Continuing Textile Traditions: World Shibori Network Foundation

August 21, 2025

WARP’s August Panel discussion will feature the Berkley, California-based World Shibori Network Foundation. WSNF supports the preservation of Japanese shibori and other heritage textile techniques from around the globe. They bridge ancient traditions with contemporary textile technologies to reimagine and create for a sustainable future. In addition, they create opportunities for exhibitions, mentorships, research, and connections between makers and markets. 

WSNF also offers culturally immersive study travel programs, workshops, and local events on a global level. Their signature International Shibori Symposium (ISS), begun in 1992, will convene for the 12th time in Basel, Switzerland, in September 2026.

You are invited to be a part of the next global fiber arts revival that recognizes diversity in our communities. WSNF founder and staff will elaborate on our immersive and experiential programs.

Panelists:

Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada is the founder and president of Shi⧫Bo⧫Ri by World Shibori Network Foundation. An exponent of traditional and contemporary textile art and design, she is a renowned textile scholar, curator, and artist. Yoshiko authored two definitive books on Shibori and co-authored The Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art to Wear in America. Her artwork, the Coca-Cola Kimono, is in the San Francisco De Young Museum’s collection. She is in the last stage of her PhD program at the University of Leicester’s School of Museum Studies, United Kingdom.

Tomoko Harada Ferguson is WSNF’s program director who has loved hand-crafting since early childhood. A biologist by training also in pursuit of careers in writing, project management, and teaching, she discovered Shi⧫Bo⧫Ri (WSNF) in the Fall of 2021 while seeking authentic connection with her own Japanese heritage, and with Japanese craft heritage in particular. At WSNF, she wears many hats, and enjoys the ongoing opportunities to speak Japanese, meet artists and artisans, and to do incredible learning about diverse cultures and their histories 

Working with his hands is among Davi Scheinok’s favorite things to do. He was delighted when the WSNF invited him to Ritu Sarabhai’s summer workshops in 2024. A season later and during his first year at UC Berkeley, Davi joined Shi⧫Bo⧫Ri (WSNF). He is becoming literate in world textiles and is kept light-footed through a variety of projects, one of which recently rewarded him with fingernails stained indigo blue.

Involved in textiles from an early age, Barbara Shapiro is a weaver, dyer and basket maker. Her art has been exhibited and published widely. She teaches basketry, gives lectures and writes on textile subjects. For the past 20 years she has devoted much of her art practice to sculptural basketry, often with indigo dyed elements. 

Book Event

Form/ticket icon icon
Free Admission / Gratis
Form/up small icon icon Form/down small icon icon
Available Tickets: Unlimited
The "Free Admission / Gratis" ticket is sold out. You can try another ticket or another date.

Date

Aug 21, 2025

Time

U.S. Eastern Time
2:00 pm

Local Time

  • Timezone: America/New_York
  • Date: Aug 21, 2025
  • Time: 2:00 pm

Location

Online
REGISTER