Spectrum Hawaii; 320; Ban Chiang, Quilts, Hon-Chew Hee

[Announcer] The following program is a production of KHET in Honolulu, Hawaii Public Television. The following program has been funded in part by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts and by grants from the people of Chevron of Hawaii and from the Davies Charitable Trust. [bird sounds, waves crashing] Today on Spectrum Hawaii we are given a glimpse into the secretive art of Hawaiian quilting, where methods are handed down through the generations. Water colorist Hon Chew Hee, founder of the Hawaii Watercolor Society, displays his pioneering wet on wet technique. But first, the lost Bronze Age of Thailand is examined. New evidence has

appeared that reveals traces of an unknown civilization in ancient Southeast Asia. [Introduction music] Southeast Asia stretches from eastern India to the South China Sea and its archipelagos. Thailand, about the size of Spain, lies near its heart. Thailand's ancient history, particularly its pre-Buddhist history, has been

shrouded in mystery. Traditional notions about old Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia dismissed the area as a mere receptacle of India's and China's culture, hence the name Indochina. As archaeologist Shep Gorman once said, "The traditional belief is that they squatted in their caves until they were taught the rudiments of civilization by more intelligent outsiders." This traditional belief was shaken, however, by several old discoveries that reveal traces of an unsuspected prehistoric civilization in Southeast Asia. Dr. Wilhelm Solheim and his students, including Shep Gorman, were the first Americans to specialize in Southeast Asian archaeology. [Solheim] There's been a big growth, a big development in Prehistoric Archaeology since we started

coming up with this information on early Thailand. [Announcer] There had been previous theories speculating on the possibility of an early center of civilization outside of ancient China or India. But they remained unverified until unusual evidence appeared. Then the proof of Ban Chiang. [Solheim] Ban Chiang attracted much more attention in some way than our earlier excavations did, just because of the beautiful painted pottery. [Announcer] Ban Chiang is a village on the northeast plateau of Thailand near the Mekong River. Here excavations beginning in 1974 and directed by Shep Gorman and the government of Thailand unearthed artifacts that raise new questions about man and his civilization. [Feldman] The interesting thing is how they start off so advanced. [Announcer] Jerome Feldman is an art historian of Hawaii Loa College in Kaneohe. When he first observed the traveling exhibit of Ban Chiang artifacts hosted by

Hawaii Loa College, he was impressed with ancient Thailand's innovation and metallurgy. [Feldman] They start with ores, smelt those ores. It requires very high temperatures to melt this metal, so there's a furnace technology that has to be developed for smelting. And there is evidence of annealing, hammering, layering. Very complex metal technology being used. [Announcer] In Ban Chiang were found axes, bracelets, beads, and crucibles. When ancient societies learn the techniques of turning stone into metal, they normally use this superior technology for expansion and domination. [Solheim] There's just no indication of warfare, no indication of centralization of power, yet the accoutrements that presumably went along with this were there. [Announcer] The burials did not indicate beheading or mutilated bodies.

They suggest a peaceful culture of advanced abilities. Here were prosperous rice farmers who could forge metal and turn out elegant ceramic pottery. [Feldman] And strikingly enough in the very otherwise simple agricultural context. It goes against what we're used to, we're used to big civilizations, and as Bill pointed out, civilizations with armies and with massive undertakings and we don't see that here. [Announcer] What we see are well crafted items that are thousands of years old from a previously unexplored corner of the world. [Feldman] To a great extent, the world is looking for new things to discover and as it turns out, the finds at Ban Chiang are rather spectacular artistically. Especially the later painted pots. [Announcer] The news of this pottery spread quickly, perhaps too quickly. [Solheim] Collectors got onto this very early.

