About the Talk
Book s from the Edo period (1603-1868) were almost exclusively printed on fine J apanese paper by woodblock\, and many were bound in paper covers that were intricately decorated by embossing\, burnishing\, multi-colored printing an d other decorative techniques. In contrast to the attractive appearance of these covers\, they were made of layers of gray colored\, lowest-quality pa per containing hairs\, dust\, and other impurities. The low-quality paper w as a recycled paper that was made from waste paper\, while traditional Japa nese paper was made from tree bark fibers such as kozo (paper mulb erry). How were those papers and covers made? Who made them? Do certain phy sical characteristics such as decorations and raw materials reflect certain periods of time or subject matter? As a trained conservator\, I study the history of materials\, their production methods\, and their chemistry in or der to halt\, mitigate\, or retard the degradation of the artifacts. I will talk about rarely documented and researched recycled papermaking and book cover production from a conservator’s perspective. My presentation intends to encourage cross-disciplinary conversations among technical experts\, sci entists\, and humanities scholars.
Speaker Bio
Since 2017\, Kazuko Hioki serves as the preservation librarian at the Univ ersity of Hawai’i Mānoa Library. A book and paper conservator\, she earned an M.I.L.S. with a Certificate of Advanced Study in Conservation from the U niversity of Texas at Austin\, and was trained and employed as a conservato r at various institutions including the University of Kentucky Libraries\, the New York Public Library\, and the Library of Congress. Before her caree r in conservation\, she was a chemist at the Sumitomo Chemical Company in O saka\, having completed a Bachelor of Agriculture degree focused on pestici de chemistry from Kobe University. More information about her research can be found here: http://works .bepress.com/kazukohioki/