“Each book is a collection in itself – a treasure house of memories associated with the inspirations behind its creation. As an object to be collected, the book accumulates yet more memories, tracing through a history of ownership, of acquisition and exchange. Every book invites the reader to follow their imaginations and travel beyond the physicality of the pages. The library is thus a collection of collections, one that always refers beyond the system that organizes it to the world’s stories, histories, and images.”
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This epigraph does not draw on writings of influential philosophers or theorists of the past century, but rather these lines are the reflection of an individual who takes the task of collecting and disseminating histories very seriously, taken from a September 17, 2006 two-page press release announcing the opening of Centre A’s in-house library.
Centre A, otherwise known as Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, located at
2 West Hastings Street in Vancouver (in close proximity of Chinatown), opened its doors in 1999. Ever since its inauguration, Centre A has served as an important meeting point for dialogues about Asia in a city whose modern history is as much an Asian history as any other; or maybe, a better way to describe it would be to say that Vancouver’s modern history has been greatly shaped by Asian culture which has in its turn altered, fermented and blossomed anew. It has been a very fertile process and one worth exploring through exhibition programming as well as through the relevant literature to better understand our own city, Vancouver, Asian culture in its various forms, its impact on the world, and the global influences that have transformed Asia.
The library was initiated by Joni Low, Centre A’s gallery coordinator at the time, and the first event to welcome the visitors to the library was the Library Tea Party that took place on September 23, 2006. Zheng Shengtian, one of the founding board members, is another person who contributed many volumes to this special library.
The accumulation of materials in the library began with a generous donation of Finlayson family from Victoria which became known as the Finlayson Collection.This informal collection served as a base structure for the library that currently houses about 1634 items, ranging from exhibition catalogues and artist monographs to reference materials and historical accounts.
The library is an organic entity that is constantly expanding and receiving new items from a variety of sources; the most common additions being the travel-items, books that are brought back by various gallery members from trips to Asia including the Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou Biennales as well as the Seoul International Media Art Biennale among others.
What makes Centre A and its special collection particularly unique can be glimpsed through the centre’s mandate which stresses the importance of promoting understanding of contemporary Asian art through preservation and dissemination of works and materials pertaining to its history and current development both inside and outside of Asia.
Since the contemporary Asian art, as we commonly know it today, mostly dates back to the avant-garde Chinese artists prominent during the 1980s, the field is relatively new and cannot be considered without references to Asian art history and history all together, and thus it is extensive in its scope. It is of little surprise then that while documenting current practices of Asian artists, the library also provides room for books on traditional Chinese and Japanese art such as brush painting or works with religious content (e.g. Zen or Buddhist art). In addition to this, Centre A houses an archive and a collection of artist files. More information about these resources can be found here:
http://www.centrea.org/index.cfm?go=site.index§ion=page&tag=library
As traveling constitutes a significant part of keeping Centre A current and engaged with the newest developments in Asian art, Debra Zhou, the Assistant Curator at Centre A, has shared an insightful anecdote regarding one of her trips. During a recent stay in Hong Kong, Debra visited the Asia Art Archive (AAA), which boasts one of the largest collections on contemporary Asian art. To Debra’s surprise however, while the overall holdings of this institution were impressive, AAA (as most other institutions in Asia, according to her understanding) did not collect material on Asian art outside of Asia. This small piece of information was an important discovery, indicating that Centre A fulfills a significant gap dividing Asian art from Asia and from abroad.
This anecdote in its turn, can be further deepened by another one, that of Debra’s encounter with Joanne Birnie Danzker, Director of Frye Art Museum in Seattle, who has mentioned that the scope of Centre A’s library collection is so impressive that it should be locked up and preserved, as a rare gem, stowed away from carefree browsing. There is definitely a good reason for making such a strong statement as many of the books in the collection are rare.
Being a Centre for Asian art is a challenging task in itself, not only because it is a very extensive field containing astonishing amount of resources dating back to many centuries but more importantly because the geographical contours of “Asia” are hard to define and theorize.
What this means for those browsing through the library is that they can find a wide range of items covering a broad spectrum of Asian art. For instance, you could come across a very specific material dealing with a particular Asian artist working either in Asia, North America or elsewhere in the world, or a book with a topic that somewhat marginally relates to Asian culture – such as Fred Herzog’s Chinatown’s documentation. The library also has a special shelf dedicated to Centre A’s publications that is more approachable and conjures up a reading-room atmosphere next to the traditional library shelves.
To point out significant issues in the field of contemporary Asian art, Debra Zhou and Jacquelyn Ross, the library coordinator, have kindly shared some of their favourite volumes in the collection:
Rhee, Wonil, Peter Weibel and Gregor Jansen, eds. Thermocline of art: new Asian waves. Trans. David Hatcher, David Mao and Jaeeun Gwak. Karlsruhe: Center for Art and Media, 2007.
Kazakhstan, Korea, India, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Japan, China, Laos, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Israel, Tibet, Pakistan and Myanmar are just some of the places featured in this publication which seeks to expand the geographical borders of “Asia”.
