HISTORY OF STEEL IN EASTERN ASIA EXHIBITION NOW ONLINE

[Mark]

There has, frankly, been a lot of BS and distortion circulating about how the Philippines Section was organized in its final form. I hope to put that question finally to rest.

The entire process of the final organization of the Philippines section was conducted in a private, password protected forum generously provided by Lee on Vikingsword. If you want to get the inside story as it unfolded, the link is http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=10 and the password is pira06.

I think even a cursory reading will show that there was a tremendous amount of energy, time and commitment put in by everyone involved. All of the original contributors were asked to continue their participation (except for the original Section coordinator what was removed by the Museum), but unfortunately only a handful were ever heard from. It will also be seen that the entire process of selection and description was open to the whole group (final selections were whittled down by a committee of three contributors). All descriptions were posted for review by the entire group.

I went through and bumped all the threads, so that you can see them without having to search for old threads, then locked them to preserve them as they were first made. The only edits I made to any posts were to remove e-mail addresses, and links to one web page that itself contains a link to a second page where $$ insurance values are listed. I pasted in the text of the first web page, minus the link to the second, in the introductory sticky thread at the top of the forum.

Reading it all over again, I was reminded of what an exciting and rewarding process it all was. I am very proud to have been a part of the effort, as I am very proud to have worked with all the dedicated people involved. Whatever after-the-fact detractors might say about it, it was all worth it, and everyone gave all of themselves in making it happen.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your advice David.

Mabagani attempted to send me something, but my inbox was full, so I did not recieve anything.

I would be the first to acknowledge that misunderstandings of the written word can easily occur, however, in this case, I am at a loss to identify exactly what it is that I may have misunderstood.

Still, it matters little, I have commenced my own review of the material published in HOS. I know almost nothing of the history and culture involved, or of Philippine weaponry for that matter, and I consider this to be a good opportunity to improve my knowledge in this area.

[MABAGANI]

Before I leave...
Here are the last messages from my pm box about the project.
You may as well resurrect the public bashings towards the original coordinator and the recent one towards me.
I could not follow the assembler after knowing the mistreatment.
And he proved again that I made the right decision when he bashed me.
HOS is not EEWRS, the team tried their best given the circumstances.
As I mentioned, I have made great friends through the forum.
Regards

6th November 2005, 08:14 PM
I'm thinking that I could contribute a few pieces, and
perhaps Rick is thinking of doing the same. The issue
is really who will pull it together. I believe this
needs to be done through a Filipino coordinator. Any
suggestions?

Ian.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MABAGANI
btw will anyone from eewrs be willing to help antonio
out with the Philippine section.
i've let them know i couldn't commit the time and
travel because i have a baby daughter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian
M:

I've been following the conflict between Antonio
Cejunior and Ruel. Seems Ruel is now out of teh
picture in coordinating the Philippine component of
the Mcau exhibition.

Were you involved with that project? If so, do you
still plan to contribute?

Antonio has asked several of us to help him out. Not
sure what to do.

Ian.

8th November 2005, 07:29 PM
Rick
Crazy turn of events...
There is a yahoo group that was set up that holds
messages and images of what everyone was going to
send.
I let Antonio know that I was cutting back or pulling
out after finding out the exhibit was posponed again.
I have a few local projects I have more control of and
I can't commit too much time because I have a baby to
watch over.
I don't feel comfortable about sending anything of
personal value after the whole unprofessional episode
that transpired between Ruel and Antonio.
I caught Antonio's eewrs post before it was removed.
Anyways, the project is mid next year, keep me posted.
Regards
Mabagani

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Hi Mabagani , Mark and I are going to coordinate the
Philippine section for the project through the Forum .
I hope we can count on you for some participation .
It's a shame that the project blew up but that is in
the past and now it's time to try to get to the finish
line .

Jose , Federico , Vandoo , myself and a growing list
of the member collectors of these weapons are showing
interest in contributing .

Antonio has asked me to contact you about details .
Can you spare the armor for the exhibit ?
I'm sending at least 1 Moro spear and whatever else is
asked of me .
Maybe we can dig up a helmet somewhere too .

Feel free to contact myself or Mark with any questions
you may have .

Thanks very much .

Rick

[Spunjer]

^^^ interesting...

[MABAGANI]

The version of the process presented is different from my actual experience.
The Asian game schedule came and went with no communications from the museum to me about what was going on.
I was out of the picture in Nov 2005.

