ICOM News 2015 Vol. 68 n.3-4, December 2015

THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSEUMS MAGAZINE

VOL 68 NO 3-4

DECEMBER 2015

news

ICOM SPECIAL ISSUE

Museums and cultural landscapes

MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES 3 - 9 July 2016

www.milano2016.icom.museum Credit: Roberto Mascaroni

©ICOM

EDITORIAL

16 November, 2015

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Museum News

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Events, openings, people…

ollowing the terrorist attacks in Paris of the night of 13 November, our thoughts go to those around the world who have been affected by this blind violence. The International Council of Museums and its network of professionals worldwide stand by those who defend museums and heritage, culture and peace.

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At the 38th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, the Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society was unanimously adopted by Member States1, who highlighted the essential work undertaken by ICOM and the UNESCO Secretariat for the recognition of museums and collections; the defence of the role of museum professionals; the understanding of the importance of inventories in contributing to the safeguarding of collections; and the development of the social role of museums on a regional and community level. After five decades, a new normative instrument has been developed, inspiring us to uphold our engagement within an ever-changing museum sphere.

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The Emergency Red List of Libyan Cultural Objects at Risk was launched by ICOM on 15 December in Paris. A new Red List on West Africa, with a focus on Mali, is being finalised. In 2016, a new list on Yemen will be drawn up by the Secretariat with the help of international experts. The German version of the Iraqi Red List will be launched in January. We all remain mobilised for the safeguarding and protection of cultural goods in areas of armed conflict around the world.

In these times of contemplation, let us cite Paul Veyne, in his recent work, entitled Palmyra, the Irreplaceable Treasure: “Only knowing, only wanting to know a single culture, one’s own, is condemning oneself to live under a candle snuffer”2.

May the coming months be a source of calm for all. The ICOM General Conference to be held from 3 to 9 July, 2016 in Milan will allow us to discuss issues related to museums and cultural landscapes, with a finalised programme that you can find on the website of the General Conference. Please register and join us in Lombardy3.

We hope you enjoy the read, and wish you all the best in 2016.

Prof. Dr Hans-Martin Hinz ICOM President

Prof. Dr Anne-Catherine Robert-Hauglustaine ICOM Director General

Notes 1 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002338/233892e.pdf 2 Paul Veyne, Palmyre, l’irremplaçable trésor. Paris, Albin Michel, 2015, p. 141.

3 To register, please visit: http://network.icom.museum/icom-milan-2016/registration/how-to-register/

Case Study

Illustrious landscapes

In Focus

Museums sounding the alarm Where are we going?

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Special Report

Common ground A sense of place Azulejo awareness Reinvigorating a remote hilltop Out of the wood Collaborative landscapes

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Heritage in Danger

From collecting to protecting

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General Conference ICOM Milan 2016

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ICOM Community

News from the ICOM network

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Publications Seeing green

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©ED LEDERMAN

MUSEUM NEWS

New Whitney Museum, New York, 2015

Renaissance for the Whitney M

Clarify who you are The Whitney Museum’s collection is its core. The marketing campaign emphasises modernity, clarity and style, but most of all, it embraces the new location and shines a light on American art. ‘When launching your identity, you don’t want to throw a new identity in the midst of your biggest marketing campaign. You need to establish a clear system years before the reopening.’

©AGENDA CTM15, 2015

Work with the press effectively ‘The architecture critics tend to lead the process and set the tone of the response. By delaying their feedback, the art inside the galleries can have a greater impact on the public’s opinion of the new building.’

Jeff Levine

Move forward as a team ‘New buildings are complex; they require thousands of decisions over many years. Of all the decisions we made, the one that was most important was to really approach this as a united front.’ To summarise the museum’s fundamental approach, Levine quotes Harry S. Truman: ‘It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit.’

Key learnings Think small: The small simple ideas can be as powerful as the complicated ones.

Think deep: Make sure you tell the stories that wouldn’t necessarily be told Think personal: Include a personal note on your museum Think big: promote your museum in a very bold way Watch this presentation and many more from CTM 2015: www.agendacom.com/en/communicating_the_museum 2 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

On 11 December, 2015, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) in São Paulo (Brazil) reinaugurated its second-floor exhibition space, bringing back the iconic glass easel display (pictured) designed by the museum’s architect, Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992), after nearly two decades of disuse. The monumental space features 119 artworks from the museum’s collection, dating from 4 BC to 2008, exhibited on transparent supports that consist of a glass pane held

upright by a concrete base. The easels have been reconstructed with updated engineering and materials in order to revive Bo Bardi’s vision, which subverts traditional progressive, linear and unidirectional approaches to exhibition design, in favour of design free from any predetermined path. In his first year as MASP Director, Adriano Pedrosa has sought to critically revise the museum’s origins – ‘not in a nostalgic way, but rather, as a starting point for finding a new path and programme for MASP,’ in his words. © INSTITUTO LINA BO E P.M. BARDI PHOTO PAOLO GASPARINI

useum expansion projects present an exciting opportunity for development and innovation. Jeff Levine, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), showcased the museum’s successful marketing strategy to an international audience of 360 museum professionals at this year’s Communicating the Museum, the annual international art communications conference organised by Paris-based cultural communications agency Agenda.

In May 2015, the Whitney Museum’s move from Madison Avenue to a new space designed by Renzo Piano in the Meatpacking District of downtown Manhattan was a great success, thanks in large part to its successful multi-year marketing and communication strategy.

How did the museum get audiences involved in this transformative process? Levine explains the approach and philosophy behind his masterplan.

Events On 23 October, 2015, the Board of ICOM NATHIST (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Natural History) announced the ratification of the Taipei Statement on Natural History Museums and Biodiversity Conservation at the ICOM NATHIST Global Conference, held at the National Taiwan Museum. The purpose of the statement is to codify natural history museums’ commitment to preserving natural ecosystems. The statement (excerpted) reads: ‘Increased human activities have created catastrophic declines in biodiversity. Both ethics and logic point to a mandate to conserve vulnerable habitats and species. To achieve best practice, natural history museums take action to conserve natural habitats and populations.’ Said NATHIST President, Dr Eric Dorfman: ‘ICOM NATHIST is committed to supporting the best practice in the sector.

We are looking forward to working with institutions who are innovating in this important area.’ The full text of the statement is available on the ICOM NATHIST website.

Technology The UK-based Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) was founded in 2012 as a joint venture between Harvard University, the University of Oxford and the government of the United Arab Emirates, in order to promote the fusion of new digital imaging technologies and traditional archaeological techniques. In collaboration with UNESCO and the Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation, IDA has launched the Million Image Database in order to document at-risk sites and artefacts throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Some 5,000 low-cost, high-tech 3D cameras will be distributed to dedicated volunteer photographers by early 2016, enabling them to capture highquality scans at important sites in conflict zones, uploaded through the IDA web portal for inclusion in the open-access

database. The images will be used for research, heritage appreciation, educational programmes and 3D replication, the first of which is scheduled for April 2016.

Openings The National Gallery Singapore was unveiled

by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong © NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE

The inaugural Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections (WeDigBio) event was held from 22 to 25 October, 2015, enabling ‘citizen scientists’ to help make specimen data available to researchers worldwide. During this period, volunteers at 32 museums and universities around the globe completed some 30,000 digital transcriptions of labels of biodiversity research specimens, ranging from pinned insects to pressed plants, with others participating via online transcription platforms.

An initiative of iDigBio

(Integrated Digitized Biocollections), the Smithsonian Institution, the Australian Museum, Florida State University, the University of Florida and other institutions, this collaborative transcription effort enhances the span of biodiversity research across time, taxa and geographies.

on 23 November, 2015. The new museum showcases the largest existing public collection of modern art from Singapore and Southeast Asia. Dedicated to collaborative research, education and exhibitions, the Gallery highlights the importance of modern art in the region in a global context. ‘Looking at art is a way of engaging in national and regional dialogues about identity and belonging,’ said its Chairman, Hsieh Fu Hua. Resulting from the restoration and transformation of two national monuments, the former Supreme Court and City Hall, the new museum aims to be a leading civic and cultural destination for the enrichment, enjoyment and engagement of Singapore residents and visitors from around the world.

People Dr Hartwig Fischer has been appointed Director of the British Museum, and will take up his functions in spring 2016. He has served as Director General of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) since 2012, responsible for 14 museums and four separate institutions in four cities. There, his focus has been on modernising and developing the State Art Collections, which date to the 16th century. He previously served as Director of the Folkwang Museum in Essen (2006-2012), and began his museum career at the Kunstmuseum in Basel, where he was curator of 19th century and Modern Art (2001-2006).

