Visit to the Asian Art Museum

Synchronicities. They happen all the time. Sometimes we are aware of them, sometimes we are too busy to notice. But, they happen just the same.
Today, I visited the Asian Art Museum. I looked around once again, this is my fourth visit to the AAM, and I was searching for images and for things that perhaps I had missed before.
Having taken Hannah Sigur's Art of Japan last year and this semester, Art of East Asia, there certainly were pieces that caught my eye and I see now that I have become a more discerning viewer, able to understand a bit more the origins, the themes, and patterns in the sweep of time.
But, that is not why I write this time. This just puts everything in perspective, and lets you see why I talk about synchronicity.
When I arrived on the second floor, there was a group of docents listening to a visiting lecturer in the Japanese Wing. There is a new exhibit on display relating to Japan's Ambassadors (in art and culture) to the United States. I walked around the group and continued my search through the Japan, Korea and China wings. A couple of hours later, I returned to the spot where the group had stood earlier.
There, in the vitrine were pictures of The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and of Mr. Hagiwara taken in the early 1900's.



Only last week, Chi had told us about this family and about the Intervention that she and Tanae had done. I found her talk very interesting and was pleasantly surprised by the exhibit. Photos, a sketch, drawings and tea implements with the Hagiwara name were on display. So, here I share some of what I found with you.


Synchronicity. It happens everywhere.