At what point did the museum decide to change the exhibit from a world exhibit to an exhibit about Eastern Asia and remove other sections?
Who made the final decision to leave the Philippines section in, knowing the team had a couple of months to deadlines and was starting from scratch?
It was unreasonable to expect one person or even the whole team to do a decent article in a month and half following the final selection.
It was not worth the risk of the teams reputation and personal belongings of the contributors in the rush to completion.
Damage was done and who should be held accountable?
Who was responsible for putting the Philippines section in the precarious situation?

[Antonio Cejunior]

Originally Posted by Mark

There has, frankly, been a lot of BS and distortion circulating about how the Philippines Section was organized in its final form. I hope to put that question finally to rest.

The entire process of the final organization of the Philippines section was conducted in a private, password protected forum generously provided by Lee on Vikingsword. If you want to get the inside story as it unfolded, the link is http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=10 and the password is pira06.

I think even a cursory reading will show that there was a tremendous amount of energy, time and commitment put in by everyone involved. All of the original contributors were asked to continue their participation (except for the original Section coordinator what was removed by the Museum), but unfortunately only a handful were ever heard from. It will also be seen that the entire process of selection and description was open to the whole group (final selections were whittled down by a committee of three contributors). All descriptions were posted for review by the entire group.

I went through and bumped all the threads, so that you can see them without having to search for old threads, then locked them to preserve them as they were first made. The only edits I made to any posts were to remove e-mail addresses, and links to one web page that itself contains a link to a second page where $$ insurance values are listed. I pasted in the text of the first web page, minus the link to the second, in the introductory sticky thread at the top of the forum.

Reading it all over again, I was reminded of what an exciting and rewarding process it all was. I am very proud to have been a part of the effort, as I am very proud to have worked with all the dedicated people involved. Whatever after-the-fact detractors might say about it, it was all worth it, and everyone gave all of themselves in making it happen.

So true Mark !!!
It is time to unveil some other things that show how serious we at the Museum are when doing something.
The interesting fact is that no other section created any problems at all, and everything went smoothly after intensive negotiations.

Here is a link to the History of Steel Introductory websiteas well as the post aborted version of the submissions which caused some to not participate after the first coordinator was kicked out by me due to his entire unreliability. I have the email that dismissed him, no matter how the truth is laundered, and distorted.

In retrospect, the people who didn't join did it, in my opinion, because of certain influences out of spitefulness and because of ignorance of how a Museum works. This is of paramount importance for shallow judgement, but it is now water under the bridge. But I will not lower myself to the level of said person, nor do I have to prove anything.

Other Museums such as in my visit to Koreawith the involvement of the Korean Government, participated and were previously informed by their Consul General who paid a preliminary visit to the Museum at our request, as can be seen early in the link.

It is of the foremost importance that each person knows exactly their own limitations.
Our Museum has a tremendous track record on Past Exhibitions and Present
Exhibitions that speak for themselves. I myself have done over 300 exhibitions since 1978 and while I declare myself not a specialist on Philippines, Continental East Asia, Korean, Japanese or Chinese swords, I believe I have the authority based on a unblemished record of 28 years organizing exhibitions.
As proven here, Governments of Korea and China through reputable Museums, plus collectors of goodwill of Japanese, Philippines and Continental Asia trusted the Museum.

It seems that some people don't know their own limitations.
But the fact is, whether or not they participated, the exhibition is done and the catalogue will soon be ready. Those who point out "mistakes" point out their own dismissal or self dismissal with whatever excuses they could come up with. To blame the Museum, who just made a coordinating effort, knowing exactly its role, is a low act of decency and quite revealing of the moral stature of those who criticize.

However, there is a very positive thing. Despite all efforts to discredit the exhibition (does anyone recall the fable of the fox and the sour grapes ?) the exhibition took place, thanks to the constructive attitude that will go down in book.

And with this final statement, I remove myself from the debate over this issue, now that most of the truth has emerged.

Thank you once more to all that made it possible, and I wish to also thank the detractors for showing their real selves.

[MABAGANI]

Originally Posted by Antonio Cejunior

So true Mark !!!
It is time to unveil some other things that show how serious we at the Museum are when doing something.

Why the fabrication in the "aborted" link?
We all know there were more contributors than three?
You should have been banned the first time you went on a personal attack and your comments should have stayed on the EEWRS so everyone could see what kind of person they were following and dealing with.
Everyone would have made the right decision to end the Philippines involvement.