History in Images, History in Words: In Search of Facts in Documentary Filmmaking


History in Images, History in Words: 

In Search of Facts 
in Documentary Filmmaking

A lecture by Carma Hinton

Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies at George Mason University

Monday April 10, 2017 from 4-7 pm

at the Photonics Center (9th fl.), 8 St. Mary’s Street, Boston University

17_4_10 Carma_semifinal as of 3.20.17 1038amMy presentation will focus on the process of documentary filmmaking, especially the many challenges my team and I faced in trying to create engaging filmic narratives that are both factually accurate and encompass multiple perspectives. I will use excerpts from my films as well as out-takes to illustrate the difficulties in determining what information to include and exclude, assess the compromises involved in the choices, and explore the consequences of taking various possible paths. I will also address the different problems that a historian encounters when presenting history in images as opposed to in words: the potential and limitation of each medium and what information each might privilege or obscure.  I believe that in this age of “alternative facts” and “parallel universes,” reflections on the challenges in obtaining authenticity and truth and the importance of relentlessly striving to reach this goal, take on particularly urgent meaning.

About the speaker:

Carma Hinton is an art historian and a filmmaker. She received her Ph.D. in Art History from Harvard University and is now Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies at George Mason University. Together with Richard Gordon, Hinton has directed many documentary films, including Small Happiness, All Under Heaven, To Taste a Hundred Herbs, Abode of Illusion: The Life and Art of Chang Dai-chien, The Gate of Heavenly Peace, and Morning Sun. She has won two Peabody Awards, the American Historical Association’s John E. O’Connor Film Award, the International Critics Prize and the Best Social and Political Documentary at the Banff Television Festival, and a National News & Documentary Emmy, among others. Hinton is currently working on a book about Chinese scrolls depicting the theme of demon quelling. Carma Hinton was born in Beijing. Chinese is her first language and culture.

Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon 1989

Musicians of the Tenshō Embassy (March 23 and 24, 2024)

By remurowMarch 18th, 2024in 01: Events, 01: Upcoming Events

BUCSA is pleased to let our Asian Studies community know that Lyracle, a small Boston-based historical music ensemble, will be performing a new program called Musicians of the Tenshō Embassywhich combines music and storytelling to celebrate an exceptional group of 16th-century Japanese musicians who journeyed from Japan, to Europe, and back again. Lyracle will perform this program in Boston on March 23 and in Quincy on March 24 before it hits the road, beginning with a performance on the Howard Brown International Early Music Series at the University of Chicago in April 2024.

Musicians of the Tensho Embassy

March 23, 2024 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

North Bennet Street School
150 North Street, Boston, MA 02109 + Google Map

or

March 24, 2024 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

United First Parish Church
1306 Hancock St, Quincy, MA 02169 + Google Map

Program Description: https://www.lyraclemusic.com/events/

Program Notes: https://www.lyraclemusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Program-Notes-Tensho.pdf

In 1582, four teenage Japanese boys of noble birth set sail from Nagasaki to Lisbon. They were students at the Jesuit school in Kyushu and were sent on a tour of Italy and Iberia as ambassadors of three Japanese daiymo, or feudal lords, who had converted to Christianity. Known collectively as the Tenshō Embassy, their names were Mancio Itō, Michael Chijiwa, Martin Hara, and Julio Nakaura. Music was an essential component of the embassy’s eight-year trip to and from Europe and played an equally essential role in the Jesuit mission in Japan, which lasted from the first Jesuit’s arrival in 1549 to the expulsion of the Jesuits by Japan’s Edo government in 1613. 

History and storytelling meet in this program that explores the musical experiences of the Tenshō Embassy and their classmates at Jesuit schools in 16th and early 17th century Japan. Many of the details of their music making remain unknown, and those that are known were not recorded by the Japanese musicians themselves but rather by European Jesuits. The European Jesuits’ recording of this history exposes their eurocentrism, hubris, and ignorance, but their records also give us insight into the lives and experiences of these otherwise unknown musicians who are part of this centuries-old tradition of making music with voices and viols. Lyracle honors these musicians’ achievements through music and storytelling with short historical readings, delivered by actor Danielle Boivin, paired with works by Italian and Iberian composers including Durante Lobo, Francisco Guerrero, and Giacomo Carissimi.

Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/musicians-of-the-tensh-embassy

Artists:
Ashley Mulcahy, mezzo-soprano
James Perretta, viol
Danielle Boivin, actor
Jacob Jahiel, viol
Arnie Tanimoto, viol

View Event Website

India Is Broken: A People Betrayed, Independence to Today, featuring Ashoka Mody (Princeton) (Tues. Feb 27, 2024)

Boston University Alumni and Friends invite you to hear Prof. Ashoka Mody (Visiting Professor in International Economic Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University), 

India Is Broken: A People Betrayed, Independence to Today

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 from 4 to 6pm at Boston University Hillel, 213 Bay State Road (at Granby St.), Boston

On Tuesday, February 27 from 4:00-6:00PM, join us for a hybrid event featuring Ashoka Mody, Visiting Professor in International Economic Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

This event is part of the Spring 2024 Global Economic Governance Book Talk series.

