka) until Sunday, December 20. It traces how “Indian chintz,” a dyed cloth born in India, changed over several hundred years. Through masterpieces from the collection of London-based collector Karun Thakar, it introduces the aesthetics and creativity that chintz nurtured in Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan, where it spread. From Tuesday, November 17, some works will be replaced for the second period.

What is Indian chintz? A technique for dyeing hard-to-dye cotton fast

According to the museum, the technique of dyeing cotton, a fabric difficult to dye, with fast colors using dyes such as madder and indigo together with mordants and resists was born in India thousands of years ago. The cloth spread around the world, called “sarasa” in Japan and “chintz” in English.

The exhibition traces how Indian chintz became a global commodity and changed over the course of several hundred years. It is supervised by Etsuko Iwanaga, director of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.

Who is the collector Karun Thakar?

Karun Thakar was born in 1960. As a child in Delhi, India, he helped at the tailoring shop his mother ran and grew up watching elaborate garments being made from all kinds of fabrics. In 1974 his family moved to the United Kingdom, and in 1982 he began collecting folk art and textiles from Asia and Africa.

In 2021, in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, he established the “Karun Thakar Fund” to support research on Asian and African textiles and dress. He has been collecting Japanese textiles for 30 years, and his collection has been introduced in a 2015 book on meisen kimono from the Karun Thakar Collection and in an exhibition on Japanese aesthetics of recycling held in London in 2023. Saying, “I am merely a temporary custodian of this collection,” Thakar reportedly values sharing his collection with the public by donating and lending it to museums.

Why see it now? Chintz as “the world’s first global product”

In a text written for the exhibition, Thakar suggests that chintz could perhaps be called the world’s first global product. With the development of trade, Indian artisans came to produce refined designs tailored to each region, he says.

The textiles from the 14th to the 19th centuries that he has collected came not only from Europe but also from Japan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. His collection has previously been exhibited at museums in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The connection with Japan is also deep. According to Thakar, records and writings showing esteem for chintz date back to the early 1600s. The imported cloth was used for shifuku pouches for tea utensils, as well as for furoshiki wrapping cloths, tobacco pouches, the mountings of hanging scrolls and the edging of tatami mats. Even tiny scraps were pasted into sample books and carefully preserved.

What can be seen? Four chapters and main works

According to the list of works, the exhibition consists of four chapters: Chapter 1, “Chintz of the Indian Region”; Chapter 2, “Chintz of the Early Asian Trade”; and Chapter 3, “Chintz for Europe.” Chapter 4, “The Globalization and Localization of Design,” has three sections: “The Globalization of Design,” “The Localization of Design” and “Developments in Japan.”

• “Ceremonial cloth with figure design on a white ground (maa’),” c. 1450–1650

• “Ceremonial cloth with figure and floral design on a white ground,” 17th–18th century

• “Palampore with flowering tree design on a white ground,” c. 1740–50

• “Chintz jacket with design of the deity Rahu (sua senakut),” late 18th century

• “Ceremonial cloth with sun design on a white ground (matahari),” late 18th–19th century

• “Chintz bed set with floral design,” 18th century

• “Infant’s jackets with floral design on a white ground” (5 pieces), 18th century

• “Girls’ caps with floral design” (9 pieces), 18th century

• “Chintz fragment with fan design on a black ground,” 18th century

• “Chintz wrapping cloth accompanying a Korean amamori tea bowl,” 17th–19th century, Fukuoka Art Museum

All of the works above, except the “Chintz wrapping cloth accompanying a Korean amamori tea bowl,” are in the Karun Thakar Collection (London). The list of works also includes the furnishing fabrics “Strawberry Thief,” “Clay” and “Medway” (private collection) and the Fukuoka Art Museum’s books “Sarasa Benran” and “Hanafukusa.” Works marked for the first or second period are shown from Saturday, October 17 to Sunday, November 15 and from Tuesday, November 17 to Sunday, December 20, respectively.

Tickets, prices and access

Admission is 1,700 yen for adults and 1,100 yen for high school and university students; junior high school students and younger are free. Groups of 20 or more pay 1,600 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for high school and university students. Advance ticket sales ended on Friday, October 16.

Visitors showing a physical disability certificate, a rehabilitation certificate, a mental disability certificate or the digital disability certificate “Mirairo ID,” plus one caregiver, are admitted free. Visitors showing a medical care certificate for designated intractable diseases or similar are also admitted free.

Opening hours are 9:30 to 17:30, and the museum is open until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays in October (last entry 30 minutes before closing). It is closed on Mondays, but open on Monday, October 19 and Monday, November 23 (national holiday), and closed instead on Tuesday, October 20, Wednesday, October 21 and Tuesday, November 24.

The catalogue (modified B5, 168 pages, about 80 plates) costs 3,500 yen (tax included) and is sold only at the museum shop. On Saturday, November 21, from 14:00 to 15:30, a lecture, “Indian Chintz: Global Design, Local Product,” will be held in the Museum Hall.

The museum is located at 1-6 Ohorikoen, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka. It is a 10-minute walk from Exits 3 and 6 of Ohorikoen Station on the subway Airport Line and from Exit 2 of Ropponmatsu Station on the subway Nanakuma Line. Buses also run from Hakata Station and Tenjin, with a 3- to 5-minute walk from the nearest stops. The parking lot holds 26 regular cars at 200 yen per hour and is said to be very crowded on weekends and holidays.

Editor’s perspective

The exhibition shows how cloth born of a single technique acquired different uses and designs in each region through trade. The uses of the exhibited works range widely, from ceremonial cloths to children’s clothing, bedding and wrappings for tea utensils. Viewing cloth as a “global product” is also an attempt to reread art through the movement of things.

Design and craft exhibitions are compiled in our [Autumn/Winter 2026] Guide to Design, Craft and Architecture Exhibitions. Among exhibitions focusing on textile patterns, “Marimekko: The Power of Patterns” is also on view at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum until December 20.

Overview

Name: The Karun Thakar Collection – Indian Chintz: A Story That Traveled the World
Dates: Saturday, October 17 – Sunday, December 20, 2026 (first period: until Sunday, November 15; second period: from Tuesday, November 17)
Hours: 9:30–17:30 (until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays in October; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on Monday, October 19 and Monday, November 23, a national holiday; closed instead on Tuesday, October 20, Wednesday, October 21 and Tuesday, November 24)
Venue: Fukuoka Art Museum, 2F Special Exhibition Gallery
Address: 1-6 Ohorikoen, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka
Admission: Adults 1,700 yen, high school and university students 1,100 yen, free for junior high school students and younger (groups of 20 or more: adults 1,600 yen, high school and university students 1,000 yen)
Organizer: “The Karun Thakar Collection – Indian Chintz: A Story That Traveled the World” Executive Committee (Fukuoka Art Museum, Nishinippon Shimbun, Nishinippon Event Service)
Support: British Council
Supervision: Etsuko Iwanaga (Director, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum)
Official website: https://www.fukuoka-art-museum.jp/exhibition/chintz_a_global_story_the_karunthakar_collection/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Indian chintz palampore (pattern of peacocks and black birds in a bamboo grove), mid-18th century, Rijksmuseum (source: Rijksmuseum, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on a press release from the Fukuoka Art Museum (August 19, 2026) and information on its official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team