Windows to the Ainu World Digital exhibition

The Ainu are an indigenous community from the islands of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Archipelago. Known for conducting trade throughout the Sea of Okhotsk region, in the nineteenth century Ainu lands were partitioned by colonial powers, and the Ainu were forcibly assimilated into Japanese and Russian society. While the colonial policies of the latenineteenth and early-twentieth centuries impacted many cultural practices, in recent decades activists have worked to revitalize these traditions, pushing for greater recognition from the Japanese government, and in 2019 the government of Japan officially recognized the Ainu as a distinct indigenous community.

Created by MacKenzie Coyle, Post-Graduate Curatorial Fellow in Asian Art, Windows to the Ainu World highlights the Ainu-related collections at the University of Oregon. Drawing from the collections of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and the University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, this digital exhibition surveys and documents the numerous Ainu-related materials at the University of Oregon. While comprised largely of paintings, prints, sketches, and glass lantern slides—objects typically created by and for secondhand observers—these works offer a unique look at how the Hokkaido Ainu and their culture have been understood and represented by others throughout the centuries, opening important conversations about history, indigenous rights and agency, and colonialism as it relates to the Ainu community.

Learn more: bit.ly/46tGZMK