Fischer follows in the footsteps of Neil MacGregor, who served as Director of the British Museum for 13 years. ■

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CASE STUDY MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Illustrious landscapes

ICOM Italy has taken a survey of museum-led projects around the bel paese that contribute to contemplation of the 2016 ICOM General Conference theme, Museums and cultural landscapes. © NATIONAL CINEMA MUSEUM, TURIN

Digital Panorama at the National Cinema Museum, Turin

Digital Panorama Digital Panorama is an installation at the National Cinema Museum in Turin, offering the public a spectacular experience that enjoyed unprecedented popularity before the birth of cinema. The ‘panorama’ is an

immense 360° landscape work exhibited in a round building, invented by the painter Robert Barker in 1787 to give viewers the experience of unknown or familiar landscapes. The painting had to be viewed from a platform in the middle of the rotunda

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National Cinema Museum, Turin: http://www.museocinema.it

© NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, ROME

View of the other Rome The works of Italian and foreign artists depicting Italy in the years of the Grand Tour displayed in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome were the starting point for study of the landscape from a multicultural perspective.

Students from an array of ethnic and geographical backgrounds were involved – through animated tours, workshops in the museum and a school study on the diaries of 18th and 19th century travellers – exploring the theme of travel and landscape representation. The outcome of the project is a book in which the 76 students involved recount their respective impressions of Rome upon their arrival in Italy. Alongside the texts, with the help of the photography teacher, the students produced montages combining a photo of themselves with images of the city that are meaningful to them.

Faure’s Colosseum (1835) inspired the maths and science workshop. By observing the painting, the students were able to

to give the impression of immersion in the actual landscape depicted by the artist.

Today, this experience is once again offered in a modern exhibition space at the National Cinema Museum. Visitors can see the same view of the city that is visible from the top of the Mole Antonelliana, landmark Turin building, from a height of 85m. Digital technology makes it possible to interact with the reworked landscape – scrolling and zooming, searching for details of the image and browsing the sites of Turin, activating films from the museum’s collection to journey back in time, discovering how Turin has changed from the early 20th century to today.

A multi-sensory exhibition has led to the creation of a panorama that is visual as well as aural, enabling travel through time and space using the sounds of the city. ■

Student montage, National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome

work out the time when the action of the work took place and detect differences in light between dusk in Rome and in tropical climates, where many of the students originally come from. ■ National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome: http://www.gnam.beniculturali.it

© ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM, SANTARCANGELO DI ROMAGNA

Tourist route, Valmarecchia

Traces of Valmarecchia The landscapes and heritage of Valmarecchia, in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna, are being revisited by students from the area under the guidance of the Ethnographic Museum of Santarcangelo di Romagna. The students, acting as ‘ambassadors’ of Valmarecchia, highlight ‘traces’ that may include historical events, landscapes, artworks and more, which they recount using their own voices and forms of expression.

This authentic landscape experience led to the creation of an interpretive ‘journey’ through the valley using the five senses, with two videos and a map of the tourist routes, from Badia Tedalda to Rimini. Texts from these ‘sensory’ routes are translated into English, French, German and Russian. The project won the 2013 competition Io Amo i Beni Culturali (I love cultural assets) organised by the Istituto per i beni artistici, culturali e naturali of the Emilia Romagna Region, an advisory body to local authorities in the field of cultural heritage. ■ Ethnographic Museum, Santarcangelo di Romagna: http://www.metweb.org/met

Casentino Ecomuseum: http://www.ecomuseo.casentino.toscana.it Vallesanta Ecomuseum Association: http://www.ecomuseo.casentino.toscana.it/il-progetto/ le-antenne-1/ecomuseo-della-vallesanta

© VALLESANTA ECOMUSEUM ASSOCIATION

A valley along the way This initiative was launched in 2013 in the Tuscan town of Chiusi della Verna, in the Vallesanta valley, proposed by the Casentino Ecomuseum (Union of Municipalities of Casentino Montani) and the Vallesanta Ecomuseum Association, with financial support from the Tuscany Region. It is the direct continuation of the initiative for the ‘Vallesanta Communities Map’ produced in 2009. Using the same participatory methods, the project has moved from an inventory of landscape values to issues of cultural tourism practices, particularly based on the rediscovery and use of the local network of historical paths.

Through ‘designing walks’, the collective reopening and tidying of the paths, the drafting of a charter and the creation of art projects, and with the involvement of the local school, the project has made an important contribution to knowledge and the sharing of the valley’s values. ■

Vallesanta, Tuscany Region

© VALLE DELL’ASO ECOMUSEUM

Valle dell’Aso, Marche Region

Valle dell’Aso Ecomuseum and its identities Valle dell’Aso Ecomuseum and its identities places the landscape at the heart of its activities as tangible evidence of the way that a community, to meet its needs, has shaped places. This open museum space capitalises on and coordinates local cultural dynamics, the creation of synergies with tourism and the economy, environmental awareness and the promotion of sustainability initiatives, and stimulates the socio-economic development of the area.

The residents consider the museum to be a diverse cultural venue for encounters, sharing and developing joint welfare initiatives. A tool for meeting and deepening understanding between organisations (local authority bodies, schools and more) and local communities (cultural and youth associations, grassroots organisations) through targeted initiatives (Map of community, Map of knowledge and flavours, Valdaso Ecofesta, The art of cooking), it expresses the area’s creative capability. Its innovative approach to governance has been recognised within the Marche Region. ■ Valle dell’Aso Ecomuseum: http://www.ecomuseovalledellaso.it N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 5

CASE STUDY MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES ©MUSEUM NETWORK OF CREMONA

The plain beyond the plain This project was designed to encourage a sense of involvement in primary and lower secondary students with regard to the cultural and environmental heritage of the region, looking at the subject of the transformations which the Padan Plain – better known as the Po Basin – has been subjected to over time: from a marine to a glacial environment, to the human-made alterations throughout history, from Roman times until today. Environmental reconstructions have been created using conventional as well as multimedia formats, interactive computer games and large-scale jigsaw puzzles related to the landscapes during the different periods examined, particularly the Pliocene (with a depiction of the marine environment when the plain was under the waters of the Adriatic Sea), the Pleistocene (the frozen plain that was home to mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and other alpine animals), the Roman period (the Educational activities at the Natural History Museum of Cremona land divided through the process of centuriation) and our contemporary age (aerial photographs of cities). These activities have been reinforced by a teacher resource publication to be read as an introduction to the visit.

The initiatives are some of the educational ideas put forward by the Natural History Museum of Cremona, which is part of the Museum Network of Cremona, in collaboration with the city’s Archaeological Museum. They have emerged in the framework of the Science and Technology Education (EST) project, which is sponsored by the Cariplo Foundation together with the Regional Education Department of Lombardy, the Region of Lombardy, the National Museum of Science and Technology Foundation and the Natural History Museum of Milan. ■ Museum Network of Cremona: http://www.progettoest.it/tycoon/light/viewPage/ProgettoEst/hide_cremona_museostorianat EST project website: http://musei.comune.cremona.it/PostCE-display-ceid-12.phtml

The Port Museum of Tricase The Port of Tricase is a large and dynamic ‘Port Museum’ – not a museum about the port. It is a place to research, gather, exchange and further knowledge on the traditions of the sea and the coast, embracing the landscape of culture and the culture of landscape. Embarking on a course of rediscovery into its cultural, historical and natural values and its relationship with the peoples of the Mediterranean, it has set in motion a process of sustainable and responsible development for the economic and social advancement of its community.

It is a place that offers a wealth of learning opportunities, including courses on ancient seafaring, courses for marine tour operators and an introduction to the sea-inspired cuisine of the Salento region.

Workshops and practical experiences are also organised: Cantieri del Gusto (Shipyards of Flavours), i Racconti del Focone (Tales from the Galley), Tramare (Weaving) and more. Its Multimedia Library of the Sea houses a collection of oral traditions, objects, books and photographs.

The museum has involved the community in order to revive a dormant identity and turn it into the motor of its own economic and social development, investing in its own values, history and culture.

It is a safe haven of sorts, a welcoming place for meeting and for sharing the experiences of the communities and coastal regions of the Mediterranean.

This is a project of the Magna Grecia Mare Association in collaboration with the Centro Culturale sulle Tradizioni Marinaresche (Cultural Centre for Seafarers’ Traditions), the Museo delle Imbarcazioni Tradizionali (Museum of Traditional Boats), the Scuola di Antica Marineria (School of Ancient Seafaring), the Cantiere del Gusto (Shipyards of Flavours), the Bibliomediateca (Multimedia Library of the Sea) and the Mediterranean Observatory for Research on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity. ■ Magna Grecia Mare Association: http://www.magnagreciamare.it 6 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

The gentle hills and stairways of Naples We are used to thinking of Naples as a city on the sea with Mount Vesuvius just beyond, but this is not the case. The typical postcard of Naples showing Mount Vesuvius is what can be seen from Naples, but it is not Naples, because Vesuvius is separated from the city by some ten municipalities. The true image of the city of Naples is that offered by Tavola Strozzi, a painting dating from the second half of the 15th century that depicts the hills of Vomero, Capodimonte and Camaldoli: a great metropolitan environmental reserve, the city’s lungs and a treasure trove of history and local traditions, which, since 2004, is also Metropolitan Park. Stairways, ramps and terraces have been and are still the intelligent way for getting from the top to the bottom, from one neighbourhood to another; for thinking, listening, breathing, and for saving time and fuel.

