About

 

This digital exhibition is the result of a collaboration led by Akiko Walley (Maude I. Kerns Associate Professor of Japanese Art), the University of Oregon Libraries, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, with individual contributions by members of both institutions (see below). 

Although this is a collaborative project, the intellectual content is primarily Akiko Walley’s, and it does not necessarily represent the views of the University of Oregon, the University of Oregon Libraries, or the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

The project was supported in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the grant-funded initiative “Leveraging GLAM Assets in Research, Teaching, and Learning: Mellon Faculty Fellowships to Advance Library-Museum Collaboration.” Mark Watson, Interim Dean of Libraries, University of Oregon Libraries, and John Weber, Executive Director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, are co-PIs for the grant. The initiative’s purpose is to foster collaboration between UO Libraries and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art through a program of small grants for faculty research projects that draw on the collections and/or expertise of both institutions. Franny Gaede, Head of Digital Scholarship Services, manages this initiative.

I conducted preliminary research on the UO kohitsu pieces under the generous support and guidance of scholars from Japan and abroad. I would like to first and foremost thank Professors Funami Kazuya, Kuboki Hideo, Sasaki Takahiro, Unno Keisuke, and Glynne Walley for joining me in the onsite survey of the tekagami and kyōgire that took place at JSMA in December of 2019. I was in awe at how the scholars from Japan examined the pieces with incredible energy, efficiency, and attention to detail despite jet lag and a tight viewing schedule. The five scholars have graciously shared their expertise as mini columns in the “Scholars’ Picks,” which are the gems of this website. In addition, my conversations with Dr. Ikeda Kazuomi in the summer of 2019 were also instrumental in identifying the importance of fragments included in the tekagami. The metadata for the calligraphy fragments on this website is still very much a work in progress. The information will be revised and polished in the year(s) to come. All present inconsistencies and inaccuracies belong to me. But the data and the web content were enriched exponentially through these scholars’ insights.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Edward Kamens (Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies, Yale University), who invited me to join his workshop, “Tekagamijō and Tōdaijigire in Context,” in March, 2019. The workshop provided me an invaluable opportunity to learn the latest on tekagami and kohitsugire studies and meet scholars in related fields including the above four experts from Japan who subsequently visited Oregon in December.

Finally, this project would not have been possible without the support of the staff at the University of Oregon Libraries and JSMA, and the Mellon GEs, Aqsa and Tom. Thank you for guiding the project to its completion both efficiently and patiently.

 

Acknowledgements

 

The following individuals made major contributions to this project:

Daniel Berthereau, Freelance Developer

Daniel developed a custom theme for Omeka S and helped with the configuration of the Mirador plugin.

Annie Bunch, Assistant Collections Photographer, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Annie photographed JSMA objects for this exhibition.

Michelle Kyoko Crowson, PhD, Research Assistant, University of Oregon

Michelle copyedited, transliterated, and translated metadata for the exhibition.

Tom Fischer, Graduate Employee and MA student in Asian Studies

Tom helped build the site and conducted research on the collections of the JSMA and UO Libraries. 

Franny Gaede, Head of Digital Scholarship Services, UO Libraries

Franny took responsibility for project oversight, particularly the coordination of Digital Scholarship Services staff time; supported project marketing and promotions; and consulted on many aspects of project design, implementation, and documentation.

Mandi Garcia, Library Design and Exhibits Coordinator, UO Libraries

Mandi oversaw marketing and promotion for the digital exhibition.

Ben Gillespie, Mellon Postdoctoral Scholar in Library-Museum Collaboration, UO Libraries and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Ben served as project manager, contributed to exhibition design, and participated in building the site.

Aqsa Khaliq Khan, Graduate Employee and MA student in Community and Regional Planning

Aqsa edited images and conducted research on the collections of the JSMA and UO Libraries

Anne Rose Kitagawa, Chief Curator of Collections & Asian Art and Director of Academic Programs, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Anne Rose provided research consultation, edited metadata, and advised on design issues.

Zoe Lalonde, PhD student, Department of the History of Art and Architecture.

Zoe assisted reorganizing information for metadata and identifying published English translations of poems.

Azle Malinao-Alvarez, Information Technology Consultant, UO Libraries

Azle served as project manager, contributed to exhibition design, helped coordinate graduate employee time, and participated in building the site.

Kevin McDowell, Japanese Studies Librarian, UO Libraries

Kevin provided research consultation on the bibliography.

Linda Sato, Analyst Programmer, UO Libraries

Linda contributed consultation and development for Omeka S, coordinated server access, and provided all kinds of troubleshooting for the project team.

Julia Simic, Assistant Head of Digital Scholarship Services, Digital Production and Preservation, UO Libraries

Julia oversaw digital production and provided consultation on metadata creation for digital assets.

Jonathan Smith, Collections Database Coordinator, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Jonathan photographed JSMA objects for this exhibition.

Randy Sullivan, Digital Production Manager, UO Libraries

Randy led digitization of assets from Special Collections and University Archives for the exhibition.

Akiko Walley, Maude I. Kerns Associate Professor of Japanese Art, College of Design.

Akiko Walley produced the site's intellectual content, contributed to exhibition design, and participated in building the site.

Chris White, Collections Manager, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

Chris coordinated JSMA staff time and provided access to JSMA collections and metadata as needed.