“Woven and Cast”: Smithsonian brings imperial Chinese textiles together with Japanese metalwork in new exhibition

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington D.C. has announced the new exhibition “Woven and Cast: Chinese Textiles and Japanese Metalwork from the Shirley Z. Johnson Collection”, which opens on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and will remain open until Sunday, November 28, 2027 — as the museum itself announces on its press page.

The exhibition sets late imperial Chinese textiles — from the Ming and Qing dynasties, 15th–19th centuries — against contemporary Japanese metalwork from the collection of philanthropist Shirley Z. Johnson (1940–2021), who donated it to the museum. Displayed side by side, the textiles and the metal works reveal unexpected similarities in texture and sheen: silken threads, some wrapped with peacock-feather filaments and some with metal, beside gold, silver and copper worked by casting and hammering.

Johnson was a lawyer, an autism-cause advocate, a Washington D.C. resident for nearly 50 years, and a museum board member in 2004–2012 and 2017–2021. She collected only Japanese metalwork of the 20th–21st centuries and Chinese textiles of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and left the museum over 60 works by contemporary Japanese metal artists — becoming a pioneer who helped the global recognition of this field. The exhibition is part of the museum’s series illuminating the collections of American women, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The museum’s director, Chase Robinson, describes the exhibition’s approach: “With this exhibition we aim for deliberate unexpectedness, highlighting the surprising connections that can be found between materials from different artistic histories and traditions.” Co-curator Jan Stuart, curator of Chinese art, notes: “Metal strips can be woven like cloth, and textiles with metal threads can shine like gold.” While co-curator Sol Jung emphasizes that the movement of water is a central theme in both Japanese and Chinese art, representing cultural connections and shared sources of inspiration.

The exhibition is accompanied by two videos: one, two minutes long, shows up close the process of creating and preserving woven and embroidered textiles; the other, with contemporary Japanese metal artists Ōsumi Yukie and Tanaka Terukazu, details casting, hammering and other processes. The Chinese textiles carry symbols that indicated court rank and the wearer’s status, as well as wishes for prosperity and longevity; their imagery comes from natural landscapes, animals and birds.

Other exhibitions in the same series include “Adorned in Gold: Japanese Lacquer from the Jacqueline Avant Collection”, opening on November 21, while “Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms” ran from April 18 to July 26. “Woven and Cast” is supported by Mitsubishi Corporation; the museum, located on the National Mall in Washington D.C., is free for visitors.