See-Mingei.org (Mingei International Museum)

In 2005, Historicus, Inc. teamed with Mingei International Museum to create an interactive kiosk for display at the museum’s premises in San Diego, California. “Mingei,” a Japanese word meaning “arts of the people,” refers to objects that, though everyday, functional items in their respective cultures of origin, can be appreciated for their beauty and artistic value. The museum envisioned a clean yet appealing interface in which to display digitized photographs of its collection and to provide a bibliography for additional reference. Using mySQL and Macromedia Flash 8, Historicus, Inc. developed an interactive world map, with links to different regions within which the end user can explore art objects separated by medium type. In 2008, Historicus, Inc. revisited the Mingei project and brought See Mingei to the web, developing a mySQL-backed interface capable of displaying, at high resolution, over 5,000 folklore objects sorted by region and media type. Visit the site now at www.see-mingei.org and tell us what you think!  Update: See Mingei has won an Honorable Mention at the 2009 Webby Awards and a Silver at the 2009 Horizon Interactive Awards.