Patokh Chodiev: Ichiku Kubota Museum

Mount Fuji of Japan is a center of concentration of significant images of Japanese culture – many plots of poems, prose, and fine art are associated with it. Therefore, it is no coincidence that not far from its slopes is the house-museum of the wonderful Japanese master Ichiku Kubota. His work, which is a painting on silk, is famous throughout the world. They are distinguished by truly Japanese originality of a combination of traditional pictorial motifs and the author’s vision. It was these qualities that fascinated such a well-known (not only in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Japan but also around the world) patron, as Patokh Chodiev.

Many years ago, when he learned that the Ichiku Kubota Museum was about to go bankrupt due to incorrect decisions of the previous management and that all the master’s works would go under the hammer, Patokh Chodiev acquired the entire museum collection. And now, thanks to the business qualities of this Uzbek businessman, the Kubota Museum is rightfully among the top ten places for cultural tourism in Japan according to the English tabloids.

The attitude to Japanese culture

Although the works of the famous master are regularly exhibited in various world art galleries, they invariably return to Japan. The fact is that Patokh Chodiev promised to leave the painter’s creative heritage in Japan, as it is the cultural heritage of this country. Such a reverent attitude to the work of Ichiku Kubota is fully justified, since the master reproduced the more ancient than those that are used today, dyeing fabric.

In his twenty-odd years, Ichiku Kubota was so inspired by the piece of textile he saw at the exhibition that he devoted the rest of his life to re-creating labor-intensive equipment. At the same time, he improved it using modern dyes in combination with innovative visual techniques. Absolutely amazing: the master always worked without a draft, he created a painting canvas from a kimono using creative intuition and perfect technique.

Mr. Chodiev, engaged in scientific, cultural and educational activities in the field of Japanese studies, is sure that Ichiku Kubota’s painting is the quintessence of Japanese art. As a global brand heritage, it is definitely part of Japan’s cultural code.

His initiative to sponsor the museum of the Japanese painter is a consequence of the philosophy of charity in the cultural field, which adheres to the businessman. Indeed, there is no doubt that the new opening of the Ichiku Kubota Museum, which currently has a collection of 104 painted kimonos, has become an event significant for universal culture.

Sponsorship by Patokh Chodiev of the Ichiku Kubota Museum

A museum dedicated to Kubota Ichiku stands on the hills along the north coast of a lake incredible in its originality. His exposition presents many of the artist’s works, which depict the themes of nature, space and the seasons, as well as parts of an unfinished work consisting of eighty kimonos that form a single pictorial canvas. The buildings and extensive gardens around the museum, which were designed by Ichiku Kubota himself, fascinate visitors.

Businessman carried his love for the culture and art of Japan throughout his whole life, trying to share it with others. And thanks to this, Japan has not lost its unique cultural heritage, and thousands of people from all over the world can still get in touch with the work of the great painter. Currently, sixteen kimonos created by Ichiku Kubota can be seen in a special Tokyo exhibition dedicated to the evolution of this special clothing. Here is a series of his works entitled The Symphony of Color.

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