TULSA, Okla. — The Philbrook Museum’s Swords, Samurai and Shogun event taught visitors about Japanese culture in conjunction with the museum’s SAMURAI exhibit.
“Here at Philbrook we have been so lucky to have this exhibition of Japanese arms and armor and today, we made a connection between that exhibition and the Emmy-award winning program Shogun,” said Philbrook’s Director of Learning and Audience Engagement Tracy Truels. “We had local martial arts practitioners…We also had three martial arts practitioners who actually train folks in Vancouver who worked on the show and so we got to talk about swords and stuff! It was great!”
Truels said the museum planned the event after seeing how interested people were in learning more about the history behind the items displayed in the SAMURAI exhibition.
“The Samurai are such a big part of our pop culture, right? We even have a section of the exhibition where we have posters from all the different adaptations and one of the things we’re finding is that our visitors are really hungry to learn more, to feel like they’re getting an authentic experience. I’ve had visitors ask me, ‘Is this a real Samurai suit or is this a copy?’ And I say, ‘No, this is the real thing.’ That’s one of the things that we love to be able to do for and with our audiences. Bring them authentic experiences, but also bring in a diversity of viewpoints so they can hear more from the experts.”
Truels shared what she hopes people will learn from both the event and the exhibit.
“What I hope that they get out of it is an opportunity to find their connection point to what’s happening. A lot of times coming and seeing the exhibition, seeing a group like Tulsa Kendo or Iaido Tulsa, they have an opportunity to act on an interest, maybe even start a new hobby or just spend a lovely afternoon experiencing something that is unique to this place and this moment…These exhibitions that might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of the things that we’re seeing, especially the number of Samurai suits that you can see in the exhibition is highly unusual—overwhelming in a good way—so we love being able to bring that to everybody across Tulsa and Oklahoma.”
The SAMURAI exhibit will be open until August 3.
To learn more about the SAMURAI exhibit and the other exhibits and events at the Philbrook Museum, you can visit their website at philbrook.org.