Viewing Stone Shows at Huntington Library, Dec. 2019: Huntington Viewing Stone Curator Jim Greaves

From Dec. 26 - 30, 2019, the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens near Los Angeles is simultaneously hosting three viewing stone shows: historical show, club show, and special show for children, at Brody Botanical Center in the campus of the Huntington.

Huntington's viewing stone curator Jim Greaves talks about overview of the three shows.

In the exhibition space in the Botanical Center, two large halls are designated for a club show or "Viewing Stone Show: The 30th Anniversary Exhibition of California Aiseki Kai."

The room shown in this video holds a historical exhibition with the title of "From Tiger Strips to Mindless Cloud: Celebrating 50 Years of Stone Appreciation at The Huntington." The Huntington is one of the oldest public venue which continues to exhibit viewing stones.

Mr. Greaves explains California stone collectors follow Japanese approach which is called "suiseki" literally means water and stone or water and landscape. Typical Japanese style viewing stones represent distance mountains. But in California, there are not river stones like Japan. But earlier American collectors like Bob Watson in 1960s instead gathered desert stones which are not found in Japan. Bob Watson developed Zen Garden and Bonsai Court at the Huntington.

A special exhibition is planned for children for learning concepts of viewing stones. Workshops and an animal stone exhibition are provided for children for the first time.

This interview video is recorded by Shige Higashi, Editor of Cultural News. YouTube-Japanese Art & Culture in Los Angeles project is supported by the Cultural News Association, a non-profit organization in Los Angeles. For more information, please visit https://culturalnews.com/missions