In 2011, to mark the Puliamo il Mondo (Clean up the World) campaign by the environmentalist association Legambiente (League for the Environment), the Organisation for the Restoration of Naples’s Stairways was created on the Principessa Jolanda Stairs. It campaigns for people to get to know the stairways, to safeguard the stairways for their cultural value, and use them as a resource for tourism; and aims to foster a new urban mobility, a new lifestyle in Naples, wherein walking, slowing down and lingering replace hurrying around.

This is a project of the Legambiente Neapolis 2000 club and the Organisation for the Restoration of Naples’s Stairways, which is attempting to create a ‘stair map’, as well as intermodal interchange between public transport and the stairways (bus/metro/stairways), and to promote the most significant stairways in the city. ■ Scale di Napoli: http://www.scaledinapoli.com Visit Capodimonte: www.visitcapodimonte.com

The journal for museum scholars and professionals worldwide Published since 1948, Museum International is an important and influential academic journal for museum scholars and professionals in a variety of disciplines. In 2013, UNESCO transferred the journal to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and it is now published by ICOM in partnership with the existing co-publisher, Wiley.

This present issue of Museum International is the third to be published under ICOM’s aegis, and the first under the leadership of the newly appointed Editorial Board and Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr Tereza Scheiner. Entitled Key ideas in museums and heritage, the issue presents a series of emblematic articles previously published in Museum International over the years.

ICOM members can access this issue free-of-charge on their ICOMMUNITY page:

http://icommunity.icom.museum/en/content/ museum-international

For further queries, please contact: publications@icom.museum

IN FOCUS MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Museums sounding the alarm Challenges for museums of natural and human sciences in the face of the global environmental crisis

by Michel Van-Praët, Professor Emeritus, National Museum of Natural History, Paris ©MNHN

they face a second major challenge, that of defining their role in social debate and their responsibility to sound the alarm in the face of the current global environmental crisis.

View of the permanent exhibition at the new Musée de l’Homme, Paris

T

he family of museums of natural museums began to focus on inventorying and human sciences has been at the diversity of nature and human societies, the heart of the development of the but in the latter half of the 20th century, some sciences in Europe and has contributed to our scientists within these new disciplines understanding of the dynamic phenomena began to question the purpose of museum behind permanent changes to the living collections and exhibitions. Natural history world and human societies. In 1809, Lamarck and ethnological museums worldwide described in Philosophie Zoologique how experienced a crisis that led to the loss of they had contributed f ina n cia l sup p o r t to the new concept along with the The changes that societies of science. He wrote closing of public must make will require greater that the idea that exhibitions and, for species do not evolve sharing of available information, some ethnological ‘is refuted every day in information which museums hold museums, a retreat the eyes’ of those ‘who to aestheticism and in their collections have successfully sectarianism. consulted the great and rich collections of It was only in the late 20 th century that our museums.’ In the following decades, these certain science museums started to reaffirm museums helped shape new disciplines the modernity of their collections through such as palaeontology, anthropology, the creation of new museums or extensive ethnology and more, thereby participating renovations of existing ones. The collections in the split between the natural and human in these new museums reflected previous sciences. The two fields, which until that time states of the natural world and societies, had been developed jointly within museums, making it possible to analyse how they should now come together again to address have been transformed and, for example, to the current societal issues of humankind’s document humankind’s responsibility for the relationship to nature and our complex extinction of many wildlife species.

Museums of natural and human sciences position within the living world.

With the emergence of new disciplines no longer need to justify the purpose of their and their specialisation, this family of collections in their public exhibitions. Now 8 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

Roles and responsibilities The increase in disastrous weather events has helped raise awareness of global environmental changes and their relationship to human activity. However, despite a growing number of warnings about the consequences these changes will have on human beings’ health and living conditions, denial and reckless abandon still persist, hindering the development of a collective approach to prevention, as seen by the limits of the COP 21 conference (21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

The changes that societies must make will require greater sharing of available information, information which museums, and particularly natural science, archaeological and anthropological museums, hold in their collections. This calls for going beyond disciplinary approaches, which, for museums, means questioning the typologies of collections; it also requires combining scientific approaches with societal questions, both to answer those questions, and to identify issues to which societies should be alerted.

This role of sounding the alarm is central, bringing museums of natural and human sciences together once again, both in terms of subject matter but also in terms of professional ethics. The question now is: can an exhibition go beyond presenting a consensus to create a forum for debating conflicting points of view?

That is what we chose to do in designing our museum’s Gallery of Evolution in the late 1980s, by dedicating several hundred square metres to presenting a number of specimens of wildlife species that had recently gone extinct or were endangered due to pressure from human societies, at a time when there was no consensus regarding the loss of biodiversity among either scientists or the authorities.

To d a y, i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e g l o b a l environmental crisis has given rise to even

more questions of professional practice during exhibitions on topics as varied as demographics, the diversity and unity of humanity and its place in the living world.

Shifting paradigms A topic as seemingly uncontroversial as the Neolithic age, which could be presented by museums of anthropology, Egyptology, the history of civilisations or ceramics, illustrates the questions of professional ethics that should be asked when designing exhibitions around topics as traditional as ‘Where do we come from?’, ‘Who are we?’ and ‘Where are we going?’, as was the case when the Musée de l’Homme reopened in October 2015 (see boxed text).

For 10,000 years, Neolithisation has corresponded to the domestication of plant and animal species that remain essential

to feeding humanity, to the modifying of land for agriculture and to the processes of creating settlements that have led to today’s mass urbanisation movement.

Over thousands of years, Neolithisation has helped shape the current notions of well-being and progress. In every society, those notions have been associated with a controlled use of the immediate environment based on a variety of cultural practices which, thanks to the growth of knowledge, have made an increasingly effective use of natural resources possible, without considering – until very recently – the overall limitations of the planet, as the world’s population has grown from a few million to several billion people. In most societies, well-being is therefore associated with a feeling of controlling nature, or at least its resources. This has contributed to today’s

positive image of engineering and the view that it can compensate for the changes that have been made, protect the environment and repair the damage done by humans.

Breaking with this thousands-year-old paradigm and emerging from what could be considered a late Neolithic age, without suggesting that humanity is condemned to regression, will require reorienting science, technology and, more generally, humankind’s creativity from controlling nature to evolving along with it.

Faced with the need to change the perception of the position of humans in the living world and, more generally, humankind’s relationship to nature, museums have the enormous social responsibilit y of reinterpreting and enhancing their collections. ■

Where are we going?

Considering environmental issues in developing the new Musée de l’Homme

by Cécile Aufaure, Chief Curator and Renovation Project Manager, Musée de l’Homme, Paris

O

n 17 October, 2015, after a six-year closure for renovations, the Musée de l’Homme opened its doors to the public with a renewed scientific and cultural mission. The Galerie de l’Homme (gallery of humankind), the museum’s permanent exhibition, asks three major questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? After redefining the position of humankind in the living world, the gallery tells the public the story of human evolution in a way that portrays both the origins of humankind and its future.

In the gallery, significant space is given to humankind’s new relationship to the biosphere, which began 10,000 years ago.

Ownership and domestication of natural resources by humans in the Neolithic age can be considered the first milestone in the Anthropocene era. This system still shapes the majority of relationships between humankind and nature, while the accelerated anthropisation of the planet since the Industrial Revolution, especially since the 1950s, has been more of a change of scale than a paradigm shift.

By highlighting the inextricable links between humankind and the environment in all of its exhibitions, the new Musée de l’Homme has chosen to use scientific

environmental data to explore the future of human societies.

These questions, which are difficult to address using only objects in the collection, are discussed in a vast multimedia installation designed by the agency Zen+dCo, highlighting the growing acceleration of all natural resource consumption indicators since the 1950s.

Factual data and figures are presented in a circular structure nine metres in diameter, which surrounds visitors and immerses them in the issue so they can understand the impacts of human activities on the biosphere and their consequences through a sensorial and intellectual experience.

The installation explores five themes: water, fisher y products, wood, waste and fossil fuels. For each theme, a oneminute animation provides an immersive visual introduction, followed by global consumption figures and graphs for the past 50 years, major global trends (where supplies are, who exploits them, who consumes them, etc.), including relationships between nations and between major areas of influence, examples of local consequences and a brief presentation of currently available alternatives.

In addition to the factual data, interviews

with ecologist Gilles Bœuf, agronomist Marion Guillou, demographer Hervé Le Bras and anthropologist Frédérique Chlous provide a summary of scientists’ views on the subject of living together on a planet with limited resources.

