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Originally Posted by Mark
There has, frankly, been a lot of BS and distortion circulating about how the Philippines Section was organized in its final form. I hope to put that question finally to rest.
The entire process of the final organization of the Philippines section was conducted in a private, password protected forum generously provided by Lee on Vikingsword. If you want to get the inside story as it unfolded, the link is http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=10 and the password is pira06.
I think even a cursory reading will show that there was a tremendous amount of energy, time and commitment put in by everyone involved. All of the original contributors were asked to continue their participation (except for the original Section coordinator what was removed by the Museum), but unfortunately only a handful were ever heard from. It will also be seen that the entire process of selection and description was open to the whole group (final selections were whittled down by a committee of three contributors). All descriptions were posted for review by the entire group.
I went through and bumped all the threads, so that you can see them without having to search for old threads, then locked them to preserve them as they were first made. The only edits I made to any posts were to remove e-mail addresses, and links to one web page that itself contains a link to a second page where $$ insurance values are listed. I pasted in the text of the first web page, minus the link to the second, in the introductory sticky thread at the top of the forum.
Reading it all over again, I was reminded of what an exciting and rewarding process it all was. I am very proud to have been a part of the effort, as I am very proud to have worked with all the dedicated people involved. Whatever after-the-fact detractors might say about it, it was all worth it, and everyone gave all of themselves in making it happen. |
So true Mark !!!
It is time to unveil some other things that show how serious we at the Museum are when doing something.
The interesting fact is that
no other section created any problems at all, and everything went smoothly after intensive negotiations.
Here is a link to the
History of Steel Introductory websiteas well as the post
aborted version of the submissions which caused some to not participate after the first coordinator was kicked out by me due to his entire unreliability. I have the email that dismissed him, no matter how the truth is laundered, and distorted.
In retrospect, the people who didn't join did it, in my opinion, because of certain influences out of spitefulness and because of ignorance of how a Museum works. This is of paramount importance for shallow judgement, but it is now water under the bridge. But I will not lower myself to the level of said person, nor do I have to prove anything.
Other Museums such as in
my visit to Koreawith the involvement of the
Korean Government, participated and were previously informed by their Consul General who paid a preliminary visit to the Museum at our request, as can be seen early in the link.
It is of the foremost importance that each person
knows exactly their own limitations.
Our Museum has a tremendous track record on
Past Exhibitions and
Present
Exhibitions that speak for themselves. I myself have done over 300 exhibitions since 1978 and while I declare myself not a specialist on
Philippines, Continental East Asia, Korean, Japanese or Chinese swords, I believe I have the authority based on a unblemished record of
28 years organizing exhibitions.
As proven here,
Governments of
Korea and
China through reputable Museums, plus collectors of
goodwill of Japanese, Philippines and Continental Asia trusted the Museum.
It seems that some people
don't know their own limitations.
But the fact is, whether or not they participated, the exhibition is done and the catalogue will soon be ready. Those who point out "mistakes" point out their own dismissal or self dismissal with whatever excuses they could come up with. To blame the Museum, who just made a coordinating effort,
knowing exactly its role, is a low act of decency and quite revealing of the moral stature of those who criticize.
However, there is a very positive thing. Despite all efforts to discredit the exhibition (does anyone recall the
fable of the fox and the sour grapes ?) the exhibition took place, thanks to the constructive attitude that will go down in book.
And with this final statement, I remove myself from the debate over this issue, now that most of the truth has emerged.
Thank you once more to all that made it possible, and I wish to also thank the detractors for showing their real selves.