On Feb. 19, the Hood Museum of Art hosted 26 community members for a special guided tour of two of its current exhibitions: “Attitude of Coexistence: Non-Humans in East Asian Art” and “Beyond the Bouquet: Arranging Flowers in American Art.”
The tour began with an exploration of the “Attitude of Coexistence” exhibition, showcased by associate curator Haely Chang, who developed the presentation. The exhibition examines the connection between non-human subjects and human counterparts, Chang said. The group then explored associate curator Michael Hartman’s “Beyond the Bouquet” exhibition, which explores flowers as a medium of connection across time and cultures. Attendees registered by writing their names on a paper sign-up sheet prior to the event.
Before the tour began, Chang discussed her thought process behind the exhibition, explaining that it expands beyond the non-human to consider our relationship with non-human subjects and a potential for coexistence.
“It’s not just about introducing how non-humans were presented in East Asia,” she said to the tour group. “[From] the machines, and then artificial intelligence, non-humans encompass a lot of different elements in our daily lives. So, how can we learn the attitude of encountering our non-humans from the attitudes of the artists who encounter their own non-humans?”
Chang’s portion of the tour highlighted several pieces in the exhibition, including a landscape by Japanese artist Soga Shōhaku as well as several of Korean artist U-Ram Choe’s kinetic sculptures, interactive pieces that move and light up when motion-activated or turned on.
As she navigated the exhibition, Chang introduced each piece and provided insights on the artists’ backgrounds, explaining how each work connected to the exhibition’s overarching non-human theme.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Chang said she hoped to use “Attitude of Coexistence” to explore how different art pieces could be placed in conversation with one another. This approach involved not only connecting objects from different East Asian countries, but also those “from the ancient period to contemporary period,” she explained.
Chang added that she hopes the exhibition helps visitors appreciate a more non-traditional view of Asian art.
“Many of the conventional Asian art exhibitions … are about delivering information about Asian art, about teaching specific techniques, or the history of Asian art,” she said. “I wanted to bring Asian art as a channel to think through our contemporary life.”
After a 30-minute walk-through of “Attitude of Coexistence,” Hartman continued the second leg of the tour through “Beyond the Bouquet.” Featuring artwork by North American artists from the 1700s to 2023, the exhibition draws from the Hood’s permanent collection to examine how floral motifs appear across different mediums, cultures and artistic styles, according to past reporting by The Dartmouth.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Hartman said he knew the exhibition was going to open in the winter and thought “it would be nice” for museum visitors to “see flowers in the dead of winter.”
“But I also really wanted to take something that we all have a connection to and explore the way that artists have embraced all beauty in the natural world, either to show joy, or speak to spirituality or science,” he said. “These different ways that we can use flowers and art to tackle different themes.”
Hartman added that “looking broadly across the collection and bringing in artworks or other objects that might otherwise not be on view in a lot of places” was part of what made developing the exhibition interesting to him. Hartman identified furniture decorated with flowers and silver with engraved flowers as standout examples of non-traditional art featured in the exhibition.
“So, it’s not just a painting show,” he explained. “It’s not just sculptures, but it’s also looking more broadly at artistic production at large.”
For some attendees, the tour marked their first time viewing either of the exhibitions. Hedi Parafina, a resident of Thetford, Vt., said they appreciated the depth of information that the tour offered.
“It definitely add[ed] to my ability to look at the different objects with a little bit more clarity, given the information from the curators,” Parafina said. “So it helps me organize my mind on how to view each particular object, particularly the ones I’d be interested in. It adds a little bit more than just reading the signs.”
Polly Everhart, a resident of New London, N.H., expressed particular admiration for the “Attitude of Coexistence” exhibition.
“Certainly you can look at the write-ups … but [Chang] certainly brought a lot of depth and ability to look more closely at the objects,” Everhart said. “I could begin to see something maybe I wouldn’t have seen before as she was pointing out different aspects of the different works.”
Everhart added that the tour also offered a valuable opportunity for community members to experience other cultures.
“In this day and time to continue to offer insight into different cultures, into what art can bring to people, affects people in different ways,” Everhart said. “There’s something grand and glorious if you can end up taking a few moments to look at something that you’ve never seen before [and] open yourself up to the experience.”
Both Chang and Hartman expressed interest in offering additional tours of their exhibitions some time in the future.
“Part of the reason that I enjoy working [at the Hood] is [because it is] always really fun to work with my colleagues,” Chang said. “I hope there’s more of a chance of collaborative events like this.”
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Hartman said he appreciated how tours can “create those conversations across time periods [and] cultures.”
“They offer an opportunity to find commonalities where otherwise you may not think that there [are] going to be [any],” he said. “They create an engaging experience where folks can come in and see something and learn something and genuinely have an experience that I don’t think you would have at any other museum.”
On Feb. 24, the “Attitude of Coexistence” exhibition will begin its second rotation, which will replace several of the current artworks on display. For conservation reasons, the art pieces made of fabric, textile and paper featured in the “Beyond the Bouquet” exhibition will also be rotated out in “early March” and replaced with other works, according to Hartman.