Kortun, Vasif et al. How latitudes become forms: art in a global age. Ed. Michelle Piranio. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2003.
A beautiful publication which consists of a collection of essays on globalization. Not only varied in content, covering a range of contexts including Japan, India, Turkey, South Africa, Argentina and even Cuba, it is much more than an exhibition catalogue. Each page is ‘emphatic’ in its presentation, with a selection of lines that are literally highlighted on each page, as if calling the reader’s attention to particular passages; at other times, certain parts of the text are ‘blacked out’ as if to delimitate the focal area by blocking out the unnecessary. This book is as textually rich as it is visually engaging.
Murakami, Takashi ed. Little boy: the arts of Japan’s exploding subculture. New York: Japan Society, 2005.
This volume was meant to accompany an exhibition presented at Japan Society Gallery in New York in 2005 and it marked third and final installment of the Superflat exhibition series incorporating high and low art. This bilingual publication in English and Japanese explores Japanese “geek” culture which mixes detailed graphics, new technologies, commercial design and apocalyptic imagery. This catalogue is bursting with images and captures attention with its unusually themed chapters. For instance Chapter 2 entitled “The Salvation of the Girl as Small Self: the Art of Banana Yoshimoto, Yoshitomo Nara, and Girl’s Photography” (p. 216-225), intricately links lyrical literature, painting of cute extremes and ‘photography of the everyday’ in one fluid block of meaning.
If you decide to visit the library, here is what to expect. The library is situated in the midst of a flexible exhibition spaces that allows for diverse programming; so while browsing for books, you will be able to observe the current installation and reflect upon the distant murmur of occasional visitors.
Using Booxter cataloguing software, the library provides an easy and visually captivating searching experience for its visitors who are welcome to use a specially designated Mac computer for their library-browsing. Through this library catalogue you may find records on exhibition catalogues (publications on group exhibitions), artist monographs (publications on individual artists’ work or solo exhibitions), art history and criticism books as well as other literature (this may include fiction, historical accounts, testimonies or biographies). Magazines and reference books are not part of the catalogue and can be browsed in their respective sections; Centre A is currently subscribed to Yishu and Art Asia Pacific magazines which line one shelving unit of its library. If you decide to browse the shelves directly, you will find that exhibition catalogues are organized by publication region (country). While browsing the library catalogue, you will also discover that some materials are published in specific Asian languages (with a distinction made between simplified and traditional Chinese) and many are bilingual; a number of publications are available in French. Besides the title, author, ISBN, hard or soft cover format indication, publisher, date of publication, number of pages and library location, the catalogue also provides descriptions of the material which can include a summary or an excerpt from the work as well as useful notes about the publication.
Who will really enjoy making a visit to this place? I will start a small list which does no real justice to the breadth of materials that can be found on the shelves of this library and that extends beyond the obvious designation of the resources which can provide ample information for artists and curators:
- Manga fans and Lomography enthousiasts – While a reading room full of comics and “How to – HOLGA manuals” cannot be promised, you can be sure to find something that will be to your taste here. Take for example the Little boy series, studying Japan’s super-flat aesthetic, that skillfully combines elements of graphic design, literature and popular culture while underlining the heavy weight of history left behind by the atomic bomb.
- Vintage-avantgardists searching for ideas and inspiration – Perhaps you like sewing or you are just a fashionable individual who likes to mix and march some very incongruous elements; or maybe you are a designer that is tired of those typical floral patterns that seem to be proliferating everywhere these days. Looking for something original? Have you ever considered the wide range of unique designs that can be found in a 1958 publication on the folk arts of Japan?
- Future ambassadors – Being culturally versed is essential to every diplomat, especially to those conducting business in Asia. To be truly diplomatic it is important to understand that Asia has many faces and that geographically speaking, it is very extensive and fluid. Exhibition catalogues are an excellent source of both textual and visual information that is able to illustrate cultural specificities more vividly.
- Students with a penchant for Asian languages – It is believed that one of the best ways to improve one’s conversational skills in a new language is to listen to or watch foreign movies with subtitles; then what better way to advance one’s reading and vocabulary building than by reading an original and consulting its translation as a reference? Bilingual catalogues are a very unique learning tool that helps to grasp cultural parallels and linguistic subtleties.
In short, the library would prove particularly useful for those interested in history and present of Asian art, Contemporary art and art in Vancouver. The range of materials would not only contribute to an understanding of particular regions or the local art scene, but it would also demarcate global flow of ideas and influences, strengthening our appreciation of international exchanges and culturally diverse art.
It is also worth mentioning that as part of its future programming, Centre A plans to have book talks that will engage the local community by highlighting particular publications and fostering discussion around the themes and topics raised within. In the virtual space, Jacquelyn Ross, the library coordinator, has developed a blog that is meant to be an online extension of the library catalogue, providing access to information about Centre A’s resources to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
http://centrealibrary.wordpress.com/
