When Science Meets Art: Conserving Asian Paintings with Yu-Ting

Tucked away between the busy streets of Washington D.C. is the small but mighty Nishio Conservation Studio. This studio, which was been comfortably operating in their custom-made lofted space since 1995, combines aspects of traditional Japanese craftsmanship with modern Western science to provide the highest quality conservation work for their clients. Focusing primarily on conserving Asian paintings, folding screens (called byōbu), and hanging scrolls (called kakemono), the artists at Nishio’s Studio bring these artworks back to life with the utmost care and vibrancy.

Yu-Ting Hsu is a student at the Graduate Institute of Conservation of Cultural Relic and Museology at Tainan National University of Arts in Taiwan. Her specialization is in Conservation of Paper and Asian Paintings, making Nishio’s studio the perfect place for her J-1 visa program. During her internship, she learned how to approach conservation in a professional setting and how to examine and prepare paintings for treatment by making starch paste, cutting papers, and cleaning brushes. For her final project, she even made her own Japanese style scroll! When Yu-Ting was not on site at Nishio’s, she explored hiking trails in Virginia and visited the many free museums that D.C. has to offer.

Before the end of the program, the Cultural Exchange Programs team was able to visit with Yu-Ting at Nishio’s for a full day of conservation education. Did you know that in order to achieve rich blue and green colors on byōbu, artists would use crushed azurite and malachite? Now you do! Scroll on to see what else Yu-Ting shared with us.

What was a project you enjoyed working on during your program?
There is a four-panel screen from Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA). The artist is Chiura Obata. The object was in poor condition. The screen had spilt into two sections. Overall discoloration was present in the paper and foxing spots* were present throughout the panels. I took part in the whole process of conservation of the four-panel screen. We started with removing the painting from wooden border, then removing backing paper. After consolidating the color, we bleached the foxing spots and washed the painting. In the mid-October, conservators and curators from the UMFA visited studio to check the four-panel screen. They were satisfied with the after-treatment condition!

*Foxing spots are brown and rust colored spots that appear on old paper. If the paper has a certain level of iron or other substances present in it, exposure to a specific temperature and humidity will create the foxing.

What was an interesting new skill you learned on the job?
My host taught me how to make a Japanese hanging scroll. I learned a lot of Japanese mounting knowledge from the panel screen and Japanese hanging scroll, which I don’t have opportunities to learn in Taiwan. For example, the fiber of Japanese paper is longer than Chinese paper, so there are different ways in backing the paper for mounting.

What did you learn about the arts culture in America? What was your favorite cultural activity?
I had visited a lot museum, like National Gallery of Arts, Freer Gallery of Arts, and The Kreeger Museum. I saw collections that I had not seen it before. My host had arranged for me to visit the conservation lab at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Those experiences helped me to get more information not only conservation cases but also the network.

The most impressive [activity] was the concert at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. My host is involved in a band and he invited me to the performance. My favorite song in the concert was “Moon River”. I really enjoyed it!

 

 

Want to learn more about byōbu? Check out this video on the history of Japanese folding screens, directly from Nishio's Studio!

IA&A Presents Research at the Global Ties U.S. National Meeting

Last month, IA&A’s Cultural Exchange Programs team was delighted to participate in the Global Ties U.S. National Meeting right here in Washington, DC! IA&A is a National Member of Global Ties U.S., an organization that strengthens relationships between individuals and nations by making international exchange programs more effective. As a National Member, IA&A shares the commitment to promoting a peaceful, prosperous world through international exchange.

Our team was thrilled to represent IA&A at the National Meeting and to share the findings of our International Partnership Initiative report, Art in Context: The Current State of International Cultural Engagement, at the annual event’s very first poster session.

We had a fantastic time learning about the local, national, and international efforts of Global Ties U.S. members to initiate, sustain, and drive exchange opportunities. The passion and dedication was contagious, and our team left even more inspired to advocate for exchange programs. Program Officer Chris Sciotto was happy to elaborate, saying “[Director] Jennifer Schrock and I met an incredible array of people in the exchange, arts, and culture communities. We really left feeling inspired and with such an emboldened sense of purpose and possibility for the future of cultural exchanges.”

IA&A and the Cultural Exchange Programs team looks forward to connecting with other members of the Global Ties U.S. community to promote IA&A’s mission of cross-cultural understanding. Read the report below, and we hope to see you next year!

Meet Stina-Laura, Our J-1 Intern from Estonia

Did you know that International Arts & Artists hosts J-1 interns at our office in Washington, DC? We know #WhyHostingMatters and were lucky enough to have Stina-Laura Parg, an art history student from Estonia, join us for nine months to learn the ins and outs of arts management! During her program, Stina-Laura interned with IA&A’s Hillyer Art Space, our contemporary exhibition space that shows both local and international artists. She also spent time working alongside the team in IA&A’s Traveling Exhibition Service, where she researched and archived pieces from the Hechinger Collection.

While interning with IA&A, Stina-Laura was able to apply her arts management knowledge in a new context, assisting with exhibition preparation, installation, and promotion. She recalls that her favorite memories are from the installation weeks, “when we had one week to un-install the old exhibition and install a new one . . . at the end of the week we got to celebrate our hard work with First Friday exhibition opening with the artists and gallery visitors.” The exhibition openings were a great opportunity for Stina-Laura to interact with members from the DC arts community, including artists, collectors, and art aficionados!

Gohar Dashti, “Today’s Life and War”, 2008. Image courtesy of the artist.

Interning in the heart of a bustling city like Washington, DC, also offered many perks! Stina-Laura immersed herself in the city’s arts community, frequenting numerous exhibitions and panel discussions throughout her stay. The Smithsonian Institution museums in particular stood out as a highlight to Stina-Laura. “There is something for every taste,” she told us. Stina-Laura was also able to join IA&A for “Museum Morning”, our quarterly outing with our DC-based J-1 exchange visitors. Together with other interns from Cyprus, Singapore, and the United States, IA&A visited the newly-renovated East Building of the National Gallery of Art and the Library of Congress. Looking back on her exchange experience, Stina-Laura has some words of wisdom for future exchange visitors. “Do as much as you can and visit as many places as possible. The exchange time will end unexpectedly fast so don’t waste your time.”

A selection of work from Urban Mapping. Clockwise from top left: Arash Fayez, “Ramblings of a Flâneur”, 2008. Ghazaleh Hedayat, “Snake and Ladder”, 2012. Rana Javadi, “Enghelab Street, Tehran”, 1978. Saba Alizadeh, “Light and Soil”, 2011. Behnam Sadighi, “Ekbatan, west of Tehran”, 2004-2008. Mehran Mohajer, “Between & Non-Between”, 2017. All images courtesy of the artist.

Exchanges are a wonderful opportunity to learn more about a different culture, both as a participant and as a host organization! “This experience has been a wonderful chance to explore a culture very different from my own,” Stina-Laura told us. “For me, cultural exchange means the readiness to knowingly explore and learn about a new culture and its nuances from the culture and the people in it, not through someone or something else; and in turn, offer knowledge about my own culture.”

We loved having Stina-Laura with us and look forward to seeing what this next chapter holds for her! Are you interested in interning with IA&A? Check out the various opportunities available to gain hands-on gallery and arts management experience with IA&A’s Hillyer Art Space.