I understand pieces in London and Frankfurt and the major areas collectors were in in Europe were going for close to $10,000. [Announcer] The cache of the collectors proved tempting to Thai villagers. The Thais are an independent people, having never been colonized. When the old pots they found in their backyard suddenly became valuable, they started digging. [Solheim] The village of Ban Chiang is sitting right on top of the site. [Announcer] Archaeologists have very little in common with art collectors. Although government regulations now prohibit ancient art from leaving Thailand, for a time there was commerce in loot. Looting is a threat to knowledge. When an ancient site is disturbed by heedless looters, a pot, piece of art is yanked from its context. But left in place, ancient relations are deduced. Perhaps a ritual is discovered. A cultural

phase or relationships with other cultures. Investigators can only date and identify the pots as genuine by finding them in their 5,000 year old beds. Thereby adding to mankind's knowledge of man. [Crockett] Some people do have in their homes in Thailand pots from-- called the Ban Chiang cultural area, that look like this. Some have extensive collections which of course cannot leave the country. [Announcer] Dave Crockett as co-director of the Marinda Lee Gallery at Hawaii Loa College speaks as the project director for this visiting exhibit. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Service, the University of Pennsylvania, and Thailand, these Ban Chiang artifacts represent Hawaii Loa's first major exhibition. Crockett saw his task plainly. [Crockett] Fully expose everything here and all the visitors could have a

chance to be comfortable and not crowded and be able to take their time and see all these things and digest the whole exhibit. You don't have to put yellow arrows on the floor. [Announcer] Among the visitors were Thai students and teachers as well as American students of Thai culture. This is the language of Thailand. [audio of woman speaking Thai] [audio of woman speaking Thai] One such Thai student, Sutatip, assisted Dave Crockett in the exhibit set up. [Sutatip] I'm glad everybody is paying so much attention to this and it just give us so much pride that we have such a long history. [Announcer] It is now known to be a country with an ancient civilization. One that possesses similarities with surrounding cultures that provokes the thought

of scholars. [Feldman] It's a difficult thing to prove, all you can say is that we have shreds of evidence. Most theorists now believe that Polynesians originated in Southeast Asia. [Announcer] Scholars from diverse fields have added their knowledge to these theories. There should be many more sites like Ban Chiang in North Vietnam and southeastern China to provide further proof. Ban Chiang itself provides direct evidence of a cultural development in Southeast Asia that might be early enough to help explain the enormous migrations and explorations of the Polynesian people. Could the ancient inhabitants of Ban Chiang have been the ancestors of those people who settled the Pacific domain, one of the last regions of the world to be settled by prehistoric man? Scholars will keep searching

and digging. [Crockett] The Age of Exploration is over and many things have wound up in our museums. And we really don't know what's out there yet that will be found inside the earth. [outro segment music] Deborah Kakalia teaches Hawaiian quilt making at the Bishop Museum, while Lee Wild oversees a historical quilt collection at the Mission Houses Museum. Together, they share with us a view of symmetrical beauty in a cultural resource. [Announcer 2] There has been an awakening to the value of traditional handicrafts in Hawaii. Imaginative patterns seen in Hawaiian quilts are a demonstration of this

living art. Deborah Kakalia, a master of Hawaiian design, has drawn upon her garden as a source of inspiration for her original quilts. [Kakalia] What makes it more interesting to me is because I create my own. I work and wake up 4:00 in the morning and I have a pattern in mind and I design it right away before it runs away and by the time day break I have the pattern that I want. And I usually take my patterns from a live flower, see, and some people said "I want this pattern, I want that pattern," so I go and look for the flowers. And there's some flowers that are so tiny but I enlarge it. See, like this, this is kiss me quick. They call it "kiss me quick", and some call it "yesterday, today, and tomorrow". And it's tiny.