Nearby, a display case of everyday items connects these major concepts to specific examples that show both the reality of these impacts and how different lifestyles can affect them. Five portraits are presented: of a photographer living in Paris, a Sami herder in Sweden, a Pygmy woman in Gabon, a Siwa Oasis farmer in Egypt, and a shopkeeper in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Finally, in this laborator y/museum housing several multidisciplinary research teams exploring the links between humans and their environment over the course of evolution, the public is not only engaged through museum exhibitions. Discussions, meetings, conferences and film screenings on global warming and the Anthropocene era scheduled for November 2015, in conjunction with the COP 21 conference, are just some of the activities offered by the museum to promote understanding and public awareness of these issues.

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SPECIAL REPORT MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES ©WEI YAO

Wadi Rum, Jordan

Common ground Grappling with the key terms of Milano 2016

by Daniele Jalla, Professor of Museology, University of Perugia; Chair of ICOM Italy

C

ommunity means speaking the same language: being able to recognise and understand the ways in which others think differently; enriching our vision with what is presented to us through common words – from the simplest to the most complex – which, although apparently the same, take on different meanings in other cultural contexts.

With a view to the wider international ICOM community, it is therefore necessary to establish an agreement on some of the key words for the forthcoming 2016 General Conference in Milan, in order to be able to use them with both their common and shared meaning, as well as with the different values they have been attributed across continents, countries and settings. These terms are primarily landscape, but also territory and cultural heritage – and even museum.

In order to understand one another, we can refer to some of the definitions found in international documents, even in some very recent ones, so that we can begin to deal with them and 10 ICOMNEWS ICOMNEWS || N°3-4 N°3-42015 2015

establish whether they are able to serve as a common basis for the emergence of the many other meanings that exist in this – fortunately – very diverse world of ours. We will analyse the terms landscape, territory, heritage and museum in pairs, in something like a game of dominoes.

Territory and landscape Territory and landscape are not the same thing, even if in common usage they tend to be considered synonyms. Territory is the physical and material dimension of the landscape, with its characteristic natural and/or anthropic features. Landscape is not merely the image of a territory, even if the term has long been and continues to be used to refer to a painting, drawing or photographic representation.

During the 20th century, the term landscape progressively lost both the aesthetic value attributed to it (by which a landscape could only be a beautiful, picture-postcard landscape) and the value of being applied more particularly to a natural environment. Today,

while not the case in common to future generations6, because we identify it as a resource for usage, the term has taken on sustainable development. a neutral value in scientific and political circles, both in the Cultural heritage and museums definition given by UNESCO1 The definition of cultural heritage given in the UNESCO and that of the European Recommendation represents an innovation because it entrusts people with the task of choosing and deciding, ‘independently of Landscape Convention2.

In both cases, the term ownership’, what cultural heritage is. And even if the Recommendation landscape ‘refers both to a does not make it clear, the role of the museum becomes that of interway of viewing the environment preter for heritage communities, placing its own competences and surrounding us and to this knowledge, spaces and resources at their service. This is a new and environment itself’, and ‘the still undefined task, but one arising from the vision of landscape and appeal of the idea of landscape cultural heritage that is emerging on an international level. is that it unifies the factors at In an increasingly globalised world, and one grappling work in our relationship with the with phenomena that appear as threats to the existence and surrounding environment’3. future of humanity, if cultural heritage is viewed as a fundamental In this view, landscapes, resource for building a sustainable future, and if it is a right of ‘whether of aesthetic value or populations to define the nature of their heritage and protect its not, provide the setting for our diversity, then museums – which, by definition, operate ‘in the daily lives; they are familiar service of society and of its development’ – must adapt to the duties and the concept of landscape and responsibilities that this entails. They cannot simply convey links people to nature, recog- heritage received, but must also seek, outside of themselves, nising their interaction with what is worthy of protecting, conserving and safeguarding – what, the environment’4. in expressing ‘identities, beliefs, knowledge and traditions’, is a This is the notion of land- resource for the future. scape that we will have to tackle Their scope broadens to encompass the cultural landscape in Milan, because it emerges (of which the cultural heritage already identified is only a part), from an international perspective and guides combining a ‘museum-oriented’ and a ‘contextactions for protection, safeguarding and Museums cannot simply oriented’ approach, as complementary enhancement around the world. of museum action. This action extends convey heritage received, aspects out into the territory, involving the community but must also seek, Landscape and cultural heritage not only in terms of knowledge, conservation outside of themselves, It is evident that landscape and cultural and promotion, but also in identifying and what is worthy of heritage are not identical: even if everything interpreting its own needs, expectations, ideas were landscape, as we have seen, some and proposals. protecting, conserving landscapes would not be worthy of being If, as we wrote in the Siena Charter7, the and safeguarding as a passed on. In fact, in comparing landscapes, cultural landscape is ‘the country where we resource for the future we have the duty to exercise our constructive live, which surrounds us with the images and criticism and to reflect on how to transform them. However, it is symbols that identify and characterise it’; if it is ‘the setting for our particularly true that ‘landscape […] is how we perceive the present daily life’, a set of places that are ‘familiar’ to us; if it is an inextricable world, heritage is how we perceive and understand the past and all combination of past and present, with all of their contradictions and that it has bequeathed to us’5. conflicts, incessantly calling upon us to choose what is worth saving, Landscape is the present; as such, we perceive it is as the what can or must be changed or innovated; if all of this is true, then setting in which we are immersed. On a daily basis, it challenges the ICOM General Conference to be held in Milan in 2016 must be our intelligence and our sensitivity to recognise what and how the occasion for setting out the ways in which museums of the third much of it – as a reflection and expression of the values, beliefs, millennium are to respond to the challenges that they are facing knowledge and traditions that belong to us – deserves to be regarding the new visions of cultural landscape and cultural heritage protected and enhanced by present generations for transmission that are being imposed on an international level. ■ Notes 1 http://whc.unesco.org/en/culturallandscape 2 http://www.coe.int/en/web/landscape/about-the-convention 3N ora Mitchell, Mechtild Rössler, Pierre-Marie Tricaud (Authors/Ed.), World Heritage Cultural Landscapes. A Handbook for Conservation and Management, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2009.

Available at: http://whc.unesco.org/documents/publi_wh_ papers_26_en.pdf 4 Ibid.

5G . Fairclough, New Heritage Frontiers, in Council of Europe, Heritage and Beyond, Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing, 2009, p. 31. Available at: https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/identities/PatrimoineBD_en.pdf 6 This sentence reproduces, in a different order and with some gaps, the definition of heritage included in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society, adopted on 17 November, 2015: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/museums/recommendation-on-the-protection-and-promotion-of-museums-and-collections/ The definition partially reflects that of the Faro Convention of 2005: http://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/199 7 http://icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/News/Carta_di_Siena_EN_final.pdf

N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 11

SPECIAL REPORT MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

A sense of place Rethinking a bucolic landscape

by Elizabeth Rodini, founding Director, Program in Museums and Society, Johns Hopkins University, US

©HOMEWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY, CREATIVE COMMONS

Homewood Museum, Johns Hopkins University campus, Baltimore, US

H

omewood Museum sits at the hear t of the Johns Hopkins Universit y (JHU) campus in Baltimore, Maryland (US) and lends its distinctive early 19 th century form to the surrounding architecture. Until recently, however, it was functionally isolated from the university’s mission and its deep, historical relationship to the campus gro unds. N ew ac ad e mic p roj e cts focused on that relationship, most notably courses offered through JHU’s Program in Museums and Society, are helping to uncover histories that had nearly been forgotten – including the presence of enslaved African-Americans who once worked the house and land. Through its increased engagement with faculty and students, Homewood Museum is 12 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

becoming a key resource for uncovering and sharing complex and sometimes contested histories with the broader public.

Homewood, the site of the Homewood Museum, was a country retreat for the influential Carroll family, known for producing the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. Built between 1801 and 1808, it is a landmark example of Federal architecture. The Carrolls sold the house and its grounds in 1839, and in 1902 the property was given to JHU. The university campus – a handsome brick matrix with elegant columns and pediments – responds directly to Homewood’s architecture.

In 1987, Hopkins restored and opened Homewood as a historic house museum dedicated to life in early 19 th century

Maryland. Since then, its staff has increasingly focused on tying the museum to the core activities of the university. These include hosting and offering courses devoted to the house, its contents, and the lives of the Carrolls and their contemporaries.

Beyond museum walls In the spring of 2014, one of these courses spilled out from the house to consider the surrounding landscape. Led by Beth Maloney, Lecturer in Museums and Society and independent museum educator, with assistance from museum and library staff, ten students researched sites across campus in order to present a fuller picture of the place they currently call home. Each student selected archival images and wrote

Note 1 See: http://retrospective.jhu.edu/our-initiatives/hidden-stories-of-homewood

© ELIZABETH RODINI

the narrative for a historical signpost. The class studied how people experience interpretive text in informal settings and worked with an environmental design class at the Maryland Institute College of Art to produce signage that was erected for the opening of the 2014-15 academic year1. The signs were so well received that the university administration funded the production of new signs after the first set – intended to last only one year – began to wear out (the original signs and the course were funded by a grant to Museums and Society from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.)

