Image: Fukuoka Art Museum
Fukuoka Art Museum will present ‘Karun Thakar Collection: Indian Chintz—A Global Story’ from 17 October to 20 December 2026 in its second-floor Special Exhibition Gallery.
The exhibition traces Indian chintz through works from the London-based Karun Thakar Collection, following the textiles’ changing forms over several centuries as they reached Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan. Chintz refers to vividly coloured, boldly patterned and finely detailed cotton cloths produced using dyes including madder and indigo, alongside mordants and resist agents.
Among the works illustrated for the exhibition are the 17th- to 18th-century ceremonial cloth ‘White-ground Chintz with Figures and Floral Patterns’; the circa 1740–50 hanging ‘White-ground Chintz with an Upright Tree-shaped Flowering Plant Pattern (Palampore)’; the late-18th-century garment ‘Chintz Jacket with Rahu God Pattern (Saa Senakut)’; and the 18th-century ‘Chintz Bed Set with Floral Pattern’.
Karun Thakar will give a talk, ‘My Indian Chintz Collection and This Exhibition’, on 17 October at the Museum Hall. A lecture, ‘Indian Chintz: Global Design, Local Product’, follows there on 21 November.
Admission is ¥1,700 for adults, ¥1,100 for university and high-school students, and free for junior-high-school students and younger visitors.