So whatever flower that I have, I take it from a real flower, then I enlarge it. So like this, the liko lehua, you cannot create a pattern out of the lehua itself, because it's a powderpuff. So I took the bud, and then this is all the bud. That's the way I create patterns. The center of your quilt is very important. And it signifies the Creator. So every creator usually have their own center, but mine is the only one that has the star. This is Ka'iulani's fan. When she went to London to school she came back wearing the Spanish-- using a Spanish fan and a Spanish comb. Well Princess Ka'iulani was one of our princess, I think she's-- what you called it, was sent to London but she died very young because she had

pneumonia. They did this to remember her. That's why they call this Ka'iulani's Fan. [Announcer2] Traditionally Hawaiian quilts were often made to honor and record events of history. The quilts added color and design to the lives of Hawaiians and became cherished family possessions. Sewing skills for sails and fishing nets had long been known by native men and women. But it wasn't until the 1820s that the arrival of Christian missionaries introduced the concept of piecing and patching fabric together to form large decorative quilts. Mission schools set up in the homes of missionaries taught the New England quilting

style, which has since evolved into a unique Hawaiian art form. Today these missionary homes still stand holding within them artifacts that denote the evolution of a peculiarly Hawaiian style of quilting. At the Mission House, Special Projects Coordinator Lee Wild describes a few of the antique quilts in the museum's collection. [Wild] This orange and white Hawaiian quilt was donated to the museum. We know that it was made around 1906, however the name of the pattern has not come forward to us. We know that there are the bases in the four corners of the quilt with flowers coming out and the crosses in the center. But we're not sure what the actual name is of the actual pattern. This piece is marvelous. It's been pieced in several spots, all together, they must have run out of some of the fabric. The next quilt

is a blue and white. This pattern traditionally is known as The Beauty of Maui or The Maui Beauty pattern. When this quilt was donated to the museum, it came with the pattern name of Kahului Breakwater. Most of these quilts with this pattern will have a name designating it as being from the island of Maui. The stitching on this quilt uses the Chickenfoot stitch as the applique stitch as they go around the area here. See, following the design manner of quilting is said to be unique to the Hawaiian Islands as one of the things that designates the quilt as being Hawaiian quilts. One of the Hawaiian flag quilts in the collection is this marvelous piece that is very different from the usual Hawaiian flag quilt. This one does not contain the coat of arms, but will have the Moma Lei(?)

and the crown in the center. Again, we believe this one was made in the early 1900s also. It does have the standards up in the corners of the quilt. It has widely been believed that the Hawaiian flag quilt became a very popular pattern and was actually created at the time of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. I think the prolific making of these Hawaiian flag quilts at the time of the overthrow of the monarchy was to preserve the Hawaiian flag, the image of the Hawaiian flag that the people thought that maybe this would be lost forever. [Announcer 2] Hawaiian quilting is derived from New England methods. However as it developed here in Hawaii, an original style began to emerge. [Kakalei] Well, the difference between a Hawaiian quilt and the American type of quilt is that the Hawaiian quilt you quilt

every portion. The motive and the outside, whereas in your American quilt, you only quilt the pattern down, and that's all, all the patterns. But we quilt the whole thing. Everything. Quilting gave-- it relaxes me. And I sit and I think of good things. You know, I don't think-- you know, as you get older you get all kinds, so you forget what you have. And you think only of nice things. I call this the half American quilt. Hapa-Haole. The reason for this is because the center is Hawaiian and I'll be quilting the outside like your American quilt in stripes. You have to mark it off with a ruler. The Americans call it the medallion type. But I call it half American, or Hapa-Haole.

The old Hawaiians do not like to show people what they know. I've known women that quilt for 45, 50 years but they have never shown their work out. They've hidden it, you know. Even now they won't come out and show their work. But I go out and I show what I know. Actually it wasn't a dying art, it was a hidden art. A lot of people said it's a dying art, but it wasn't, it was a hidden art. [Outro segment music] [Announcer] The Honolulu Zoo offers a quiet center amid our spinning world. Young faces of curiosity are there to gaze at a collection of exotic citizens out for a stroll. Hon Chew Hee painted his first mural on the wall of his family's home in Maui.