The sign that has garnered the most attention discusses former slave quarters A student pauses to read that once occupied a corner of land that is now part of the JHU campus. The structure had been absorbed into a larger domestic address the fact of slavery at Homewood building, neither of which is still standing. and to do this assertively, accurately and This was one of the things that drew student sensitively. The class embarked on lengthy Courtney Little to the project. Little, now discussions and testing of the signage completing a graduate degree in public with various audiences including faculty, history, took on the challenge of interpreting staff and administrators, fellow students, what she calls a ‘contentious, absent passers-by, and members of several historic site’. Her sign featured a reproduc- campus multi-cultural groups.

The ten signposts that resulted are a tion of a Carroll probate inventory listing the call to remember by ‘property’ they held in the landscape 1839, including 16 men, Homewood Museum is infusing with lost stories, most women and children. becoming a key resource of which are celebraThat enslaved people lived on and for uncovering and sharing tory or honorific. But complex and sometimes not the slavery sign: worked this land is no surprise: Mar yland, contested histories with it is intended to stop which sits just below people in their tracks the broader public the Mason-Dixon line and get them to take dividing North from South, was a slave a second look at the place that surrounds state, and as wealthy land-holders, the them. This happens, even in the bustle Carrolls owned many slaves. Yet the paucity of daily campus life, and is given a boost of material remains leads us to forget this by faculty members such as anthropolohistory, allowing a nostalgic landscape gist Anand Pandian, who uses it to help of gentle hills and neat architecture to students think more carefully about the assert itself instead. A recent replanting of spaces they inhabit and the freedoms they Homewood’s historic orchard adjacent to enjoy. ‘It [is] as though another layer of the house, for example, is a scenic history [has] surfaced onto the landscape reimagining of the past that speaks of lost of the campus,’ he says.

The signage programme has begun to beauty – but not, evidently, of the labour that shape museum programming as well. Two produced it. students were inspired to write and produce a theatrical interpretation of domestic life Past as present Everyone involved in the signage project at Homewood that gives voice to William, agreed that it was important to directly an enslaved worker on the Carroll estate.

They see living history as a way to present stories that have gone missing, much like the slave quarters themselves. And in April 2015, the museum organised a symposium on slavery in Maryland that attracted a large and varied audience from across the city.

Only days later, Baltimore erupted in protests and unrest over the death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man, while in police custody. In this context, the Homewood slavery sign emerged not only as a reminder of the past, but as a way of insisting on the continued impact of the past on the present. Just as the gracious campus landscape allows us to forget the racial injustices that mark its historic grounds, so the sign binds the past to the present, compelling us to remember. Or, as JHU President Ronald J. Daniels put it in a letter of appreciation, the signs ‘weave the history of the Homewood campus into the fabric of our daily lives.’

Johns Hopkins – as the dominant institution in a socially challenged city and a university intent on improving the human condition – has an obligation to tell our most painful narratives and seek their ongoing relevance. Homewood Museum is integral to this work. Its historical connection to the land, central place on campus, and ability to bridge academic and civic concerns make it a fitting steward for the stories of William and the other enslaved workers of the Carroll estate. ■ N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 13

SPECIAL REPORT MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Azulejo awareness Towards the protection of a unique Portuguese cultural landscape

by Leonor Sá, SOS Azulejo coordinator, Museu de Polícia Judiciária/Escola de Polícia Judiciária ‘Tiles in Lisbon’ by David Dennis. https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidden/. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Traditional tiled façade, Lisbon

P

ortuguese historic and artistic ceramic tiles stand out in the world cultural heritage for their invaluable richness in quality, quantity, style, materials and techniques. Portuguese architecture is known worldwide for its azulejos, which cover the exterior and interior walls of countless Portuguese buildings, from convents, churches and palaces to hospitals, railway stations, schools, all sorts of public buildings and entire urban private housing blocks.

Because azulejos are increasingly valued by art experts, historians and international antique dealers, they are increasingly victim to art and antiques burglary and trafficking – and the number of thefts rose accordingly in recent decades, peaking in the early 2000s, 14 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

especially in the Lisbon area.

Curiously – and paradoxically – enough, apart from some notable exceptions, urban azulejos do not seem to be highly valued by average Portuguese citizens and institutions. These tiles have been so omnipresent in everyday Portuguese life for so many centuries that few people notice or particularly care about them. The result is neglect, needless removal of these tiles from walls, demolitions of tile-covered buildings, vandalism and countless tiled constructions badly in need of conservation measures.

The emergence of SOS Azulejo In 2007 the Portuguese Judiciary Police Museum (JPM) created the SOS Azulejo Project in response to the aforementioned

problems of theft and neglect, and also driven by institutional and practical circumstances. Firstly, the Portuguese Judiciary Police is the law enforcement agency with exclusive competence for crimes related to cultural heritage in the country; and secondly, the JPM possesses a collection of stolen historic tiles recovered by the police but still of unknown origin. This collection has been exhibited on several occasions by the JPM for educational purposes. Linked to these educational purposes is the fact that the JPM defined its mission as crime prevention, as this constitutes one of the explicit competences of the Judiciary Police and is of direct interest and service to the community.

In this context, SOS Azulejo was born as a crime prevention project to protect

©SOS AZULEJO/ADPBEJA

Por tuguese a zulejos from growing theft, traffic and vandalism, but involved two additional objectives: preventive conservation and raising awareness of the value of Portuguese historic tiles. This interdisciplinary approach made partnerships absolutely necessary. In 2007 the JPM signed protocols with a series of Portuguese organisations including bodies belonging to the former Ministry of Culture, universities, a local authorities association and other police forces.

SOS Azulejo has no budget and its functioning is flexible; each partner puts its specific skills to work within its respective institutional budget. Occasionally sponsors are enlisted for actions that cannot be covered by the partners.

SOS Azulejo School Action in Marvão, Portalegre, 6 May, 2015

©SOS AZULEJO

A triple focus The primary focus of SOS Azulejo is on Rosa in Lisbon in 2001, was recognised preventing and deterring thefts. The first and recovered. visible SOS Azulejo action towards this In the longer term, statistics concerning goal consisted in disseminating systema- registered thefts of azulejos have also tised information and images of stolen been highly encouraging and demonfigurative azulejos through its website, strate impressive measurable results, with www.sosazulejo.com, as well as on the a dramatic decrease in registered stolen project’s Facebook page. Easy access azulejos since 2007, the year that SOS Azulejo was created. to these images is The second focus intended to facilitate There has been a dramatic of SOS Azulejo is on identification and decrease in registered preventing the neglect re c ove r y of stol e n historic tiles; make stolen azulejos since 2007, and destruction of the their circulation on the the year that SOS Azulejo azulejos. This entailed raising the awareness market difficult; and was created of the local municipal deter this type of crime authority of Lisbon (CML), which created a amongst burglars and fences.

Prior to the existence of SOS Azulejo, concrete municipal plan for the protection figurative stolen azulejos circulated easily of Lisbon’s azulejos in 2010; and proposing on the market, in art circuits and even state important measures to be incorporated museums, but the project has completely in the CML’s new urban planning regulachanged the situation. Good faith buyers – tions, prohibiting the demolition of whether antique dealers, curators or other tiled building façades and the removal professionals – now have easily available of azulejos from the same façades. information concerning stolen figurative The acceptance of this proposal repretiles, and buyers in bad faith can no longer sented a radical reversal in the protection claim ignorance. approach for Portuguese tile heritage.

The results of this measure were Once this new regulation was put immediate and encouraging. The day into effect in April 2013, SOS Azulejo following the launch of the website, a tile proposed its implementation in all panel by Leopoldo Battistini dating to the Portuguese cities, in the name of the early 20 th century, stolen from Palácio da global protection of this heritage. While

this is not yet a reality, it would also be a solid basis to propose Portuguese azulejos for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Lastly, departing from a focus on negative information – theft, vandalism, degradation – SOS Azulejo sought to enlarge its scope of action by adding a positive perspective, disseminating and rewarding good practices. In this framework, it recognises academic studies, artistic and community actions: the SOS Azulejo Awards were created in 2010 and are held annually in May at the Palácio Fronteira in Lisbon, given to individuals and institutions whose remarkable work contributes not only to the safeguarding of azulejos, but also to their study, dissemination, enhancement and continuity in contemporary art. Additionally, every year in May, SOS Azulejo School Action is held with the participation of schools on a nationwide level, involving thousands of students, teachers, parents and senior citizens in various playful activities geared for learning about azulejos. It is hoped that in the near future, this will become a National Day of Azulejos.

