folklife

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Kitty Dubreuil's Exhibit Journal Spring & Summer '96

April 5, 1996: We have selected a new name for the exhibition, "Kamuy: Spirit of The Ainu - Art, History, and Culture of Japan's Northern People". The Ainu didn't really care for the old title, "The Ainu: Lost Treasures - Living Culture," and asked us to think of a new one. "Kamuy" refers to their gods, and as the Ainu are very spiritual, the new title is much more appropriate, and has been very well received by the Ainu. Working with the Ainu as partners is making the show much better.

May 3, 1996: Received word today that "Kamuy" was selected to be part of the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival. We are really excited. We chose June 29 and July 4 because those days have the greatest number of visitors.

Kitty Dubreuil in Ainu garb.

I called Kenichi Kawamura, cultural leader of the Chikabumi Ainu, to borrow two traditional gowns and jewelry for David and I to wear at the festival. There's no doubt that they will attract attention. While it will be very hot wearing the gowns, they are so beautiful that it will be worth the sweat. We will have both Ainu traditional and contemporary music, and we are also getting posters from the Ainu in Akan, the Ainu Association of Hokkaido in Sapporo, and the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka. It's going to be fun ... and hot!

May 30,1996: We put in for a large grant from Smithsonian's Special Exhibition Fund
(SEF) a couple of months ago. There's still no word and we're getting a little anxious.
My present funding will end June 15. Before joining Smithsonian, David and I never
thought about museum funding. How naive we were. The Smithsonian is huge and there
are many great projects hoping to be funded. Of course, competition is spirited and there's cause for concern.

June 4, 1996: Great news!! We got a SEF grant that will get us through this year. While smaller than we hoped for, it's better than a sharp stick in the eye. We will still have to get the major portion of our funding through private sources but we now have breathing room to try to find money.

June 20, 1996: We met with our American museum partners, Laurel Kendall, Amy
Poster, and Adria Katz, yesterday to discuss the themes for the exhibition and to get a sense of the physical layout of the show. There were six people at the meeting and sometimes there were six opinions on the same topic. Of course, the feelings and requests from the Ainu must also be considered. While stressful at times, it's great to work with talented, and creative people. Everyone contributed and nearly every idea was challenged. Defending your ideas can be a bit daunting but everyone was professional and the exhibition will be better for it. The summer will be spent incorporating all the ideas and visiting the other museum collections.

July 5, 1996: We just survived two days of being part of Smithsonian' Folklife Festival. The festival was a huge success, and we are extremely gratified at how well "Kamuy" was received. There were literally thousands of interested and interesting people who stopped at our display. Many people had heard of the Ainu and asked great questions. Surprisingly, the most asked question centered on the origin of the Ainu. David and I wore Ainu robes and we had two large pieces of contemporary textile art on display.

Dave Dubreuil in Ainu garb.

There's no doubt we will have to address the Ainu origin questions in the exhibition. The problem is that there is no scholarly consensus. The Ainu are, in many ways, an enigma. Of course, that's part of the reason the Ainu are exciting.

August 11, 1996: Because of our success at the Folklife Festival we were asked to participate in Smithsonian's 150th Anniversary celebration, and again "Kamuy" was extremely well received. We found the questions and comments were consistent with those we received from the Folklife Festival. Our small displays have been most helpful in giving us direction in some of the areas of the exhibition that we need to plan for. This is important because we hope to meet with the exhibition designers soon.

- Chisato (Kitty) Dubreuil, Ainu Exhibit Coordinator

Kitty Dubreuil in Ainu garb at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Continue: The Fundraising Process

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