Written by Arts Management Intern Diana Kate Karsanow
Adam Kuehnl is one of the students from the Art History Capstone course from this past fall which was responsible for the curation of the current exhibit: Desire, Conflict & Exchange Art of 19th Century East Asia & the West. Kuehnl is a junior from Austintown, Ohio. He is an East Asian Language and Cultures major with a concentration in Japanese. He is involved in the Japanese Language Table and Japanese Culture and Language Club on campus.
During the semester long capstone course, all students worked collaboratively to select an overall theme, sub-themes, and a wide variety of pieces to be featured. Later on, each student chose an individual piece to highlight and explore more in-depth, researching its history and background and then compiling that information in a catalogue entry.
Kuehnl chose the triptych titled, Negotiations between Japan, China and Korea. The print depicts Japanese, Chinese, and Korean officials disputing over control of the Korean peninsula. Kuehnl was interested in this piece because of its significance to Japanese history as well as its aesthetic and visual appeal.
Kuehnl enjoyed the Capstone course because it allowed him to explore more about Chinese and Korean history during the Age of Imperialism which complimented his knowledge of Japanese history. His favorite part of the course was working with the art pieces that were going to be in the exhibition. When describing this experience Kuehnl states” it’s almost like going to a museum yourself, but a lot more personal”. He encourages his fellow East Asian Language and Culture majors to participate in this Capstone class the next time Dr. Hatch teaches it as well as any student who is interested in art, history, and culture.
Learn more about Adam’s piece along with the rest of the exhibition, Desire, Conflict & Exchange, at the exhibition website: https://sites.miamioh.edu/muam-capsp20/
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