For the last edition of Dialogue magazine, we spoke to Dr Craig Barclay about our Oriental Museum, its partners all over the world and its latest major collaborative project.
Following on from last month, Dialogue found out more about the unique collection of family memorabilia from our Oriental Museum, which is now on display at the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura, Chiba.
This special exhibition ‘Memories of the Squire Family – Mementoes of a British Engineer’, offers a glimpse into the life of a British engineering family who lived in Japan in the early 20th century.
The collection of 50 items includes photographs, books, artwork and clothes, and was donated to the Oriental Museum by the family in 1980. Now, after more than a decade of planning, Rachel Barclay, our Senior Curator at the Oriental Museum, has taken the collection back to be exhibited in Japan.
Photograph from the exhibition
About the Squire family
A British engineer, George Squire (1868-1930), went to Japan in 1898 to manage the Senju Paper Mill in Kokura, Kyushu.
While commuting between Kokura and the head office in Tokyo by boat, George managed the factory by paying close attention to everything from training workers to paying salaries.
During his three-year stay, he was joined by his wife Lydia Squire and their two young daughters, Majorie, and Dorothy. Lydia educated her daughters at her home, and taught English to her neighbours.
The family’s time in Japan was documented through photographs taken at the Kunizo Moriyama Photo Studio in Kokura, which are now among the treasured items in this exhibition.
Rachel Barclay, our Senior Curator, said: “What makes this collection so special is how personal so many of the objects are to members of the family. One of the fans still has the children’s fingerprints on it. Visitors can really connect with this family and their friends living in Japan more than 120 years ago through the objects in the exhibition.’’
Rachel Barclay installing the exhibition
Working in partnership
The exhibition is being co-hosted by Durham, at the National Museum of Japanese History as part of the ongoing commitment to research cooperation. Both institutions renewed and re-signed a Memorandum of Understanding or Rekinaku partnership, in 2022 during a visit by our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Karen O’Brien.
This partnership has previously facilitated other cultural exchanges, including last year’s major exhibition 'Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki', hosted in collaboration with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
Durham and the North East region are proud to have a long history of friendship and cooperation with the people of Japan, with Japanese students studying here since the 19th century. This history of collaboration has been developed since then through many decades of teaching Japanese Studies at Durham. This popular programme, which now has almost one hundred students, is underpinned by an exchange programme with 11 leading Japanese universities, including in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kyushu.
Japan is a highly valued partner in terms of scientific research collaborations at Durham. Between 2019 and 2023, Durham academics collaborated on over 500 co-publications with counterparts across 180 Japanese institutions. This exhibition helps to strengthen our links with studying Arts and Humanities subjects, including History, Archaeology and Sociology in Japanese Universities.
Professor Claire O’Malley, Pro-Vice Chancellor Global, explains the importance of our links with Japan:
Museums and Collections are one of Durham’s unique strengths and our partnership with the National Museum of Japanese History, which was renewed in 2022, is a great example of how we can collaborate to internationalise the research, education and profiles of both our institutions.
"British and Japanese academic institutions share the same values – a commitment to academic freedom, civic engagement and to play a leading role in addressing global challenges. We have common research strengths. By working together, we can bring benefit not only to our two countries but globally."
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