Reports of the Museums and Research Institutes 



19 



ings by authors of new books related to the galleries' collec- 

 tions. Among the writers was Michael Ondaatje, who read 

 from Handwriting, his new book of poetry. These efforts re- 

 sulted in the shops' important contribution to the cost of 

 museum programs and acquisitions of art. 



Research 



This year's scholarly investigations emphasized collaboration 

 and preparation for the many exhibitions planned for the 

 next few years. Kenneth Myers, assisrant curator of Ameri- 

 can art in the Freer, and Martha Smith, the galleries' paper 

 conservaror, have continued the research connection between 

 the Freer and the University of Glasgow, Scotland. The Freer 

 and the university together house the world's largesr collec- 

 tions of art, papers, correspondence, and memorabilia by or 

 relating to James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). Through 

 a formalized "Scheme of Association," the institutions pro- 

 mote and support scholarly research about Whistler and his 

 period. The project is centered in Glasgow and overseen by 

 Nigel Thorpe, director of the Center for Whistler Studies at 

 the university. 



With a wealth of Chinese objects coming to the galleries 

 as gifts and purchases during the recent anniversary obser- 

 vances and several important exhibitions in the planning 

 stages, there is much activity among the galleries' scholars of 

 Chinese art. Jenny So, curator of ancient Chinese art, is 

 working on an important research volume about the jades in 

 the collections of the Freer and Sackler. Joseph Chang, asso- 

 ciate curator, is preparing a catalogue of the Freer collection 

 of Chinese painting and calligraphy from the Song and Yuan 

 dynasties. Both catalogues have received multiyear support 

 from rhe E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Dr. 

 Chang is writing two additional exhibition catalogues, the 

 first on later Chinese calligraphy from the gift of Robert H. 

 Ellsworth, and a second on the painting and calligraphy of 

 Bada Shanren. Stephen D. Allee is translating poetry and 

 prose texts for Dr. Chang's publications and also working on 

 a book to introduce children to Chinese painting. Jan Stuart, 

 assistant curaror, received a grant from the Smithsonian's 

 Collections-Based Research Program for research for her 

 forthcoming exhibition, "Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese 

 Commemorarive Portraits in Late Imperial China." Prepara- 

 tion for the exhibition also took her to Korea and China 

 under a grant from the Smithsonian's Research Opportuni- 

 ties Fund. 



Louise A. Cort, curator for ceramics, is working on a cata- 

 logue of the Freer's collection of Japanese ceramics from 

 Kyoto and Kyushu and collaborating with Jan Stuart on a 

 publication about the Freer's Chinese celadons. She is contin- 

 uing her annotated translation of the diary of Japanese potter 

 Morita Kyuemon and working on a book about India enti- 

 tled Temple Potters Of Pur i. 



Vidya Dehejia is producing a volume, India through the 

 Lens, Photography 1840— 191 1, to accompany her exhibition 

 of the same name that is scheduled to open in November 

 2000. At the same time, Dr. Dehejia is conducting research 

 for a book and exhibition of south Indian bronzes of the 



Chola dynasty made between the ninth and thirteenth cen- 

 turies. She is also preparing a publication about India for a 

 series entitled "The Sources of Art History" being produced 

 by Harvey Miller Publishers. 



Massumeh Farhad, associare curator of Islamic art, has 

 been pursuing ongoing research concerning later painting of 

 the Safavid dynasty (1501— 1732) and its patronage, on the 

 Shahnama (The King's Book of Kings), and on the Falnama 

 (Book of Omens). Ann Gunter, associate curator of Ancient 

 Near Eastern art, continued her study of the Hauge gift of 

 ancient Iranian ceramics, as well as her work on two books, 

 Defining Cultural Boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 

 1000—600 B.C., and Charles Lang Freer and Egypt. 



Jane Norman, exhibitions conservator, is continuing her 

 studies of the physical properties of Japanese and Chinese 

 lacquer. 



Members of the departmenr of conservation and scientific 

 research continue technical studies on Asian metalwork 

 (Paul Jett); Chinese jades (Janet G. Douglas); papers used by 

 Whistler and Indian (Martha Smith), gilded bronzes (Blythe 

 McCarthy, principal investigator, with funding from the Na- 

 tional Park Service); Japanese raku ceramics (McCarthy); and 

 the structures of East Asian paintings (John Winter with 

 Marco Leona and Jennifer Giaccai in a project funded by the 

 Andrew W Mellon Foundation). Dr. Winter is also working 

 on a related book, East Asian Paintings: Their Materials, Struc- 

 tures, Techniques, and Deterioration Mechanisms. 



Center for Folklife and Cultural 

 Heritage (formerly, Center for Folklife 

 Programs and Cultural Studies) 



Richard Kurin, Director 



At the January, 1999, meering, the Smithsonian Institution 

 Board of Regents endorsed our change of name to the Center 

 for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, from the previous Center 

 for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, thus leaving us 

 better equipped to do our job. "Cultural heritage" resonates 

 much better with all sorts of community-based groups, borh 

 in the United States and around the world, inreresred in the 

 study, presentation, and conservation of their cultures. 

 "Folklife" still allows people to locate us conceptually as a 

 unit dedicated to living people and grassroots, vernacular 

 traditions. We have become concerned with the training of 

 community scholars, leading to several programs, and we 

 recognize the need to help train students from the academy 

 for public cultural work and have begun a graduate course in 

 the subject with the George Washington University. More 

 recently, we have been exploring issues of cultural heritage 

 policy. 



As an example of these outreach efforts, the Center and 

 Children's Television Workshop (CTW) cosponsored a half- 

 day symposium at the National Museum of American 

 History that examined the 30-year history of diversity and 

 multicultural programming on "Sesame Street," the longest- 



