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From cataloger to curator: The Korean exhibits of an accidental ethnic librarian

by Jina Choi Wakimoto

Four years ago, I attended the opening reception of an excellent exhibit at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), of Chinese snuff bottles curated by a Chi- nese-American librarian. I was lost in my enjoyment of the wide array of specimens and happy to view the results of someone else’s work. I was surprised when more than one col- league said, “You should do a Korean exhibit.” “Me?,” I asked. This is the story of where those comments led.

I started as a full-time cataloging librarian at CSUN four years ago. I was return- ing to the profession after a decade of hiatus and had much to catch up on in learning the new technol- ogy and relearning the rules. I immersed myself in every detail of AACR2, the CONSER manual, and MARC formats—busy and quite content with my life as a cataloger. Not too long after I settled into this routine, I attended the fateful snuff bottle exhibition.

I came to the States from Korea as a teenager with a head full of nothing but the thoughts of a teenager. As an adult, if ever I gave it a moment’s thought, Korean culture to me was something in the ancient past with no relevance to a life revolving around my work and a house in suburbia with two children, two cats, and a minivan. I owned few, if any, Korean things and nothing of any conse- quence. My last name, Wakimoto, which I have borne for more than 20 years, is Japanese.

Hyungbae (square insignia) 19th- century embroidered on silk, from the collection of Robert Moore.

I could have forgotten all about my colleagues’ sug- gestion, but I am sufficiently Korean to have a sense of duty that would not let me. As I thought about this chal- lenge/predicament, ī was overtaken by many emo- tions. I was struck by my al- most total ignorance of my own heritage—the result of years of assimilation in this country.

First overwhelmed by the complexity of the task before me, I then became resentful. What made them think that I could or should do a Korean exhibit? What made them think that I would know more about

About the author

Jina Choi Wakimoto is cataloging coordinator at California State University, Northridge, e-mail:jina.wakimoto@csun.edu

Korean culture or history than any other American?

About this time I read a book by Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian.' The author’s story of how he came to accept his Asian-American identity resolved some of my doubts and emboldened me to begin.

Drawing up a plan

First, I pondered the purpose of a Korean exhibit. I decided it would be successful if it were to:

• educate the campus community by raising its awareness and appreciation of the tradi- tions and culture of Korea,

• bring together the large Korean community of the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Los Angeles, encouraging them to work together on pro- moting Korean studies, and

• build a potential donor base by identifying individuals and groups who would be will- ing to support such endeavors.

I was keenly aware that such exhibits and events should not be a one-time entertainment for mainstream society, supported by the generous donation of the ethnic community. Education and outreach are continuing commitments. Once you em- bark, however tentatively, you must keep going for there is no backing out.

At this point, I was mentally prepared and ready to get busy. I drew up a plan consisting of the following steps:

• decide on the theme and focus of the exhibit,

• write up a plan of action, including a detailed timeline,

• be flexible and prepared for unexpected circumstances, and

• meet all the people in the library and the university who might share an interest in such an exhibit (the CSUN Library’s development director, the exhibit committee, and faculty members in other departments).

This list in hand, I set out to build a support group for the exhibition. The success of an exhibition is largely dependent on the support of those with the same goals. I formed the “Task Force for Korean Culture at CSUN” with a faculty member in the Theater Depart- ment and another who was preparing to teach a Korean art history class. Our idea was to create the exhibition but also to be a con- tinuing resource for Korean studies at CSUN.

Glazed porcelain 18th- century bottle with underglaze decoration, from the collection of Dae Sung Choi.

Taking the plan to the community

Now it was time to go out to the community. Immediately I was presented with a seem- ingly small but significant problem—my name card. It read: Jina Wakimoto, cataloging librarian. Those who know the painful history of Ko- rea under Japanese rule in the not-too-distant past will under- stand my difficulty in approach- ing the Korean community for support and donations. With the support of Sue Curzon, CSUN’s library dean, I was able to print a new bilingual name card, which included my Korean maiden name.

I started with the Korean Cul- tural Center (KCC), whose chief purpose is to promote the un- derstanding of Korean culture and aid any organization in such an effort. I discussed my tenta- tive plan for the exhibit and the opening reception with KCC’s director and cultural consultant. I reviewed the resources avail- able on site and secured a few items for loan for the exhibit.

I had learned that it is veiy important to share a meal with Koreans, so I took the cultural consultant to lunch. To paraphrase a popular proverb, “When in Koreatown, do as Koreans do.”

I made frequent visits to Los Angeles’s Koreatown in the next several months. A call to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) connected me with Robert Moore, a private collector of Asian objets d’art, including many priceless Korean treasures, and he generously agreed to lend many items to us.

I visited a hanbok shop with dozens of colorful traditional costumes of different styles and learned more about the significance of the traditional designs and symbols. I visited a Korean Dance Academy to invite their dancers to perform at the exhibit and discussed the dance performances we would feature in the opening program.

During this period, I borrowed many books and read nightly as part of my crash course in Korean art, culture, and history. This was an intense time because all of my evenings and weekends were occupied with this singular challenge, and I was still carrying out my day job as a cataloger. My husband and teenagers cheerfully put up with my absences and the house filled with books and Korean objects.

My first exhibit was called “Mi: Beauty in Korean Art & Culture” and opened on April 23, 1999.²“Mi” was an introduction to Korean culture. As such, it featured more popular items and showy aspects: calligraphy and printing blocks, embroidery, personal ornaments, various types of pottery, and paintings. In addition to descriptive labels for the items, some notes giving the historical background, a map, and a brief chronology of Korea were displayed.

