iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

We might as well learn what to carry, what to question and what to leave by the roadside. Magunga Williams

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The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This hitoe unlined summer silk kimono presents a striking composition of bold vertical stripes in deep black and cream, creating an arresting visual statement that transcends its apparent simplicity. Early Showa period (1926-1940), Japan

The shima (stripe) pattern, one of the most enduring motifs in Japanese textile tradition, is here elevated to a meditation on contrast, rhythm, and optical perception. While the stripes initially appear as stark black and white, closer examination reveals subtle tonal variations within the lighter bands—low-saturation hues that introduce sophisticated complexity beneath the surface austerity. The detail image exposes the refined weaving technique, showing how delicate accent lines frame each major stripe, adding textural depth and demonstrating the technical mastery of early Showa-period weavers.

The design's bold graphic sensibility strongly evokes principles of Op Art, with the high-contrast vertical lines creating subtle optical vibrations and a sense of visual energy that anticipates the movement by several decades. The compositional restraint and emphasis on geometric purity also resonate with Minimalism and Bauhaus ideals, where form is reduced to essential elements while achieving maximum visual impact. There are echoes of Art Deco's love of clean, dramatic geometry as well.

In Japanese symbolism, vertical stripes represent upward movement, aspiration, and progress—themes particularly resonant during the early Showa period's era of modernization. The stripe pattern also carried associations with the iki aesthetic of Edo-period sophistication: understated elegance expressed through refined simplicity rather than ostentation. This kimono embodies that spirit while speaking a decidedly modern visual language.

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Albumism @albumism.com · 27/09/2026

Solange released her third studio album ‘A Seat At The Table’ (2016) 10 years ago this week | Listen to the album + read our tribute by @beyondtheencore.bsky.social here: album.ink/solangeASATT

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Emoji Meadow @emojimeadow.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🍀🌿 🍀🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🌿🍀🌿🌿🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🍀🌿🦎🌿🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🍀🍀🌿🌿

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Takuo Matsuzawa @matsuzawa.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I heard about a “kintsugi hairbrush,” so I looked it up. Turns out the kintsugi pattern is just printed on the paper packaging. Printing it on the brush handle would already be disappointing, but reducing kintsugi to a decorative motif on the packaging is something else.

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Ms Otobo @mskomeotobo.bsky.social · 9h

Catch me on the right day, at the right time

Prompt: pause to reveal your medieval creature

My selection: satyr

Description: you're wild and lively

My quote post: catch me on the right day at the right time

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Solivagant @wanderingsag.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Franci Van der Vyver, Stained Glass Autumn Cathedral

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The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Kyudo archery. Japan. Kyudō (弓道), "the Way of the Bow," is one of Japan's oldest martial disciplines, tracing its lineage from feudal battlefield archery (kyūjutsu) into a refined Zen meditative practice during the Edo period.

Captured in dramatic monochrome contrast, an archer kneels in a disciplined half-crouch, drawing a monumental asymmetrical longbow (yumi) to its absolute peak of tension. His upper garment is folded down on one side to free his shoulder, revealing the taut musculature of his torso while broad, pleated hakama trousers anchor his lower body firmly to the earth. His sharp gaze tracks along the horizontal line of the nocked arrow, his right hand encased in a heavy shooting glove holding the bowstring at full draw (kai). The towering, sweeping arc of the bamboo bow reaches high above his head, counterbalanced by the straight, razor-thin line of the pulled string. Beneath his knees, a spare arrow rests parallel on the floor. Set against an unadorned white field, the composition isolates a singular sensory moment: the creak of stretched bamboo, the held breath of absolute focus, and the vibration of stored kinetic energy.

Kyudō (弓道), "the Way of the Bow," is one of Japan's oldest martial disciplines, tracing its lineage from feudal battlefield archery (kyūjutsu) into a refined Zen meditative practice during the Edo period. Central to the art is the traditional yumi, a uniquely asymmetrical longbow constructed from laminated bamboo and hardwood that often exceeds two meters in length. Historically designed with its grip offset toward the bottom third to facilitate shooting on horseback or from a kneeling position, the yumi demands immense physical technique and spiritual alignment. In kyudō, hitting the target (mato) is secondary to the purity of the eight-stage shooting movement (hassen), striving for Shin-Zen-Bi (Truth, Goodness, and Beauty). The fabrication of these organic bows and specialized shooting gloves represents an extraordinary legacy of monozukuri (artisanal mastery), where natural materials are transformed into precision instruments of spiritual cultivation.

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Ms Otobo @mskomeotobo.bsky.social · 9h

I primed a canvas with gesso for the first time yesterday.

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The Asian Feminist @theasianfeminist.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Japan ranks 117th in gender equality, with no clear effect from first female PM Japan ranked 117th among 145 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2026 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Sept. 16, up one place from the previous year.

mainichi.jp

Japan ranks 117th in gender equality, with no clear effect from first female PM - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Japan ranked 117th among 145 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2026 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Sept. 16, up one pl

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Geof Huth @geofhuth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Coquine 468: being

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Ms Otobo @mskomeotobo.bsky.social · 9h

Of half-remembered dreams & forgotten wishes.

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Ms Otobo @mskomeotobo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

King Arthur used the Round Table as an attempt to give each of his knights an equal amount of authority and status. A round table creates an atmosphere of relaxed informality and is ideal for promoting discussion among people who are of equal status...