Speaker: Ashoka Mody, Visiting Professor, International Economic Policy, Princeton University
Moderator:  Alumni Advisory Board Member, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

When Indian leaders first took control of their government in 1947, they proclaimed the ideals of national unity and secular democracy. Through the first half century of nation-building, leaders could point to uneven but measurable progress on key goals, and after the mid-1980s, dire poverty declined for a few decades, inspiring declarations of victory. But today, a vast majority of Indians live in a state of underemployment and are one crisis away from despair. Public goods—health, education, cities, air and water, and the judiciary—are lacking, and good jobs will also remain scarce as long as that is the case. Thus, India finds itself in a cycle of underemployment that undermines democracy which further undermines employment. India is Broken: A People Betrayed, Independence to Today by Ashoka Mody provides a robust account of this economic catch-22.

Challenging prevailing narratives, Mody contends that successive post-independence leaders, starting with its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, failed to confront India's true economic problems, seeking easy solutions instead. As a popular frustration grew, and corruption in politics became pervasive, India's economic growth relied increasingly on unregulated finance and environmentally destructive construction.

Combining statistical data with creative media, this book is a meditation on the interplay between democracy and economic progress, with lessons extending far beyond India.

Light refreshments will be provided at a reception following the event.

Click here to register for this in-person and virtual event.

Occasional Papers on Asia No. 6: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at Ten: The World According to China, and China According to the World, by Rebin Najmalddin (Pardee School, Boston University)

We are pleased to present the latest volume in our BUCSA series, Occasional Papers on Asia. In this volume, Rebin Najmalddin (Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University) provides an excellent summary of the presentations and panel discussions from the October 12-13, 2023 conference, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at Ten: The World According to China, and China According to the World, co-organized by Grant Rhode (Pardee School, Boston University) and Andrew Wilson (US Naval War College).

 

You can read this new Occasional Papers here and you can read more about the series of past presentations and conferences around the topic Assessing China's Belt and Road Initiative here.

 

Earlier volumes of Occasional Papers on Asia can all be found at:
https://www.bu.edu/asian/resources/occasional-papers-on-asia/

“Hallyu! The Korean Wave” exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, opens March 24, 2024

From tradition to trendsetting

Today, South Korea is a cultural superpower—a global trendsetter producing award-winning films like Parasite, riveting dramas like Squid Game, and chart-topping music by K-pop groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK. But behind the country’s meteoric rise to the world stage—a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave, or hallyu—is the story of remarkable resilience and innovation.

Just a century ago, Korea was in search of a new national identity, following its occupation by Japan and the Korean War. Harnessing cutting-edge technology, the country has rapidly transformed its economy and international reputation. At the same time, its creative outputs are deeply rooted in its past, with many contemporary artists, filmmakers, musicians, and fashion designers paying tribute to traditional values and art forms dating back to Korea’s dynastic kingdom days.

ex-hallyu_exhibition-teaser-video

“Hallyu! The Korean Wave” features more than 200 objects—costumes, props, photographs, videos, pop culture ephemera, and contemporary works. Among the highlights are outfits worn by different generations of K-pop idols, dresses by couture designer Park Sohee and Next in Fashion winner Minju Kim, a large-scale needlework designed by South Korean artist Kyungah Ham and made by anonymous embroiderers from North Korea, and pieces exploring the Korean American experience by Timothy Hyunsoo Lee and Julia Kwon. Additionally, the exhibition showcases objects from the MFA’s own renowned collection of Korean art, from examples of the iconic moon jar and hanbok to an elaborately decorated gilt bronze case for sutras, the sacred Buddhist texts.

Join us on an immersive and multisensory journey through a fascinating history, and celebrate a vibrant creative force that bridges cultural, societal, and linguistic divides and continues to reach new heights today.

Lee Seung-ju for Darcygom, Saekdong jeogori (multicoloured striped jacket), 2020. Vintage silk. Saekdong by Darcygom. Photo by Jihoon Jung, courtesy Darcygom

For full details, see https://mfa.org/exhibition/hallyu-the-korean-wave (from which the above text was taken).

Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of China (at the Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library, opening in May 2024)

The next exhibition at the Leventhal Center, opening in May 2024, takes a close look at an extraordinary pair of maps from early nineteenth-century China. This exhibition, Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of China, will draw viewers into conversations about Chinese material culture, the circulation of printing techniques around the world, and the different perspectives on space and place that emerge from different intellectual traditions.

Click here to read an interview with Dr. Richard Pegg, the guest curator of Heaven and Earth, about these extraordinary maps  https://www.leventhalmap.org/articles/interview-richard-pegg/?utm_source=emailoctopus&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024-01-22%20General%20Newsletter)

大清萬年一統地理全圖 Daqing wannian yitong dili quantu; Complete map of the geography of the everlasting, unified Great Qing (ca. 1820)

The star chart in the Adler Planetarium collection. This image features a digital edit to include the leftmost panel, which is not in this position in the original object.