The hopes that led to the creation of SOS A zulejo have translated into impressive concrete results. In 2013, the project’s fruitful efforts were recognised by the Grand Prix of the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award. We are confident that the unique cultural landscape of azulejos in Portugal will prevail. ■

Schoolchildren participating in SOS Azulejo School Action in Beja, Alentejo, 6 May, 2015 N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 15

SPECIAL REPORT MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Reinvigorating a remote hilltop The cultural landscapes of the Baksı Museum ©BAKSI MUSEUM

by Feride Celik, Director, Baksı Museum, Turkey

The Baksı Museum, Bayburt Province, Turkey

M

igration has been a major issue for Turkey since the 1960s, notably in the country’s eastern provinces.

Populations move towards the industrialised cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as European countries such as Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Belgium, driven by fear for their future and the quest for a better life, a good education system, employment opportunities and a stable healthcare system.

Migration has adverse effects on women and children, primarily, due to their vulnerability.

Bayburt, the smallest province in Turkey, counts high levels of migration. While some migrants have retained a connection to their native region, albeit limited, a significant 16 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

portion of the population has left not to return, seeking out work as seasonal agricultural labourers. Bayraktar is the smallest village in the province, located in a remote mountainous region that has lost much of its population to migration. Its ancient name is Baksı, or ‘shaman’, and in recent years, it has become known as home to a museum project that is reinvigorating the local community and triggering reverse migration.

The Baksı story The Baksı Museum was the brainchild of Hüsamettin Koçan, an Istanbul-based artist who was born in Bayraktar. Koçan’s father left the village to work when Hüsamettin

was very young, returning home only once every two years. Koçan would eagerly await his father’s return throughout his childhood, subsequently moving to Istanbul to become a renowned artist and later, Dean of Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty. Many years on, when his father passed away, he returned home to the village to pay his respects – and started planning for a project to house the works of local artisans.

Hüsamettin Koçan originally wanted to transform an old mansion in the village into a cultural centre, but faced with substantial bureaucratic obstacles, he decided instead to build a new museum from scratch. The preparations for the Baksı Museum started

Empowering local women and children An important part of the plan was to develop textile workshops for women from Bayraktar and neighbouring villages, empowering them as economic actors in the region.

These workshops, which combine traditional and contemporary crafts, furthermore allow for cultural heritage to be transmitted and new forms of contact to occur. The museum creates a space for communication and interaction that bridges the gap between centre and periphery, making art and design opportunities accessible to more marginalised populations.

The local women produce ehram, a textile that was traditionally handwoven locally for daily use. Original ehram is a coarse fabric, and its production is a lengthy procedure. This traditional textile now reaches contemporary Turkish fashion designers in Istanbul, who transform it into modern ready-to-wear cloth

their art studies, which fund the students through graduation from university.

In addition to the art festival, the museum hosts community involvement projects organised by different schools. Robert College, an American high school in Istanbul, sends a group of students to the Baksı Museum every summer to collaborate with local children on various scientific and recreational activities, including art, music, drama and sports classes. These two groups of children from contrasting social backgrounds benefit from each other in remarkable fashion.

The museum also runs guesthouses, aimed to promote cultural tourism as well as sustainable modes of development for the region – notably by providing employment opportunities for local villagers.

The Baksı Museum combines the spectacular natural beauty of north-eastern Anatolia with traditional and local as well as modern art in a unique space for cultural interaction. In recognition of its accomplishments, it received the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2014. The Baksı Museum is drawing visitors to a remote Anatolian hilltop through the hope that it creates and the energy that it provides for its surrounding community. ■ ©BAKSI MUSEUM

in 2000, and it took five years for the building incorporating cotton and silk to make it softer. to be completed. The museum sits atop a hill These days, ehram is used for products where Hüsamettin Koçan used to await his ranging from shoes to backpacks, pencil father’s return, and houses a contemporary cases and hats. The women from the village art collection in addition to a large collection work in the museum’s textile workshops and of traditional works including Ottoman calli- are involved in this contemporary producgraphy, under-glass paintings, healing bowls tion, for which they are paid via a debit and kilims (rugs). card allowing them to T h e muse um is withdraw money deposThe Baksı Museum driven by the themes ited into individual bank of migration, women, was established to remind accounts. In addition children and cultural to weaving workshops, local people of their sustainability. Koçan cultural roots, aiming to the museum organises always thought that and modern support them in building ceramic he suffered the most kilim workshops. The as a child growing up a sustainable life with the l o c a l w o m e n a n d separated from his knowledge and experience children collect indiggleaned here father, but later realised enous plants from that his mother had the surrounding hills gone through extremely difficult times raising to produce local natural dyes used in the him and his seven siblings on her own. process.

The region’s limited resources are cause The museum also places a great deal of for continuous migration. The museum was importance on the wellbeing of children, and established to remind local people of their has established an annual art festival for local cultural roots, aiming to support them in students, which includes an art competition building a sustainable life with the knowledge for students from schools in the region. The and experience they are able to glean here. Baksı Culture and Art Foundation grants The Baksı Museum project thus strives to scholarships to 15 students every year for establish an economic foundation in order to prevent further migration.

The processing and weaving of ehram textile by local woman

N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 17

SPECIAL REPORT MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Out of the wood Interactions between the Kizhi Museum and its local community

by Olga Titova, Deputy Director for Development and International Relations, Kizhi Museum, Russia

© OLEG SEMENENKO, KIZHI MUSEUM

The Kizhi Pogost architectural ensemble on Kizhi Island, Republic of Karelia, Russia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

T

he Kizhi Museum is the largest open-air museum in Russia. On Kizhi Island in Lake Onega, Republic of Karelia, excellent examples of rural architecture, including historic farmhouses and other buildings brought from different regions of Karelia, demonstrate the art of carpentry and everyday peasant life in the 19th century. The gem of the Kizhi Museum collection is the architectural ensemble of the Kizhi Pogost, which, with its two wooden churches and bell tower, was one of the first Russian sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in 1990. Back then, experts noted that the ‘perfectly proportioned wooden structures are also in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape’.

Currently, the landscape presents one of the few examples of a holistic architectural ensemble with well-preserved farming 18 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

buildings and the traditional dominant feature – the church ensemble, which is the compositional and conceptual centre of the whole area.

An integrated approach Effective conservation of cultural heritage implies a comprehensive approach. Heritage conservation is considered in close connection with the surrounding landscape, as well as the intangible cultural heritage, social, economic and cultural life of the region. It also involves the widest possible participation of the local community in terms of preservation, use and enhancement of the cultural heritage.

The objective of this comprehensive approach is not ‘conservation for the sake of conservation’, but adaptation of the heritage

© OLEG SEMENENKO, KIZHI MUSEUM

to modern ways of life, its use for the sustainable development of the area and improvement of the quality of life of local communities.

The local community of the Kizhi Archipelago and its surrounding region of Zaonezhie, which created the unique monument of wooden architecture on Kizhi Island, is the primary custodian of this authentic culture, the bearer of historical The programme Encounter with a craftsperson allows visitors to not only observe the work of local craftspeople, but to try the ancient crafts themselves and cultural traditions and knowledge, able to continue the pursuit of traditional their memory, and Zaonezhie is frequently of partners is one of the main outcomes crafts and oversee the management of referred to as the ‘treasure of the Russian of the project. natural resources. Taking into consideration north’, or the ‘Iceland of Russian epics’. But Guesthouse owners were not only the wealth of the cultural heritage and the in recent decades, this unique area had interested in the project, but became beauty of the nature of the area, one of the been abandoned and was on the decline. active participants in its implementation.

An analysis of the situation demon- Information and guidance materials and few options for its development lies in the development of various forms of cultural strated that the Kizhi Museum and local tourist maps of the territory were prepared and ecological tourism. Kizhi Museum works businesses shared certain problems – for them, and consultations for guesthouse closely with the local namely, a generally owners were provided. We aimed to community in elaboshort tourist stay (2-3 find a distinctive feature for every guestA comprehensive hours and only on Kizhi house, using the potential of the area and rating programmes and approach to cultural Island) and insufficient its own history, so that they could stand out, services for tourists. heritage preservation publicity for the region, be competitive and attractive in the tourist Picturesque chapels have been preserved seeks adaptation of the despite the poten- market. A number of ideas were proposed, in the area around heritage to modern ways tial to keep tourists some of which were implemented in guestKizhi Island in historical occupied for several houses. For example, an exhibition opened of life, its use for the villages. A long tradition Consequently, in one guesthouse recounting the history sustainable development days. of celebrating chapel development of the of the owner’s family, including an ancestor of the area and feasts has been revived local community and who participated in the first restoration improvement of the with the museum’s improvement in the of the Church of the Transfiguration, support: festive church social and economic while additionally, new routes were quality of life of local services are held in the situation was all but offered for tourists, and a programme communities chapels, the bells are impossible. Only by entitled Encounter with a craftsperson sounded and people sing traditional songs combining efforts and resources could the was launched. from the north of Russia. Specialists from the obstacles be surmounted.

