Museum offers audio tour of Asian art

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell presents its first audio tour, "Stories in Asian Art," featuring in-depth stories about works in the Asian collection.

"It is exciting to look at a great Chinese sculpture or Japanese painting in the original and hear at the same time a lively discussion of its meaning and function in society, its symbolism and its artistic quality, with a background of music from the same culture," said Frank Robinson, the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the museum. "It is truly a learning experience, and a very enjoyable one."

Visitors can select from a list of 24 works on view in the museum's fifth-floor Asian galleries, including sculptures, paintings and armor. The artworks selected are from China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia, India and Iran. A transcript of "Stories in Asian Art" is available upon request at the lobby desk.

"We are very excited to present this program to our visitors, the first of its kind at the museum," said Cathy Klimaszewski, associate director and curator of education. "Our goal is to help visitors learn more about Asian art and have a memorable and enjoyable viewing experience while they are here."

The audio tour is made possible through the generosity of Susan E. Lynch, in memory of her husband, Ronald P. Lynch '58. The tour was created by the museum's Education Department and Department of Asian Art and produced by Soundtracks.

The tour is the first phase of a comprehensive interpretive plan for the Asian galleries, which also will include a self-directed tour, designed for use on a personal digital assistant (PDA), that traces the evolution of Buddhism through Asian art using selected works from the collection. The PDA guides are scheduled to be completed this year in collaboration with the Human Computer Interaction group at Cornell, headed by Professor Geri Gay.

The Johnson Museum received a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services to fund these interpretive projects. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning, supports the operating expenses of the Johnson Museum.