Routine

Becoming accustomed to something is a curious thing. When I first came to the museum, I never thought I would lose my wonder at being there, but with two and a half weeks patterns form and routines fall into place. I seem to start a lot of my blog posts with this morning, and so a routine becomes visible. Turning on my computer in the morning, fetching and flipping through doc files, saying "Good morning, how are you?" to others working in the office: it's all a part of the world I have entered. 

So, to keep that pattern alive, this morning I wrote a few more physical descriptions, then attended the weekly curatorial meeting. The items discussed included elevator decoration, a possible series called Encounters that focuses on the juxtapositions of pieces that would not generally be seen together, and the acquisition of a set of Japanese screens. Now these screens  caused some slight hilarity to those present, and I'm not sure this is in the minutes so this might be the only record, but there are some aspects of these screens that will likely not be emphasized with the general public. For instance, one shows a male brothel/tea house, which might cause some slight controversy. The other shows a theatre that also runs a female prostitution business. So  a little bit more racy than art at TMA might generally lean towards, but interesting nonetheless. Although the nature of the screens is certainly am using, their function as an addition to the collection is rather more instructional in that they will rotate with and Sistine screen to decrease damage from light, something the head of conservation has been hounding the curators about. 

On that note of preservation, I will also admit to wandering up to the Fresh Impressions exhibit after I had finished my work for the afternoon. This show is very unique because all of the pieces but five of them are from the permanent collection, but the majority have not been displayed since the 1930s due to their nature as prints. Pieces on paper are particularly susceptible to damage by light, so they can not remain on display for long, and the vividness of these Japanese woodcut prints show how brilliantly well preserved prints can shine eve a century later. They focus on the shin hanga movement, a new wave of Japanese print making in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The prints were gorgeous, many displaying an interesting mixture of western influence but still clinging to traditional Japanese design. This including more overt sensuality and modern landscapes, but also focused on traditional theatre characters as subjects. It really is an amazing show, and as something rarely accessible to the. Public (and free), I would urge you, who ever is out there, to go. You truly have no excuse not to. It's a round until January 1. It was interesting to see an exhibit now with the backstage knowledge I have of their production and planning, and I certainly saw the labels In a rather new light. 

Three more days and counting until the routine is broken.