Eye Witness to Disaster and Triumph Explains the significance of the famous George Lawrence’s spectacular kite aerial photographs of the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The pictures of the disaster and the remarkable rebuild two years later were taken with a specially built fifty-pound camera.
Meet me in St. Louis Presents the first kite competition in the U.S. in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase World’s Fair event, you can rub elbows with Alexander Graham Bell; Lt B. Baden Powell; Octave Chanute; Samuel F. Cody and sixteen other kite contestants. Most of these gentlemen were experimenting with kites to lift men and hopefully to eventually invent the aeroplane. Hands-on tetrahedron kite pieces await your world-class creation.
Other 'firsts' were ice cream cones and hot dogs.
100-year old Coyne
Alexander Graham Bell Tetrahedron
Visitors get to play with this kite!
Kites of World War II Shows how the military dealt with communication before cordless phones, radar and Internet. From the 13’ X 10’ barrage kite to the first two line maneuverable target kites decorated with enemy air planes, each of the kites is an original from the 1940s. Uniforms on loan from Ilwaco Heritage and the Luethe Family plus World War II posters add color.
Target Kite
Air Mail Kite
Barrage Kite
Antennae Lifter
A Kite Junket Through Southeast Asia Begins in Japan, which is the featured Asian kite collection this year. A video of the Shironi Festival helps you realize the passion behind the Japanese kite culture.
Other countries on the kite tour include China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Each country’s kites are made of different materials, have different decorations and are used and flown for different reasons.
^ Kites from Thailand: Dating from the 13th Century, kites were flown in this Buddhist country as a blessing by priests. Often they had reeds stretched across the back making a humming sound. Today kites are flown in tournaments at the beginning of the monsoon. It is a match between a large kite called a chula and several smaller kites named pakapaos. The two different kites try to pull the other to his side of the field. The game makes exciting sport for fliers and spectators.
^ Many Malaysian kites have upper wings like the chula of Thailand. Their kites differ however, because of the intricate jewel like decorations on them and the elaborate trailing tails. Many tales and legends about kite escapades are passed orally through generations. A more prosaic kite of Malaysia, made by young and old, is the layang-layang. It doesn’t need directions to make. Any square piece of paper and some supple sticks can turn into a kite.
^ Japanese Kites
Japanese Kites: When kites came to Japan from China in the 7th century, they were flown as part of religious ceremonies to scare the devil or evil spirits or to call the gods down the flying line. They also became associated with celebrations and holidays such as invocations for a rich harvest, congratulations for a first-born son.
The kite culture of Japan is vast and varied.
^ Japanese Kites
^ Chinese Kites: The first written accounts of kite flying in China were stories about using them in battle to measure distances and to frighten the enemy at night with noisemakers from the sky. Because of the availability of bamboo, paper and silk, the Han Dynasty allowed kites to become a universal folk art and made it possible for all people to enjoy kite flying. Today China is famous for six main kite regions. Each region uses a unique kite style, with over three hundred types of kites.
Indonesian Bird
^ Indonesian Kites: Indonesia is another place where kites began very early in time. Their first kites were made from leaves. Leaf kites were used to get their fishing line farther out to sea. Kites were also used to catch large fruit bats.
Because of the strong winds around the Indonesian islands, very large kites were created out of the indigenous bamboo, cotton fabric and later nylon taffeta. Indonesian kites are mostly shaped like birds and animals.
Indonesian Frog
Indonesian Horse
The Korean Kite Story Exhibit "The Korean Kite Story", a new exhibit at the Museum, includes replicas of the unique signal kites used by Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the 1590s war with Japan. The kite decoration is a code to direct the Army and Navy. Visitors can decode messages and send messages in kite code.
Other kites in the exhibit are decorated with both the folk and fine arts of Korea. The popular game of kite fighting and its amazing use of a spinning line winder is a third Korean category. A short video of the flying technique plays regularly.
The Kite’s Love Affair with Water and Water Creatures Brings you up-to-date with the Western kite world. Kite artists paint, appliqué, quilt and shape their one-of-a-kind creations as swimmers through the air. The bold colors of sea life entice the kite business and attract buyers. And the kite’s ability to pull and reach introduces how kites help people fish, pulls their boats and most exciting of all propels them and their kite boards through the air.
Fishes
Fish
The Kites and Culture of India is a study of the importance of kites to this second largest populated country in the world. As with the previous February event, the Museum will present other arts philosophies and characteristics of the Indian culture.
