Sadness in the SF Asian Art Museum

[fearn]

Hi Alan,

I think there's a slippery slope when one talks about weapons that are also art, and it's one that plays into the hands of people who focus on ridding the world of weapons as a cure for violence.

The museums of the world have many objects that are, by the standards of their makers, mishandled. Let's ignore the literal skeletons in the closet and focus instead on the SF Asian Art Museum.

Many of the oldest pieces obviously came from tombs, and much of the Southeast Asian religious art was obviously torn from temples and temple walls, some time in the last 50-100 years.

What saddens me about all of this is the lack of respect. It's really as sad to see a deities' statue quietly corroding away in a corner as it is to see an unplayed drum rotting to silence, or an unstained, rusting keris, depending on where your sympathies lie.

In the particular case of the Asian Art Museum, they appear to be taking good care of their Japanese weapons and largely ignoring their keris. To me, this says that the curators can be educated, and that if someone is willing to take the time to work with them, the curators might be willing to care for their keris collection better.

As for other museums, it depends on the staff and funding, as you've rightfully noted. Many museums don't seem to know or particularly care about weapons. That is sad, but it isn't universal.

Best,

F

[Emanuel]

Hello,

I'll chime in on the education aspect of museum curating. My experience here in Toronto has been that pre-industrial revolution weapons are essentially disregarded in academia. I have a specialist degree in fine art history and not one of the many courses available even remotely touched on the art of weapons. Yes these were tools for killing, but we consistently see accross most cultures around the world that weaponry has been the recipient of most of a culture's creative and technological knowledge and ability. If this were taught in our schools, the appreciation for these objects would persist and establishments would recognize public interest.

Re: the samurai exhibits...people (read families with kids and teenagers) flock to them due to the media hype surrounding nihonto. What with anime portraying blind "samurai" and effeminate boys with ~10 ft swords cutting through concrete walls...

The Royal Ontario Museum here in Toronto has recently invested a lot of money to essentially rebuild half the museum to the design of a +/- famous architect and thereby attract tourists. The exhibits are reduced to only the most costly/valuable pieces, sacrificing variety. The museum itself looks unfinished, with dry-wall screwed into the temporary frames. The ROM is now in crazy debt due to construction costs going over budget/projections. Some of the weapons I've seen have active rust. Few people bother looking at them closely.

So much for preserving culture

Emanuel

[A. G. Maisey]

Fearn, once we remove any cultural object from its natural surroundings we have interfered with the order of the world as the maker and original owner of that object imagined it to be.

However, we could probably quote numerous examples of the removal of objects from their original cultures, and where the people of those cultures now want those objects returned to place of origin. Perhaps the best known example of this is the Elgin Marbles. But then we are able to ask the question:-

if these objects had not been removed from their original cultures, would they still exist today?

You have stated your prime concern as being that in the case of the museum you visited,a number of objects from varying cultures are not treated with respect, and these objects include some keris.

This is perhaps a valid concern, but personally I have more than a little difficulty with the concept of "respect".

In some cultures, and one that comes readily to mind is the culture of Bali, objects of art are not intended to be preserved. The creation of the object is a tribute to God, and what happens to that object after its creation is of no great moment. Thus, if we consider objects from such cultures, and we measure our attitude towards those objects within the framework of the originating cultures' values, how much respect should we show to the object?

In other cases, once the object has been removed from its original environment, such as would be the case with funerary offerings, what relevance does that object have either within or without its originating culture?

If our concern is to demonstrate respect, then perhaps we should not remove anything from its original environment.

But over time, all dominant cultures have removed objects from the cultures which they dominate.

These objects that have been removed serve the purpose for the dominant culture of demonstrating dominance, educating members of the dominant culture about the culture dominated, and as items of value.

The importance to the dominant culture of these objects can be seen in the great museums of the age of global expansion, when European nations swallowed up great lumps of the globe. During that age the objects brought back from the lands and peoples which had been dominated served a very real purpose for the internal government of the those dominating cultures. The presence of the objects from foriegn cultures helped to demonstrate the power of that dominating culture, country and government, and assisted in maintenance of a regulated society.

This political need has long passed, and what we now have are warehouses full of these memories of the past. These things are almost totally irrelevant to the vast bulk of people in today's societies. They no longer serve any political purpose, they cost more to store and maintain than they can generate in either income or sales, and in fact are just a continuing red figure in the books of account. That debit can be hidden by imaginary values, but when we measure all relevant costs against all relevant gains, we inevitably finish up with a balance figure that is paid for from the public purse.
I believe that we all know that once a dollar return cannot be shown for anything, that thing will gradually be disregarded and eventually disappear.

This is a harsh way of looking at the situation, but it is a sad fact of life that in modern society little grey men with calculators dictate everything.

