Forthcoming staff publications

Left to right: Illustration from A History of Chinese Civilization (Ritual vessel ding, approx. 1050–1000 BCE. China, early Western Zhou dynasty. Bronze. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60B2+; photo by Kaz Tsuruta) and covers of Modern China Studies; 1616: The World in Motion; and Along the Yangzi River: Regional Culture of the Bronze Age from Hunan. (See below for larger images.)

Asian Art Museum staff have been busy on the publication front beyond our own upcoming exhibition-related publications such as Phantoms of Asia by assistant curator of contemporary art Allison Harding (with Mami Kataoka of the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo) and Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy by senior curator of Chinese art Michael Knight.

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Why We’re Giving Thanks

As we head off for the Thanksgiving holidays, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we at the museum have to be thankful for: our wonderful donors, members and supporters. I received this note from one of our registrars (and regular blog contributors), Cristina, who was looking at a list of recent acquisitions:

In particular I would call out one object on the list: a screen titled Sun and Autumn Plants. I think that this is a wonderful example of a recent gift because not only did the donor give us, in the name of her family, this beloved screen that had been in her home for many decades (she was downsizing to a senior community) but she also donated funds to pay for a complete conservation treatment and remounting of the screen. Next year we will send it to a traditional Japanese mounter located in New York who will conserve and entirely remount it – a process that will take about 18 months. Because of the specialist labor and materials involved, remounting is quite expensive and something we cannot frequently do. Once remounted, this work will be ready for display and will also be in better condition to survive many more decades.

We want to acknowledge all who have contributed in some way, large or small, to our community. If you are a member, don’t forget to take advantage of our special offer for members through November 27. It’s our small way of saying thanks.

Bali, the Final Post

For museum visitors, the exhibition Bali: Art, Performance, Ritual closed on September 11, more than two months ago. But for me, the Bali exhibition has only recently truly ended. As the registrar charged with ensuring the safe travel of the exhibition objects, I can’t call my job done until the last object has been safely returned home.

Objects from Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance are deinstalled following the close of the exhibition.

Most of the objects in Bali were borrowed from lenders in the Netherlands. Returning these works was therefore quite a journey.
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Gifting with Purpose

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has visited the museum store that we undergo some fairly significant changes for each exhibition.  While visitors can usually expect to find Korean & Chinese ceramics, Southeast Asian textiles, antiques and oddities, as well as artist-produced goods from Asia and the Bay Area, exhibitions are an opportunity to show off cultural connections.
But this time around, we’re doing things a little differently.
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Poetry for the Eyes and the Palate

Yesterday we finished an installation in the Japanese galleries of 123 netsuke, all newly on view. Netsuke are miniature sculptural toggles (usually around two inches or less across), which were threaded onto the silk cords of small inro (seal or medicine cases), pouches, or pipes/tobacco accessories. These toggles allowed wearers to keep their accessories fastened safely to their person as they went about their business. (Something like clipping your keys or your badge to your belt loop, but a bit more fashionable.) Wearers would run the cords under their obi sashes so that the netsuke hung out above the obi and the accessory hung below it.

One of the netsuke on view in the new installation is a tiny figure shown with a tobacco pouch and pipe case hung from its obi by a dark colored, round netsuke—perhaps one similar to the kagamibuta (“mirror lid”) netsuke also on view . . .

LEFT: Netsuke of Okame lifting her kimono hem, approx. 1800–1900. Signed “Mitsu” (or “Ko”). Wood; inlaid ivory, coral, metal, and horn. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B70Y1233.

RIGHT: Kagamibuta-type netsuke of Hachisuka Koroku and Hiyoshimaru (youthful Toyotomi Hideyoshi) meeting on the Yahagi Bridge, approx. 1800–1900. Signed “Soyo.” Mixed metals; buffalo horn. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B70Y285.

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Jeepers Creepers, Where’d You Get Those…

A journalist asked us today about the enamel eyes sported by our Vishnu and Lakshmi sculpture in Sanjay Patel’s Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches.

One of our conservators with some ready-made enamel eyes.

This sculpture was originally intended to have eyes like these. There are carved depressions in the stone for them, as you can see from the picture below. We don’t know whether the sculpture never got its eyes, or lost them at some point.  Years ago we made a mold of the eye depressions, and I gave the mold to an artisan in India who makes such eyes. The artisan then created a pair for us from enameled metal, as is traditional.

Vishnu and Lakshmi in their former, eyeless state.

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Sanjay Patel in Conversation

Sanjay Patel’s show is almost ready – it opens this Friday, November 11. I peeked in today and it looks amazing. I can’t wait for the full experience!

We wanted to share this clip of Sanjay discussing India and identity with some of our Asian Art Museum Art Speak interns. His appearance in conversation with Maharaja curator Qamar Adamjee on November 12 promises to be an insightful and entertaining discussion.

Our YouTube channel has more of the students’ interview with Sanjay. The talk on Saturday, November 12 is free with museum admission.

Be the Match: Marrow Registration at the Museum

This weekend the museum is hosting  a special event at our Target Free Sunday. Be The Match Marrow Registry, a nonprofit organization that matches patients with unrelated bone marrow donors, will be conducting registrations at the museum—complete with cheek cell swabbing!

Why? Great question. Be The Match approached the museum because they have a shortage of South Asian donors in their registry. Bay Area entrepreneur Amit Gupta shared his experience:

Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why. He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got acute leukemia. You need to enter treatment right away.” I have a couple more months of chemo to go, and then the next step is a bone marrow transplant. Minorities are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help.

With the Maharaja exhibition in full swing and Sanjay Patel’s show opening next week, the museum is quite a hub for South Asian cultural happenings right now. Be The Match thought it would be a great opportunity to reach out to the South Asian community, and we agreed.

Volunteers from Be The Match will be at the museum from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm this Sunday, November 6. No matter what your background, Be The Match would be grateful for your participation! For more information on what’s involved, check out Be The Match’s ‘Understanding your Commitment’ page.

Remember, admission to the museum this Sunday is free, so come see some art, and maybe save a life as well.

Behind the Scenes: Sanjay Patel’s sketches

Anyone who has been in to the museum lately will have noticed Sanjay Patel’s arresting sketches in South Court. Today Sanjay sent us this wonderful image that gives an insight into the process of creating a work on this scale.

I have always had a rule in museums: look up! These images give you one more reason to do that.

If you like to glimpse behind the scenes, check out these videos from the preparation for the Maharaja exhibit.

Deities, Demons and Dudes with ‘Staches: Indian Avatars by Sanjay Patel opens on November 11. Sanjay will be appearing in conversation with curator Qamar Adamjee on November 12.

Here/Not Here will not be here much longer

With all the excitement about Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts opening at the museum, it’s easy to miss another gem of an exhibition closing soon. This weekend is the last change to view  Here/Not Here: Buddha Presence in Eight Recent Works, on view in the Tateuchi Thematic Gallery.

Here/Not Here: Buddha Presence in Eight Recent Works

Be sure to take some time to enjoy the works of Jakkai Siributr, Sopheap Pich, and Pinaree Sanpitak before they leave the museum. Their last day on view is October 23.
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