The project turned out to be exceptionmuseum staff are helping the local people T he p roje ct ProEt hno: Museum ally timely and significant. It triggered a chain bring back traditional crafts. The products of techniques in guest tourism was thus reaction of multiple important processes the local craftspeople are sold at fairs, and developed to involve the local population and projects which, in turn, provided kizhankas, or traditional boats, are used for in providing tourist services with the use of sustainable and further development of navigating around the islands of the Kizhi museum techniques. The main objective ideas for dynamising the area’s tourism.

Archipelago. The museum also seeks to of the project was to create conditions for The local population became interested raise awareness among local residents tourism development in Zaonezhie as the and involved in the development of their on environmental issues, including proper factor in the area’s sustainable develop- community. The traditional system of local waste management and protection of the ment on the basis of long-term partnerships governance (gathering of village heads) natural island landscapes. between the museum and local businesses. was furthermore revived. Following the In the process of implementing the historical tradition, the village heads gather Techniques for tourism project, the efforts of a broad range of together in the refectory of the Church of the Zaonezhie is a region that has conserved stakeholders were consolidated, ranging Intercession to solve common problems. a singular atmosphere and spirit. The from local businesses to NGOs, cultural and Nowadays, the development of interaction local people long preserved celebrated educational institutions and local admin- with local residents has become one of the legends about Russian warrior heroes in istration. The creation of a new network priorities of the Kizhi Museum. ■

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SPECIAL REPORT MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Collaborative landscapes A working group formed by ICOM France to share experiences with Italian colleagues

by Louis-Jean Gachet, Honorary Heritage Curator General, member of ICOM France Executive Board

© MUSÉE SAVOISIEN, DÉPARTEMENT SAVOIE, SOLENNE PAUL

The Musée Savoisien in Chambéry, France

O

n 7 July, 2014, the ICOM Italian National Committee issued the Siena Charter, a document dedicated to the relationship between museums and cultural landscapes. The primary aim of this short text was to discuss the central theme of the 24th ICOM General Conference, to be held in Milan in July 2016.

In addition to resonating within the museum community as a whole, the thoughts expressed in the document also contained a political dimension firmly rooted in the ‘landscape’ of museums, and more generally, in the heritage and culture of Italy. That is why, in the hope of immediately starting 20 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

a reflective dialogue on these issues with other national committees, the Italian National Committee contacted the French National Committee in the fall of 2014 to suggest that it look at these issues itself, and ask the same questions about its own landscape of museums and national heritage.

Responding favourably to this suggestion, ICOM France formed a working group and began to identify institutional situations that could be comparable to those in Italy, and which could be used specifically to examine the applicability of the changes being proposed by ICOM Italy. These

changes include providing support to museums in a given area so that they can create a central institution with the mission of promoting and interpreting heritage, in cooperation with other institutions, including archives and libraries.

Differing situations The proposal being made by ICOM Italy is of the utmost importance to our Italian colleagues, at a time when the Italian government is firmly engaged in a major managerial reform of its national museums, and every region’s heritage is suffering from a drastic reduction in resources, resulting

in a radical overhaul of professional designed with the assumption of uninterresponsibilities in the field. This situation rupted growth in resources, does not is what led the Italian National Committee currently offer the flexibility to easily permit to propose a complete reorganisation of this type of change or any type of radical regional heritage management, by making experimentation in this direction. While museums the promoters and coordinators France’s heritage in general does not face of all technical and regulatory tasks in all as alarming a situation as that described institutions. by our Italian colleagues, the gradual The situation in France, where museums erosion of resources granted to those with and heritage are closely regulated by a responsibilities, and the need to highlight strong government administration and a clearer, more effective issues, both for highly developed body of laws and regula- political and professional managers tions, does not correspond exactly to that and for different audiences who use and of Italy. However, in a number of remark- benefit from heritage, demand attention. able cases in France, museums have had The imminent French regional reform to develop their own initiatives to become could provide the opportunity to start a leaders of heritage in given areas – unfor- discussion on the possibility of regiontunately, in most cases, for a limited period alised heritage management, as well as of time. There were the ability to maintain two significant cases, even enhance) While France’s heritage (and for example, in the heritage in times of Alpine region: that of does not face as alarming budget constraints; a situation as that the Conservation du the interprofessional described by our Italian cooperative framePatrimoine de l’Isère (Isère heritage consercolleagues, the gradual work to be developed; and the privileged vation department), erosion of resources role certain museums based in Grenoble at granted to those with could play. The issue the Musée Dauphinois responsibilities, and the o f p r o m o t i n g a n d fo r a d oze n ye a r s need to highlight clearer, managing heritage beginning in 19 92, more effective issues, on a territorial level is a particularly effecnot limited to regions. tive, remarkable and demand attention All other administraintegrated approach to managing the entire Isère department’s tive and political configurations, such as heritage; and that of the Musée Savoisien departments, cities, metropolitan areas in Chambéry, founded in 1988 in connec- and inter-communal bodies, would tion with the Albertville Olympic Games to naturally be concerned.

The reflection being proposed by promote and interpret Savoyard Baroque and fortified heritage. But other experiences the Italian Committee is not, in itself, on varying scales also show the capacity something new within ICOM, as its Chair, of certain French museums to develop this Daniele Jalla, rightfully states in his article type of initiative and create the same kind ‘Museums and Context’1. It is part of a long of structure, despite the lack of national movement towards a more overarching incentives providing backing or support. and integrated notion of museums and It should also be noted that the historic their societal incarnation, in line with their ecomuseum movement, in which France very historic essence. has been particularly exemplary, could be The relevance of ICOM Italy’s proposal considered a paradigm of this approach in is clear, both strategically and museoits own right. logically, and the working group that ICOM France has formed within its Board will Shaking up territories likely continue to reflect on this long after France’s heritage system, which is divided the meeting in Milan. ■ and corporatised to the extreme and Note 1 Daniele Jalla, 2015. Museums and Context in the History of ICOM (1946-2014): An Analysis in Preparation for the 24th General Conference of ICOM in 2016. http://www.academia.edu/16082823/Musei_e_contesto_nella_storia_dell_ICOM_1946-2014_una_ prospettiva_di_analisi_in_ preparazione_della_24a_ Conferenza_generale_del_2016

N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 21

HERITAGE IN DANGER ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUMS

From collecting to protecting The role of the archaeological museum in safeguarding heritage

by Markus Hilgert, Director, Vorderasiatisches Museum im Pergamonmuseum, Berlin and France Desmarais, Director of Programmes and Partnerships, ICOM General Secretariat

©STAATLICHE MUSEEN ZU BERLIN – VORDERASIATISCHES MUSEUM, FOTO: OLAF M. TEßMER

Detail from the Processional Way of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, reconstructed at the Museum of the Ancient Near East, Pergamonmuseum, Berlin

T

oday, archaeological museums, especially in western Europe, find themselves at a critical juncture – faced with pressing historical burdens, difficult ethical choices and a theoretical discourse that at times questions the very idea of the archaeological museum itself. But most importantly, in recent years, many such institutions are confronted with further complex challenges related to the political and cultural crises in the countries from which the objects in their collections originate. The future of archaeological museums as public spaces of education, transcultural encounters and multi-perspective discourse, as well as their social and political significance, will hinge on their willingness and ability to meet these challenges, take on their individual historical burdens and make the appropriate ethical choices.

The Vorderasiatisches Museum im Pergamonmuseum (Museum of the Ancient Near East at the Pergamonmuseum) in Berlin, Germany, which houses some 600,000 archaeological objects, mainly from Iraq and Syria, is one such museum. Like many other public repositories of archaeological objects in Europe, the Museum of the Ancient Near East was founded at the end of the 19th century as a museum for the art and architecture of non-European societies of the past. Highlights of its permanent exhibit include reconstructions of the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way from Babylon, as well as the monumental stone sculptures excavated at the site of Tell Halaf. More than 95% of the objects housed at 22 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

the museum stem from regular, well-documented archaeological excavations, and entered the collection on the basis of partage agreements with the respective countries of origin.

Today, the Museum of the Ancient Near East is redefining its institutional function on a national and international level, thereby responding to the crucial question of how collections established in a colonial or imperial context can continue to have a meaningful role in a postcolonial world, which is painfully growing aware of the political asymmetries and cultural chasms left behind by colonialism and imperialism.

Challenges and choices The Museum of the Ancient Near East and its counterparts are first and foremost facing an internal challenge, posed by their own past: many archaeological museums in western Europe started building their collections of non-European archaeological material at a time when political and cultural relations with the countries of origin were marked by power asymmetry, even in the absence of any immediate colonial or imperial domination. This does not imply that archaeological museums necessarily acted illegally or unethically, or took advantage of these asymmetries in acquiring objects through archaeological excavations or the art market. But archaeological museums with pertinent collections must acknowledge the historical burden represented by the political, social

and discursive inequalities surrounding their establishment around the turn of the 20th century.