Then came the day of reckoning—opening day. There were five sets of tall and colorful drums on the portico outside the library, and dancers in full Korean costume in brilliant colors awaited their time to perform. A corner of the lobby was decorated as a scholar’s room with traditional Korean furniture, folding screen, and bamboo mat, ready for the planned calligrapher’s demonstration. Korean food and drink were in the opposite corner. Guests began to arrive early.

Everything was ordered and serene. Then there was a loud thunderclap, a lightning storm, and hail pelting down in full force! This does not happen in Los Angeles in April. I hid in an office going over my speech and thinking back over all the preparations until it was time to face the standing room only crowd. As I went outside, a rainbow appeared in the sky! All was well.

The next exhibit

I did not long to create another exhibit, despite the success of my first attempt. However, I had made a commitment to promote Korean culture, and I knew I would have to continue. In addition, because of the publicity in local papers, community members sought me out. Thus I came to know Peter Maeng, who collects rare books on Korea written by westerners or Koreans with a west- ern education. ī proposed that we should provide a venue to showcase his collection, and he readily agreed. This was the origin of a second, more scholarly, exhibit called “Land of the Morning Calm: the Western View of Korea, 1741—1960,” featuring books from the Peter Maeng Collection.³

Tips for successful exhibits

Overall planning

• Begin planning six months prior to opening.

• Make a to-do list and establish a timeline.

• Put your exhibit on the campus calendar as soon as possible.

• Involve faculty members interested in the exhibit subject.

• Contact cultural center/consulate general.

• Contact local museums.

• Identify potential sponsors and donors.

• Establish budget and write grant proposal.

• Secure funding and sponsorship.

• Prepare press releases.

Exhibit

• Identify categories of culture to highlight.

• Select and acquire items to exhibit.

• Prepare labels for items and historical background.

• Allow a minimum of three days for installation.

Opening reception

• Plan the program—keep it simple and appropriate for the audience.

• Bring in authentic food and drink, which are always popular.

• Design invitation and send to printer six weeks in advance.

• Prepare guest list for invitation: Friends of the Library, university administrators and deans, officials from a cultural center/con- sulate general, prominent members of the cultural community

• Design flyers (bilingual, if necessary) for general distribution.

• Send out invitations three weeks in advance.

• Send press releases twice—one month prior to and one week after the opening.

The earliest book in the collection is Jean- Baptiste du Halde’s four-volume General History of China Contain- ing a Geographical, His- torical, Chronological, Political and Physical Description of the Em- pire of China, Chineses- Tartary, Corea and Thibet, the third edition of which was published in 1741. Halde’s work is a collection of published and unpublished ac- counts by Jesuit mis- sionaries, who were the first Europeans to visit Korea.

The other books include accounts by American Protestant missionaries who arrived in the 1880s, such as Homer B. Hulbert’s History of Korea, published in 1905; by early travelers, such as Korea and the Sacred White Mountain, Being a Brief Account of a Journey in Korea in 1891, by A. E. J. Cavendish; and by diplomats, such as Life in Corea, by W. R. Carles, published in 1888. The collection includes several nationalist books in English by early Korean immigrants, such as Younghill Kang’s The Grass Roof published in 1932, and includes many books on the Korean War (1950-1953).

The “Land of the Morning Calm” exhibit was accompanied by a lecture series. The year 2000 was significant as it marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War; the historic meeting between the two Presidents Kim of North and South Korea occurred; and the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. With these events in mind, I planned four weekly lectures, each with its own theme, and identified and contacted Korean Studies scholars in the Los Angeles area. All of them gladly agreed to speak to our faculty and students and to share their expertise.

Tools used for calligraphy (bamboo brushes, ink stick and stone, water dropper).

The exhibit opened on October 3, 2000. During the opening reception, a history pro- fessor from University of Southern California presented a lecture, “The Turn of the 20th Century: Korea’s Discovery of the West.” The audiences listened with interest and amuse- ment to this twist on the exhibit theme of the western view of Korea. In the following week, the lecture “Early Printing in Korea” was given by a CSUN art history professor. Another fac- ulty member brought his class to the lecture, and a lively question and an- swer session ensued. The following week, we viewed a clip of a Ko- rean War documen- tary—made from the newsreels of the time— followed by a lecture, “The Korea Summit and Beyond,” by a professor of Sociology and Korean Studies at UCLA. His lec- ture on a very timely topic delineated realistic expectations for the two Koreas in the near-term and the longterm. To end on a more cheery note, a travelogue, A Mormon Missionary ’s Encounter with Korea (1988-1990), was presented by the cultural consultant for the Korean Cultural Center. This slide presentation showed the Korean people in the countryside and their interaction with a modern missionary. The success of the lecture series was due, in great part, to the generosity of the presenters who appeared without promise of material reward.

So, here I am, forging ahead with my resolve to promote the art, history, and culture of Korea. Eveiy year or so, many weeks of organization, coordination, and hard work are required. Is it a burden to be an accidental Korean-American librarian? Yes. However, it is a burden I now gladly bear, because it forced me to learn so much about my own heritage, and to reach out to those who yearn for knowledge of other cultures. It also allowed me the privilege of straddling two cultures, understanding both and appreciating the unique aspects of each. For this, I am infinitely grateful to my colleagues who nudged and encouraged this then ignorant and reluctant ethnic librarian four years ago.⁴

Notes

1. Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker (New York: Random House, 1998).
2. “Mi: Beauty in Korean Art and Culture” is available at http://library.csun.edu/ jwakimoto/koreaexhibit.html (10/1/01).
3. “Land of the Morning Calm: the Western View of Korea, 1741-1960” is available at http:// library.csun.edu/jwakimoto/maengexliibit.html (10/1/01).
4. A version of this paper was first given at the First National Conference on Asian Pacific American Librarians in San Francisco on June 14, 2001. ■