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Ms Otobo @mskomeotobo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I'm having to take a break from art this week to rest my dominant arm. The pain & inflammation are impossible to ignore. Left arm, you're up.

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Tate Collection @tate.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

William Daniell, Druidical Stone at Strather, near Barvas, Isle of Lewis, 1814 botfrens.com/collections/14375/cont…

Presented by Tate Gallery Publications 1979

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Tate Collection @tate.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

William Bell Scott, The Eve of the Deluge, 1865 botfrens.com/collections/14375/cont…

date inscribed
Presented by Miss Alice Boyd 1891

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white2tea @white2tea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I always find myself taking a lot of pictures of tea flowers when wandering around this time of year

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white2tea @white2tea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

In China autumn tea is often called gǔhuā chá 谷花茶 which refers to the blooming of the fall season (usually for grains and the harvest), but it’s also the season when tea plants are in full bloom with seeds and flowers everywhere.

A tea blossom in the mountains near Menghai

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white2tea @white2tea.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The moon isn’t full quite yet, but the moon cakes are in full effect. First is flaky pastry black sesame. Second pastry is a big ol’ qiao bing, a Yunnan specialty. All these gifted pastries are doing heavy lifting while I’m drowning in fresh raw Puer samples.

Black sesame moon cake and fresh raw Puer

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Simon Spanton @simonguy.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

My two brothers are now seventy or thereabouts, these are the toy yachts they had when they were kids.

A photo of a toy wooden and metal yacht with white sails and a white hull and keel in a brown wooden frame.

A photo of a toy wooden and metal yacht with white sails and a white and blue hull and keel in a brown wooden frame

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Simon Spanton @simonguy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"And presently he said, 'Now we're in the hornet's nest.' For the dragons had seen the little sail on the waves, and first one, then another, broke from the whirlwind of their dancing and came stretched long and level on the air, rowing with great wings, straight towards the boat."

A photo of a copy of the 1993 Penguin edition of The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin. The cover art is by David Bergen.

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Abigail Nussbaum @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Great Tolkien Reread meets "The Riders of Rohan" today. Specifically, Éomer, the first of several characters who seem to have been designed to echo Boromir, and to reflect on his strengths and weaknesses. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

The Great Tolkien Reread: The Riders of Rohan

Illustration by jorahh , 2025 'What do you know of these horsemen, Aragorn?' [Gimli] said. 'Do we sit here waiting for sudden death?' 'I hav...

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Simon Spanton @simonguy.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"It was generally conceded by the locals that the goings-on at the Rock were over and done with and best forgotten. A last row on the lake. A last light pressure of a hand... Unseen, unrecorded, the pattern of the picnic continued to darken and spread. "

A photo of a copy of the 1998 Vintage paperback of Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. The sepia toned cover photo, of a young woman lying on the ground in pale Edwardian clothing, is by Bina Winkler.

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Paul Hearn @paulxhearn.eurosky.social · 22/09/2026

From ‘Indeterminacy’, Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage

Text on page “George Mantor had an iris garden, which he improved each year by throwing out the commoner varieties. One day his attention was called to another very fine iris garden. Jealously he made some inquiries. The garden, it turned out, belonged to the man who collected his garbage.”

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Simon Spanton @simonguy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Good morning.

A photo of ivy leaves and seed heads with salmon coloured clouds and blue sky behind.

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Tom Heintjes @hogansalley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Some of us discover our gift early! In "Peanuts," Schroeder first played the piano 75 years ago, on September 24, 1951.

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Ms Otobo @mskomeotobo.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A step in the right direction.

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Naturae Lapides @naturaelapides.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I love vesuvianite – its clarity and the clean lines of its crystals, which sometimes display such beautiful transparency. Here is a fine example from the collection. But I haven’t made up my mind yet; I’m torn by my attraction to beautiful metallic minerals. #MinCup26

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DSCOVR:EPIC @dscovr-epic.bot.country · 24/09/2026

11:19 on Tuesday September 22nd, over Africa

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Present & Correct @presentcorrect.bsky.social · 26/09/2023

Autumn woodblock prints by Teruhide Kato. www.fujiarts.com/cgi-bin/sear...

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Present & Correct @presentcorrect.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Dokusho no aki (Japan) - Autumn, the season of reading. 🍂🍂🍂

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Present & Correct @presentcorrect.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

We usher in Autumn with lottery ticket number 28. This one is from 1955 www.instagram.com/p/Ddouv60gU2m/

A ticket of two halves. The left side is a very dark navy with illustrations of turning autumn leaves, in ambers, orangey browns and yellow. The right side is baby pink, and has the lottery seal mark.
Two white triangles intersect in the middle

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Agates from Mexico @agatesfrommexico.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Soft lavender-gray base with warm caramel and rust bands flowing in tight fortification patterns. Right side shows classic eye agates with concentric rings. Raw husk edge retains iron-stained rind. Clean polish on a well-shaped halve. 🪨

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Agates from Mexico @agatesfrommexico.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

White-gray banding flows from a angular central eye outward in tight, even layers. Clean parallel lines with subtle lavender tones. Sharp polished cut shows excellent translucency. 🪨

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Brett "Solidarity 2026" Banditelli @banditelli.org · 25/09/2026

Tonight I went to get some crow in front of moon footage, which I've gotten 2 decent videos of in my over a year attempting. Instead of Moon-in-focus I focused on the tree they normally come by - that didn't work, but I did get 49 frames of this small group of some other bird, and stacked them. 🪶