New article about Japanese swords in Spanish Army Museums

[SalaMarcos]

Dear colleagues,

I translated to English my latest Q1 article about Japanese swords in Spanish Army Museums, I hope you'll find interesting.

Because this article covers both blades and tosogu, I posted here. 

 

https://www.academia.edu/129530963/Study_and_cataloging_of_Japanese_swords_in_Spanish_army_museums_GE_Conservation_Magazine_Q1

 

[Robert S]

Not an entirely happy story concerning the retention and care of nihonto in these Spanish institutions, but also not an uncommon problem with not only nihonto but also many pother classes of artifacts in museums globally.  Museums are chronically plagued by a combination of over-collecting and under-funding.

[Bazza]

Yeah, a pretty distressing story also common here in Australia.  Oh, the tales to tell...  However, I think SalaMarcos did a very good job of it, highlighting the issues whilst at the same time pointing to Japanese standards and cultural approaches of care and restoration over centuries, at the same time providing 'reading between the lines' for arrogant, died in the wool 'conservators' of the sort many of us know...

 

BaZZa.

[SalaMarcos]

13 hours ago, Robert S said:

No es una historia del todo feliz en cuanto a la conservación y el cuidado del nihonto en estas instituciones españolas, pero tampoco es un problema poco común no solo con el nihonto, sino también con muchas otras clases de artefactos en museos de todo el mundo. Los museos sufren crónicamente una combinación de exceso de coleccionismo y falta de financiación.

It is what you said, specially the lack of funding and, at the same time, the excessive caution (and also arrogance) of those who have obtained the position of curator of public museums, a permanent position for life that takes years to obtain, but once you have achieved it, you stop worrying about everything.

[SalaMarcos]

18 minutes ago, Bazza said:

Sí, una historia bastante angustiosa, también común aquí en Australia. ¡Cuántas historias para contar! Sin embargo, creo que SalaMarcos hizo un excelente trabajo, destacando los problemas y, al mismo tiempo, señalando los estándares y enfoques culturales japoneses de cuidado y restauración a lo largo de los siglos, y ofreciendo una lectura entre líneas para los conservadores arrogantes y veteranos como muchos de nosotros...

 

BaZZa.

thank you very much for your kind words. I will try doing my best to spread in Spain, the Japanese culture related to nihontō.

[Rivkin]

There is a venue for Japanese government to sponsor polish and preservation of swords in foreign museums and it often does so.

[SalaMarcos]

2 hours ago, Rivkin said:

There is a venue for Japanese government to sponsor polish and preservation of swords in foreign museums and it often does so.

The problem, at least in Spain, is the square minds curators and law against invasive restoration. They will never let publish the blades, because for them, the blade is loosing some material. Also, they will never throw to the trash a loose putrid or eaten (by insects) tsukamaki and put one new, because you're throwing to the trash an historical part and supply with modern. They said it's like Viollet-le-Duc restoration of Carcassonne. Also they will never let clean a tsuba or menuki. I will put here two examples. 

 

1st In the last 10 years, Spanish government with the collaboration of Japan Foundation brought to Spain a ningen kokuhō of urushi, Murose Kazumi sensei. Each time he came, gave ideas for urushi conservation, which everyone listens, but also ask for restoration, and each time they said no. So they pay for a people that come and give his expert opinion to not to be listened. 

 

2nd Except The Vitoria and the Zaragoza Museums, the rest which have yoroi have it in a mannequin, many with the sune mistaken and even one has around the neck an old water bottle from Peru. I'm all cases the answer is...we don't change the old things, in special when comes from older collections. 

 

 

[Rivkin]

The way I look at it their crucial mistake is inviting outside people in the first place.

Museum world is a place where few have a single serious publication under the belt, but the loyalty ensures even the most creepy things remain concealed.

 

There are specialized departments in Russia where objects slowly rot to nothing with two-three decades, which dispose of "controversial items".

For example, instead of acknowledging the location of Klimt taken in 1945 was known all these years, despite being officially "missing", it was sent as "the work of unknown artist" to this basically pool of water storage, in a few years acknowledged as destroyed and delisted. 

Items sold in 1930s to private collectors can be at any time targeted by lawyers, while there are about seven million storage units taken from concentration camps and related warehouses, which obviously nobody will ever use for an exhibit, but which will never be sold on the open market.

 

In the ME the destruction is simply unprecedented as nearly every single modern country has very little to do with XIXth century borders, so everything related to its accepted history is funded at priority level, while everything else is basically gradually or not so destroyed.

 

Instead of ever expressing mildest concern, university and museum scientists can't shut up about about illegal digs, illegal trade and these items being taken to wealthier countries.

You have literally entire site purposefully bulldozed for apartment complexes but the country can't rest because before it was done one tiny statue from there was picked up by someone, packed and sold to a collector in the US.

[SalaMarcos]

18 hours ago, Rivkin said:

En mi opinión, su error crucial fue invitar a gente de fuera en primer lugar.

El mundo de los museos es un lugar donde pocos tienen una sola publicación seria en su haber, pero la lealtad garantiza que incluso las cosas más espeluznantes permanezcan ocultas.

 

En Rusia existen departamentos especializados en los que los objetos se van pudriendo lentamente hasta convertirse en nada en dos o tres décadas y que se encargan de desechar "objetos controvertidos".

Por ejemplo, en lugar de reconocer que la ubicación de la pintura de Klimt tomada en 1945 fue conocida durante todos estos años, a pesar de estar oficialmente "desaparecida", fue enviada como "obra de un artista desconocido" a este depósito de agua, y en pocos años fue reconocida como destruida y eliminada de la lista. 

Los objetos vendidos en los años 30 a coleccionistas privados pueden ser en cualquier momento objeto de persecución por parte de los abogados, mientras que hay alrededor de siete millones de unidades de almacenamiento extraídas de campos de concentración y depósitos relacionados, que evidentemente nadie utilizará jamás para una exposición, pero que nunca se venderán en el mercado abierto.

 

En Oriente Medio la destrucción no tiene precedentes ya que casi todos los países modernos tienen muy poco que ver con las fronteras del siglo XIX, por lo que todo lo relacionado con su historia aceptada se financia con prioridad, mientras que todo lo demás se destruye de forma gradual o no tan gradual.

 

En lugar de expresar la más mínima preocupación, los científicos de universidades y museos no pueden dejar de hablar de las excavaciones ilegales, el comercio ilegal y el transporte de estos artículos a países más ricos.

Literalmente han demolido a propósito todo el sitio para construir complejos de apartamentos, pero el país no puede descansar porque antes de que lo hicieran, alguien recogió una pequeña estatua de allí, la empacó y la vendió a un coleccionista en los EE. UU.

You're totally right. 

In fact, the case of art pieces lying in the down floors of the museums, is the perfect description of how the 70-80% of nihontō and yoroi is storage in Spanish public institutions.