New exhibition “Performance and Court in Indonesia” showcases Indonesian shadow puppets (Yale Art Gallery, New Haven)

“Performance and Court in Indonesia” is a new display for the Yale Art Gallery's Indo-Pacific department featuring Indonesian shadow puppets (“wayang kulit”) from the Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection. At the center of the gallery is a screen where a selection of puppets depicts scenes from the Indic epic “Mahabharata,” which is popular in Javanese performances.

Currently on view is a scene from the play “Irawan Rabi” (Irawan’s Wedding). Arjuna, shown at left, is accompanied by his two wives, Sumbadra and Srikandhi. They have come to tell Abimanyu, Arjuna and Sumbadra’s son, that he cannot marry his beloved Siti Sundari because her father, King Kresna, has promised her to the son of another king. The young pair is overcome with grief and collapses to the floor. At the far right, a spade-shaped “kayon,” a representation of the cosmic mountain and tree of life, frames the action.

 

The scenes in this shadow puppet display will change regularly, but they will all come from the royal set “Kyai Nugroho,” stored behind the screen in a large wooden box, as used in actual performances in the grand pavilion (“pendhapa”) of Prince Tejakusuma in the city of Yogyakarta. Shadow puppets are presented by a puppeteer, or “dhalang,” who performs all-night renditions of epic tales accompanied by a “gamelan” orchestra. Some spectators watch from behind the screen to appreciate the brightly-colored puppets and the performers in action, while others prefer to watch the shadows.

[This text is from https://www.instagram.com/p/C14P8h7ugDD/?img_index=7]

Click here to view the nearly 900 examples of wayang kulit shadow puppets in the Yale Art Gallery collection.

#YaleArtGallery #YUAG #IndoPacificArt #puppets #ShadowPuppets #puppetry #IndonesianPuppets #WayangPurwa #WayangKulit #WayangArt

Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor (Worcester Art Museum, through Feb. 28, 2024)

Samurai, members of Japan's warrior class, ruled the country for nearly a millennium, from the 12th through the 19thcentury, and continue to be revered as symbols of bravery, loyalty, and honor. While they initially rose to power due to their military prowess, they maintained their elevated positions through political, financial, and cultural acumen. They were expected to hold administrative positions within their military government. In addition, and in contrast to the brutality of their profession, they also became highly-cultivated individuals, practicing and supporting the arts, such as calligraphy and painting. The elaborate arms and armor of the samurai thus speak to their duties as both warriors and statesmen; these materials could withstand the rigors of warfare, but were also aesthetic objects appropriate for ceremonial purposes and public display. During the peaceful Edo period (1615-1868), samurai arms and armor evolved from functional military gear to coveted symbols of wealth, status, and power.

The objects on display here demonstrate not only the delicate balance between, and paradoxical relationship of, bu and bun—the arts of war and of culture—that characterized Japan's great warriors, but also the evolving position of samurai arms and armor in Japanese society, culture, and craftsmanship.

Japanese, 64-plate Hoshi Kabuto (rivet helmet), 1500s, iron, lacquer, copper alloy, gilded shakudo, leather, silk and fabric.
The John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, 2014.720

This exhibition information is taken from the Worcester Art Museum's website https://www.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/japanese-rotation/, where much additional information can be found about other current and upcoming exhibitions!

Congratulations on the publication of a new Soong Mayling biography with Esther Hu 胡斯慧 serving as English editor/translator!

We are pleased to note the recent publication of a new illustrated biography of Soong Mayling 宋美齡 (Madame Chiang Kai-shek, 1899-2003), entitled 佳美的腳蹤:宋美齡與她的時代 (Soong Mayling and Her Era: A Legacy of Grace and Resilience), edited by CHEN Liwen 陳立文, with Esther Hu 胡斯慧 serving as English editor and translator. The book attempts to break the stereotype of "great men" by exploring the nuances of the relationship, responsibilities, and commitments between Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling in political, national, and personal spheres. The publisher notes that this book records Soong Mayling's life in three sections:

The first section, from birth, growth, to schooling, outlines the various aspects of the girl Soong Mayling, as well as her repeated exploration between Chinese and Western cultures.

The second section, starting from marriage and serving the country, uses the two reference planes of "her home" and "his country" to record that the couple shouldered the same yoke and led the country through stormy times. It also describes at great length Soong Mayling's unique contribution as a women's leader: she called on women to undertake various tasks for the country and the people, from promoting the "New Life Movement" to caring for bereaved families, caring for needy and sick children, providing comfort for soldiers and military dependents, and other causes

The third section, from "homeland" to "treasured island," provides a close profile of Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mayling after they came to Taiwan.

Details about this new book can be found at http://www.rchcs.com.tw/bookdetail-1688.html

BU Sesquicentennial Convocation honoring Madam Chiang Kai-shek, Taipei, 1989. From the collection of Esther Hu and the BU Archives.