This is the problem that faces museums:- to maintain relevance to society as it is; if a museum fails to do this, it will disappear.

The point that Fearn has made about Japanese weaponry, and that has been reinforced by Emmanuel's observations, is very valid, and we might well ask why this is so. Yes, the media hype is one thing, but another even more important thing than media hype is dollar value. The dollar value of Japanese weaponry is percieved as being high, and in many cases it is. It is seen as an asset that will probably continue to gain value, thus that value needs to be maintained. Most other weaponry is not viewed in the same light. Factor in the current societal attitudes towards weaponry of all types, and we are faced with expenditure that is very difficult to justify.

This discussion began with a reference to keris, and the fact that they were not being accorded a modicum of respect.

It disturbs me also when I see keris and other items of tosan aji being subjected to neglect. However, this neglect is not exclusive to situations within a western cultural environment. Museums in Indonesia display a similar lack of regard for items in their care, including keris, and the only keris that I have seen in Indonesia that are accorded due "respect" are those very, very few keris that are still regarded as active pusakas.

To return to the SF Asian Art Museum.

Fearn, what you have seen here may sadden you, and I understand that, but unless societal attitudes change, and I seriously doubt that they will, what you have seen will only become worse.

[pakana]

Hi everyone,

As a Greek, I'm quite sensitive in this topic, since Alan pointed out about the Elgin marbles. I would like to add here that the way that someone removes the object from it's birthplace, is also very important. Like in this case of the marbles from Parthenon, they were removed with the worst way, literarly destroying the artifacts in many ways. Not to mention that the weather condition in their "second house" is in many cases not suitable for preserving them in the first place (for example the warm weather without humidity of the meditarrannean area is of no match with the british enviroment). This of course happens with our artifacts (keris).

George

[Montino Bourbon]

I visited Thailand last year. The main royal palace and its attendant temples are incredible; basically a city, with some of the most impressive art I have ever seen.

While stopped for a moment next to a wing of the palace, I looked inside a room through a window and saw racks of swords, dha's, and spears. There were hundreds, neatly racked, without sheaths, and rusting. I (Thought I) recognized a Pattaya-era dha from it's slightly rounded point, beautiful shape, and length.

These weapons were obviously some that had served to defend the throne at some time. I noticed, even from the door, some combat nicks in a few of them. We were not allowed to go in.

These weapons were totally uncared for. They were within their historical context, in a country where the military and its tradition is strong.

We understand something about weapons and their importance, their esthetic qualities, and their importance both historically and as an artifact. Other people don't care. I cringe when I see a musical instrument of value and obvious utility on a wall. Other people couldn't care less. It's what one fucuses on that gets the polish, the care. My step-father was the president of the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York. I got to go and look and talk to the curators in the basement. They have MANY HUNDREDS of Nihonto in drawers that are never seen. I don't have the slightest idea what else they have, keris or others. I do know that they do take care of the collection very well. There's NO rust, and I can attest to that. Stain? probably not, but at this stage, I don't know. They have INCREDIBLE Oriental and western weapons. The sword of the Ottoman emperor Murad the fifth has big emeralds on its incredible fittings, and the blade is wonderful.

[A. G. Maisey]

Neglect and musical instruments.

In Solo, Jawa, there are two branches of the House of Mataram:- the Karaton , which is the principal branch, and a minor branch that is the Mangkunegaraan.

In the museum of the Mangkunegaraan there used to be a wonderful and totally unique vibrafone.

The tubes under the plates were made of blue glass that had been made in France. The sound was totally unlike any vibrafone I had ever heard. Unique. One of a kind. Wonderful.

It was still playable in 1978.

Sometime in the mid 1980's my wife and I were visiting the Mangkunegaraan and noted that this vibrafone was missing.

We asked where it was.

Nobody knew of it.

Then we asked one old fellow who looked like he had been around the place for ever. He remembered it and thought he knew where it was.

We followed him to a decrepit old shed stuck in a back corner of the palace grounds, and there was the magnificent, unique, vibrafone of blue glass in a pile in a corner. The frame eaten by insects, many of the blue glass cylinders broken, and other junk thrown on top of it. The roof of the shed leaked and every time it rained the things in the shed got wet.

I do not know where this vibrafone is today.

If these cultural artifacts --- including weapons --- had not been removed from their cultures of origin it is very probable that they would not exist today.

And now the governments and people of these places want the Western Barbarians to return their cultural artifacts?

Yeah --- right!!

[Rick]

Then the responsibility of preservation, conservation, and education must fall upon Us; the Students, Enthusiasts, and Collectors of these incredible iron expressions of dreams, wishes, mystical intent and the eternal search for perfection within a form .

My .02