[KS] Terry Bennett's Photo Collection

[Lauren Deutsch]

Perhaps the Getty Research Institute might be interested. They have moved “beyond” their Western focus. https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/photo/
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Lauren Deutsch

Producer / Director
PACIFIC RIM ARTS
www.pacificrimarts.org <http://www.pacificrimarts.org/>
lwdeutsch at gmail.com
835 S. Lucerne Blvd., #103
Los Angeles CA 90005 USA
Office: + 323 775 7454










> On Jul 13, 2020, at 11:16 PM, Frank Hoffmann <hoffmann at koreanstudies.com> wrote:
> 
> Just to say thanks for the insights, Brother Anthony.
> Quite interesting! The harsh discrepancy between the propagated 
> emphasis on traditional culture, especially court culture, and the fast 
> and rigorous disassembling of anything left of traditional Korean 
> culture (e.g. having turning Seoul into what looks like some Amazon 
> warehouse space) was long something very visible to many. The 
> disinterest in preservation as such, on the other hand, is something 
> that only shows when put in international perspective. Over the years I 
> have not seen much of an awareness on this issue in Korea. My immediate 
> add-on question after reading your note below is: is this the result of 
> rapid modernization under mostly authoritarian rule and the creation of 
> a system of value priorities that characterize the inner workings of 
> such a system itself, or does it have much older roots that are 
> possibly explained by Korea having been a mostly agrarian, rural 
> society? 
> 
> Best,
> Frank
> 
> 
> On Tue, 14 Jul 2020 11:40:49 +0900 (KST), Brother Anthony wrote:
>> Part of the problem is the size of the collection, which TB wishes to 
>> sell complete. This takes us into the several millions of dollars 
>> which is hardly feasible in today's world. As for his collection 
>> related to Indochina, which is so much larger and much more complex, 
>> from what I hear, one dares not even think of what a possible price 
>> might be or who might pay it. For Korea, part of the difficulty is 
>> the amost complete lack of national awareness or interest when it 
>> comes to archiving materials of any kind, anywhere. I have not heard 
>> that there is a Korean National Archive which would be the obvious 
>> place for such a collection. I was quite surprised when recently the 
>> pack of 94 photographic negatives by (?) Carlo Rossetti found a buyer 
>> in Korea (I do not know who) at a high price at K Auction after 
>> failing to find a buyer ar auctions in Europe, etc. If TB wishes to 
>> sell, he would be well advised to take the same route (auction in 
>> Korea, probably preceded by an exhibition) but I doubt if he could 
>> sell the complete collection as such. It is bound to have materials 
>> with varying levels of rarity / interest / value. There are other 
>> considerable collections of archival material related to Korea I know 
>> of that face the same problem, for even should someone wish to make a 
>> donation, I do not really see any institution in Korea qualified and 
>> adapted to receive fragile materials such as photos, maps, account 
>> books, personal letters, transcribed interviews, diaries . . . . with 
>> no immediate purpose other than long-term preservation. 
>> 
>> The other side of the coin is the considerable amount of older 
>> printed material held in certain university libraries in Seoul to 
>> which absolutely noobody seems able to gain access. It is only quite 
>> recently that Korean academics seem to have realized the interest of 
>> the older photographic record. The use made by Korean scholars from 
>> Sungyungwan of the photographic materials in the Griffis archive at 
>> Rutgers in preparing last year's massive volume 'Photographs of Korea 
>> in the William Elliot Griffis Collection' marks a new departure.
>> 
>> Brother Anthony
>> President, RAS Korea
>> 
>> 
> 
> _______________________________
> Frank Hoffmann
> http://koreanstudies.com
> 

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