Chinese Silkweaving, Multiple Scripts

During a visit to the Freer Gallery of Art last year, I came across this 13th-century scroll painting that depicts the art of Chinese silkweaving. The scroll links together 24 sheets of paper unfurling from left to right, and its visual content is fascinating (the scenes represent all the stages of silk production). Its verbal content is interesting as well. Each scene is accompanied by a poem that is written out in a formal style of calligraphy called "seal script." Next to each character of text in the poem there's a tiny gloss "translating" the character into standard script. There are also various inscriptions in "running script" throughout the scroll, in addition to the seals of multiple owners that have accrued over time.

To see more images of the scroll and download detailed documentation about its contents, see this website.

"Children at Play" (Chinese Art)

"Children at Play" Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, April 2010. Last year I saw this exhibition and I thought these paintings 齊白石 (Qi Baishi) were just so charming I had to post about them on this blog. The painting on the left (c. 1930) is called 夜讀圖 ("Studying at Night"), and the one on the right (also c. 1930) is 送子師從 ("Taking the Son to School"). The paintings seem quite sympathetic toward the child's plight.

Incidentally, the name 齊白石 is a pseudonym. The self-taught artist was known for landscape painting (among other things), and 白石 literally means "White Stone," suggesting snow-covered mountains.

For more about the artist and his legacy, see here.

Justice Inscription

"LEGE ATQVE ORDINE OMNIA FIVNT" (Let all things be done according to law and order). Latin inscription above entrance, Department of Justice.

Disorienting Braille Maps

Braille maps feature prominently in "America on the Move," an ongoing exhibition at the National Museum of American History). This map depicting streetcar paths in DC circa 1900 provides inscriptions in raised letters along with Braille dots. You can also use your fingers to trace the contours of the city and discern the routes streetcars could take as they moved people about the city. Note the standard map orientation here, with north as as "up."

This map depicting harbor travel in New York City in the 1920s is a little more complicated. It includes inscriptions and Braille dots on either side of the map, so that side that is "up" is not based on absolute cardinal directions - instead, what is "up" depends on how you are positioned in relation to the map.

(For related posts, click the "Braille" tag below or on the right hand side of this page.)

The Language of Flags (Star-Spangled Banners)

The huge, tattered flag that inspired the lyrics of "The Star Spangled Banner" (the US National Anthem) is indeed a "star attraction" at the National Museum of American History (the screenshot above is a detail from a page on the online "Star Spangled Banner" exhibition). The huge flag on display was flown over Fort McHenry and survived the War of 1812, and it bears 15 stars and 15 stripes - representing the 13 original colonies, plus the 2 additional states (Kentucky and Vermont) that had joined the Union by that time. (The original plan was to keep adding 1 star and stripe for each new state that was admitted, but at some point this became too unwieldy and the number of stripes was "fixed" at 13.)

This website (as of September 2010) indicates that there's a Spanish translation of the anthem lyrics on display alongside the flag. (Note that this is NOT the same as the Spanish version that made the news back in 2006 - listen to the story here.)

Another intriguing version of the US flag in the NMAH is this Civil War era banner: the regimental colors of the 84th Infantry, 1866. This regiment was formed from the Corps d'Afrique of Louisiana, comprising of free black soldiers who fought for the Union. Note the French-derived place names on the red stripes (you can read more about this flag here and here). Interestingly, the writing in this flag is "backwards" - it reads left to right with the blue part (canton) on the right. As I understand it, the flag is typically flown facing the other direction (with canton on left).

A more stylized version of the "backwards" flag can be seen on this sign outside Newseum during Obama's inauguration in January 2009. (The number refers to Obama as the 44th President of the US.)

These versions of the US flag were displayed on the east façade of the Capitol when Obama was inaugurated in January 2009. The flags on the outside are the original stars and stripes (13 stars in a ring). The flag in the center is the current flag (50 stars). The other flags have 21 stars: this what the US flag looked like just after Illinois (Obama's home state) entered the Union in 1818.

As is the case with other flags, the "Star-Spangled Banner" is sometimes modified in order to make a political message. See, for instance, the protest flags here and here.

Read to your baby

Read to your baby...in whatever language you choose. National Book Festival, September 25, 2010.

Multilingual Monkeys

Sackler Gallery, National Mall, Fall 2009. This hanging sculpture entitled "Monkeys Grasping for the Moon" (by Chinese artist Xu Bing) is one of my favorites; the word for "monkey" in various languages/scripts form a linked chain  hanging from the ceiling.

Below, another view of the sculpture (lower in the building):

Read more about this sculpture on this page of the Sackler website or read the story that inspired the artwork.

FDR Memorial: Braille, Inverted

Here's a detail of the FDR Memorial incorporating Braille as a design motif. Instead of raised bumps, there are small dips; my only explanation for this is that a Braille plate must have been inverted in the process of making these decorations.

I wonder if someone who knows Braille could actually read this inscription (like a sighted person trying to read text reflected backwards in a mirror?).

P.S. For more on this memorial, see this earlier posting.

Braille, Inaccessible (FDR Memorial)

The FDR Memorial acknowledges the disability status of this president in a variety of ways, including a statue depicting him seated in a wheelchair and (in the image above) Braille inscriptions incorporated as a design motif along some of the walls or posts. Unfortunately, some of these Braille inscriptions are placed so high up that most people (sighted or non-sighted) cannot even reach them.

Ah, the irony - sighted people may find these inscriptions beautiful, but ultimately illegible; meanwhile, those who might actually understand the inscriptions cannot access them.

Lincoln Memorial: Veterans Day, 2008

Lincoln Memorial, Veterans Day, 2008. People writing in many languages to congratulate newly-elected Pres. Obama. Note the many variants on the "¡Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can!" slogan.

National Mall: Folklife Festival 2009

National Mall, Folklife Festival July 2009. One of the featured cultures this year was Wales so they included the obligatory "Welsh has lots of long place names" signage.