He was three years old. Now 80 years old, he continues to paint and is considered by many as a master of the wet on wet watercolor technique in Hawaii. [Hon Chew Hee] Art is the blood on my heart. Without it, I die. I just painting, painted nothing to sell it, nothing to get a prize or anything. Just enjoy. That's the only reason. I paint to my dying day. So I paint every day almost. [Announcer] Hee sketches the Ko'olau Mountains from the front door of his Kaneohe home. He prefers paints to pencils for his sketches, as he's able to choose the colors and create the composition for the final image. [Hon Chew Hee] It's the inspiration. I generally take the

colors, shape, and from there I change it into my way of thinking. [Announcer] As a child Hee moved to China. There he was educated in the Chinese Classics and the Daoist philosophy. He views his art as an expression of the Daoist principles of yin and yang. Space and solids, white and black. Squares and circles. Opposite forces coming together in a perfect balance. Blending and bleeding of colors and lines characterize the wet on wet technique. This effect is achieved by applying water colors to wet surfaces and allowing them to meld together. Consequently the artist has less control over the medium than when the paint is applied to a dry surface. [Watercolor sounds]

Paper is first soaked thoroughly to remove the sizing. [Hon Chew Hee] I eliminate the size, you know, wash up the size and then no size [unintelligible] [Announcer] Hon Chew Hee has taught this technique to hundreds of students including Jackie Kennedy, but says it is difficult to master because it can be so unpredictable. [Hon Chew Hee] You are not able to put down the color you wanted. [Announcer] Hee tells of how he learned this technique at the Art Students League in New York in 1950. Already an accomplished painter, Hee showed his portfolio to his teacher George Grosz. [Hon Chew Hee] And he said it is bad, laughing, and I almost turned from red to purple and the whole class, about 30 students, they all laughing. I said "what's wrong with it? I've got my-- what's wrong with my work?" And he said "nothing wrong, it's beautiful, it's everything." But

they just like-- just like you are Chinese, you're wearing a mandarin coat. And it's beautiful coat but it's old, old fashioned. Past the style, he said. And "I show you." So next week he just grabbed the paper and watering down, and he said "see, how these crawl." If it comes out like the chicken, I make a rooster. If it comes out like the tiger, I make the tiger. My style of wet on wet. So fine, very good. After six months with him I show him my portfolio, he say "good, great, beautiful". I say "where should I go from here?" He said "go into Europe, go to China, go

to any place, but don't stay here." So I went to Europe. [Announcer] Upon his return to the islands nine years later, Hee taught art and founded the Hawaii Watercolor Society. [Hon Chew Hee] At the time we had only 18 student, now we have 250 members. [Announcer] Since his childhood attempts in Maui, Hee has been fascinated by murals. As a student at the California School of Fine Arts, Hee would watch the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera at work on campus. [Hon Chew Hee] And every day I watch him, every day and then one day I walk over and he said to me "are you tired looking at me?" I said "no, no, I have to go back to the class". So since when I talked to him I show him my work, and he said "wow you are talented person, you are natural gifted. You can come with me, come to Mexico and be my assistants. One of my assistants."

And I couldn't do it, and I had to get my degree and I said "I have to get a degree", and he said "degree is one thing, art is another thing. Anyways, you can come whenever you feel like." [Announcer] Unfortunately Hee was not able to because of anti-Chinese feelings in that country at the time. However, he continued with his murals which can be seen throughout Honolulu in a variety of media. Hee has recently completed three colored marble panels in Taiwan for the Mililani Public Library. He's already working with his assistant Robert Tom on an entry for a mural competition for the Taiwanese government.

[Hon Chew Hee] Many years ago I thought I should get another profession. And I thought to myself if I were big, I were gone and reincarnated again, what should I do? I end up, I want to be an artist again. [Segment outro music] Spectrum was funded in part by grants from the Davies Churchill Trust

from the people of Chevron in Hawaii and by the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.