New Video from British Museum

[Pincheck]

It looks like this is an exhibition on the evolution of the samurai as a myth in popular culture, they’re talking about films, video games, fashion, even Darth Vader gets a mention. I get the impression swords will only be a small part of the exhibit, and from the video I’d guess not a very throughly examined part either. I have to be in London in April anyway so I might as well go and find out. 

Edited February 5 by Pincheck

[Robert S]

10 hours ago, Hoshi said:

This is not to blame the presenter. His effort is earnest, and I am sympathetic to his predicament in the society he is embedded in, it is a survival strategy.

 

He is but a symptom of a deeper societal issue. 

 

This is a general trend, museums follow the elite taste and ideology of their donors and subsidizing government bodies. Sadly, the BM has been marred in a battle against the Woke Mind Virus and its denunciation of colonial history that renders everything it owns, hires, and does, suspect. The presenter is a product of this tension. It is an unfortunate situation, but this too will come to pass in the broader arc of history when necessity calls back for common sense. 

 

Best,

 

Hoshi

 

Hoshi:  I have to take a bit of issue with this representation of the issue and the video.  An exhibition may focus on any aspect of a subject as long as it does it competently.  For instance, I think an exhibition focusing on the role and lives of women of the samurai class would be extremely useful.  (Probably somewhat selfishly because it is something I am researching for a piece of fiction that I am working on, but still.) 

 

"Woke mind virus" as a characterization rather politicizes things, so I'll leave that alone .  The issue with this video is not the subject matter covered, but the factual errors contained.  An institution of the calibre of the BM should work hard to ensure that on matters of fact, it correctly represents its subject, or in areas where there is uncertainty, at least the current range of scholarship.

 

Robert

[Hoshi]

Hi Robert, 

 

Quote

An exhibition may focus on any aspect of a subject as long as it does it competently.  For instance, I think an exhibition focusing on the role and lives of women of the samurai class would be extremely useful.

 

I couldn't agree more. My earlier comment was not criticism of the focus. 

 

The factual errors that we have vehemently denounced are the product of a particular paradigm of historical analysis that focuses on power dynamics, deconstructionism, and post-modern revisionism. In this paradigm, convergence towards historical accuracy is subordinated to the greater goal of pushing novel narratives to enact society change.

 

It is this inversion of teleology that I take as responsible for the fall of Western scholarship in our field. 

 

Or, simply put: when the purpose of scholarship shifts from "finding out what was true" to "changing what people believe," accuracy becomes optional and errors become inevitable.

 

Hope this helps to clarify my position, 

 

Hoshi

[Rivkin]

Hiring a competent curator makes department head look dumb with little to no practical benefits.

 

[Luc T]

I visited the ‘show’ today.  i am shocked about the many wrong datings… elementary knowledge is absent, and this for such an institution.  
if you visit the expo, which I recommend,  let the items speak for themselves, and forget the text on the labels.

[Luc T]

here a nice preview of their ‘expertise’

[OceanoNox]

5 hours ago, Luc T said:

here a nice preview of their ‘expertise’

What's wrong about that description? It seems perfectly in line with the current understanding on Japanese armours.

[Luc T]

27 minutes ago, OceanoNox said:

What's wrong about that description? It seems perfectly in line with the current understanding on Japanese armours.

 Certainly not!  A Joshu (or Soshu) koboshi kabuto dates from the late 1500, not the early 1300.    This is elementary knowledge.

[OceanoNox]

27 minutes ago, Luc T said:

A Joshu (or Soshu) koboshi kabuto dates from the late 1500, not the early 1300.  

Ah, indeed, I missed the date for this one. Anything else wrong?

[Luc T]

14 minutes ago, OceanoNox said:

Ah, indeed, I missed the date for this one. Anything else wrong?

Yes, there was a splendid oyoroi,  dated 14 th century.   This was an edo high end copy, or less likely a late muromachi armor

1 hour ago, OceanoNox said:

What's wrong about that description? It seems perfectly in line with the current understanding on Japanese armours.

What we see on this picture is a Joshu koboshi kabuto,  made around 1570, not early 1300.

 

[Lewis B]

What surprises me is that the organizers had to borrow a kabuto for the exhibition. Wouldn't surprise if the owner told them it was early 14th century and they just printed that info. 

[Luc T]

the most frustrating part for me was that there were some interesting pieces that must have been signed, but not a word of explanation nor notion of the mei.   One helmet, probably a Nobuie, was appartenly dated 152(1?), but no name on the display...

 

about the helmets, there was a momonari kabuto with butterfly maedate that is magnifficent. (Sakura museum)

 

[MassiveMoonHeh]

7 hours ago, Luc T said:

the most frustrating part for me was that there were some interesting pieces that must have been signed, but not a word of explanation nor notion of the mei.   One helmet, probably a Nobuie, was appartenly dated 152(1?), but no name on the display...

 

about the helmets, there was a momonari kabuto with butterfly maedate that is magnifficent. (Sakura museum)

 

You expected accurate details and facts for a museum exhibition? Pfft... that is so 5 minutes ago. This is a new generation of exhibition, zero subject matter experts - all the budget spent on making it look cool and the promotion material through the media blitz. At the end of the day the curator is only interested in the visuals and the adulation for a successful big exhibition. This is what will get them promoted and hired by other large institutions to do the same for them. Subject matter nerds don't count - crowds and notoriety does. Welcome to reality TV exhibitions where the personality is bigger than the show.

[eternal_newbie]

I also can't help but wonder if an AI/LLM was used in writing some of the descriptions. I've seen such shortcuts being used in other fields, no reason why museum curation should be any different.