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Traditionally, a work of art by a Zen master would be mounted as a hanging scroll, called kakejiku in Japanese. Such a scroll would be displayed in the alcove of a temple or a home, and then stored in a specially made box when not on view. Usually the scrolls were rested periodically, but sometimes they were hung for decades, even centuries, and consequently suffered the ravages of time such as browning and foxing (small brown spots that sometimes appear over time) of the paper, cracks in the backing, water stains, or wormholes in the mounting. Also, since Zen art is created in the here and now with no retouching, the original piece itself sometimes has splashes, drips, characters crossed out or inserted later, tears, cat paw prints, seals placed upside down, and similar marks that would be considered defects in most other forms of art. Two famous calligraphers, Tesshu and Nantembo, were famous for destroying part of the paper with their initial stroke of the brush.
Connoisseurs of Zen art generally prefer to display Zen scrolls in their original condition, but often it is necessary to have the artwork restored cleaned and nicely remounted. Some of the scrolls in the Shambhala Gallery of Zen Art are offered in their original "as-is" condition. The other pieces have been carefully restored under the direct supervision of John Stevens.
Zen scrolls can be displayed in a Western-style environment with no problem but they should not be hung in direct sunlight or any place where they can be exposed to wind or rain. When stored in their boxes, the scrolls should be kept in a dry place, and it is a good idea to insert a moth ball into the box to prevent worm damage.
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