B eyo n d m e re l y a c k n o w l e d g i n g this historical burden, archaeological museums must proactively assume responsibility for their past and strive to establish accountability with regard to the history of their objects by carrying out methodical provenance research. While such comprehensive research cannot right past injustices, the sincere effort to systematically inquire into the circumstances by which archaeological objects entered a museum’s collection, and make existing documentation available to the respective countries of origin and the public, is vital for institutional transparency. It is also a decisive component of bilateral reconciliation processes, and most importantly, the door through which archaeological museums enter the floor of postcolonial international relations.

The second challenge for archaeological museums is external: it is the post-WWII critical theoretical discourse of the humanities and social sciences, which has systematically deconstructed not only archaeology and its conceptual premises, but also historiographical narratives of development and modernity, and the idea of culture as a static and essentialist phenomenon. This discourse has furthermore unmasked the strong constructive power of museum exhibits and the surrogate cultures they invoke by creating artificial object ensembles out of fragmented archaeological situations. Today, archaeological museums need to find the right balance between a multi-perspective, transcultural object presentation that takes into account these theoretical considerations on the one hand, and their fundamental task of documenting, contextualising, interpreting and publicly displaying material remains of past societies in a generally accessible manner, on the other.

The third and most powerful challenge that archaeological museums need to address derives from the fact that the cultural heritage of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen and many other countries is now threatened with complete annihilation through

damage from military activity, purposeful for Education and Research for a threedestruction by political extremist groups year period, this research alliance features and systematic looting by criminals lured an innovative methodological design by profits in the flourishing illicit antiquities combining academic and non-academic trade. Museums must not close their eyes expertise. The transdisciplinary research to this global threat, but instead, mobilise project ILLICID aims to develop and test and apply their unique expertise in the criminological methods for an in-depth international fight to protect the cultural analysis of illicit traffic in cultural goods, abundance of the past, out of moral obliga- focusing on object type, turnover, networks tion and social responsibility: museums and operation modes. The results may also would not be public expert institutions with contribute to the long-term implementation the capacity to help, had the countries of UN Security Council Resolution 2199 on of origin – now in turmoil or under attack a national level.

The ICOM Red Lists of Cultural Objects – not agreed to share their rich heritage with us. However, it is also in our own vital at Risk are essential tools for fighting illicit trafficking of cultural interest to promote g o o d s a n d ra isin g cultural diversity and Museums must mobilise awareness of this issue. a c a d e m i c f re e d o m and apply their unique For the 2015 update of in these countries, for ICOM’s Emergency the future and reputaexpertise in the Red List for Iraq, the tion of archaeological international fight to Museum of the Ancient museums will largely protect the cultural Near East provided a depend on their ability abundance of the past, considerable number of to forge strong alliances out of moral obligation provenanced objects, with the respective and social responsibility object descriptions countries of origin. and a German transTargeting trafficking lation. The German version of this Red Illicit trafficking in cultural goods is one List, sponsored by the Prussian Cultural of the biggest single threats to the cultural Heritage Foundation, will be launched in heritage of humankind. For institutions January 2016 in Berlin.

Given the multiple challenges they with high visibility, fighting illicit traffic starts with taking a bold public stance, currently face and their potentially key adhering to a strict code of ethics such as role in the face of conflict, repositories of the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, and archaeological cultural heritage such implementing best practices guidelines. as the Museum of the Ancient Near East At the Museum of the Ancient Near East, possess a singular capacity to contribute measures include a general rule banning greatly not only to bilateral reconciliation further acquisitions, a highly restrictive efforts and academic discourse, but also policy on the preparation of expert reports, to social and political processes, thereby and comprehensive provenance research. establishing a new operative paradigm for Close communication and cooperation archaeological museums. Whether they with the respective countries of origin is will be able to live up to this potential will depend entirely on the openness of the also decisive to these efforts.

Together with a network of partner insti- respective institutions to these tasks and tutions including the ICOM International their willingness to adapt their institutional Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural profile accordingly. However, in the face of Goods, the Federal Criminal Police Office the violent extremism and brutal narratives and the German Foreign Office, the of hatred and death haunting us these Museum of the Ancient Near East is spear- days, museums are able to embark on this heading a new national research project promising mission by disseminating the analysing the illicit traffic of archaeological one narrative for which they are perfectly objects, mainly from Iraq and Syria, in cut out: that of social diversity, cultural Germany. Funded by the Federal Ministry equality and infinite human creativity. ■ N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 23

ICOM GENERAL CONFERENCE MILAN 2016

Italy beckons

SWITZERLAND

Maggiore Lake

AOSTA VALLEY

Bard

Lugano LOMBARDY

VENETO

Como Lake

Bergamo Garda Lake

Biella Ivrea

Novara

Turin PIEDMONT

Milan

Verona

Brescia

Vigevano Pavia

Asti

Vicenza

Mantova Food Museums Modena

Langhe-Roero

Genoa LIGURIA

Parma

Bologna

EMILIA-ROMAGNA

Florence Certaldo / Castiglion Fiorentino

TUSCANY

Excursion Day is an ICOM General Conference tradition – a day off to discover the host city of Milan, and various destinations in north and central Italy.

You will be free to choose an outing from among the many possibilities, which will soon be available on the General Conference website and bookable online.

Stay tuned for more details at www.milano2016.icom.museum and on the ICOM Milano 2016 Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ICOMGeneralConference

Prelude to Milan On 28 November, 2015, ICOM’s National and International Committees came together in the town of Brescia, Italy, to discuss the theme, Museums, territorial systems and urban landscapes.

by Aedín Mac Devitt, ICOM General Secretariat ©ICOM

A precursor to the ICOM General Conference in Milan in 2016, the event was held in the Santa Giulia Museum, run by the Brescia Musei Foundation, and which displays Brescia’s history, art and religious heritage from prehistoric times to the present day. A warm welcome was extended to conference participants by the City of Brescia, the Brescia Museum Foundation and the Lombardy Region.

ICOM President Hans-Martin Hinz took the opportunity to speak about the stereotypes natural and cultural landscapes have created around countries and nations, while François Mairesse, Chair of ICOFOM (International Committee for Museology), gave his interpretation of the theme, and asked the audience to consider our limitations when contemplating museum activity.

During his address, Daniele Jalla, Chair of ICOM Italy, emphasised three different landscapes of museology: collections, cultural heritage, and territory and community.

The Chair of the ICOM Milan 2016 Organising Committee, Alberto Garlandini, explained that 60 proposals had been received in response to the Call for Papers for the conference. Among those, 18 were chosen for presentation at the event. These included Ecomuseums as precursors to a participated management of landscape, exploring the ecomuseum network in the Italian region of Piedmont, and Monticello: revealing a world heritage cultural landscape, which focused on a study of the cultural landscape of the home of United States founding father Thomas Jefferson.

ICOM Director General Anne-Catherine Robert-Hauglustaine spoke about the celebrations planned for ICOM’s 70th anniversary at the General Conference in Milan, including an exhibition on the history of the organisation, and a publication on ethics, edited by Bernice Murphy, former ICOM Ethics Committee Chair. I, myself, briefly presented the Call for Papers open on the theme of Museums and cultural landscapes for the journal Museum International, with details on the submission process1.

The event was concluded with an address by Silvia Costa, President of the Committee on culture and education in the European Parliament and Luigi Maria Di Corato, President of the Brescia Musei Foundation.

A visit of the Monastery of San Salvatore, a UNESCO World Heritage site, completed the Saturday programme, and participants were given a guided tour of the Milan 2016 conference site (MICO) the following day.

Note 1 See: http://icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/MI/EN_CFP_Cultural-Landscapes.pdf

24 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

©COMUNE DI MILANO-MARCO FERRARIO

Quiet on the set!

ICOM films interviews to celebrate its 70th anniversary

©BIRD AGENCE

For the occasion of the celebration of its 70th anniversary in 2016, ICOM has filmed a series of interviews with some of its members in collaboration with the Parisian production agency Bird. These interviews will be presented as part of a retrospective exhibition at ICOM’s 24th General Conference on 3-9 July, 2016 in Milan. The project is the result of a successful partnership between Bird, an agency specialised in conducting interviews and managing and highlighting filmed and oral histories, the ICOM General Secretariat, and the curator of the exhibition, François Mairesse, Chair of ICOFOM (International Committee for Museology).

The interviewees, who were chosen with a focus on diversity and representativeness, enthusiastically recalled their experiences within the organisation and shared their vision of the events that have marked its history. Hans-Martin Hinz (ICOM President) and Dominique Ferriot (former Chair of ICOM France) discussed the creation of ICOM and the policy of opening up the organisation in the 1970s. Hugues de Varine-Bohan (former ICOM Director) and Luis Monreal (former ICOM Secretary General) spoke about the economic hardships of the 1960s, while Martin Schärer (Ethics Committee Chair, former ICOM Vice President) and Terry Nyambe (ICOM Zambia Chair) explained the origin and development of the Code of Ethics. These interviews highlight ICOM’s accomplishments but also offer a perceptive look at its current challenges and future developments. As Gaël de Guichen (member of ICOM-CC) explains, ‘If you have a good idea that could create a change, no matter how small, in society or in the world of museums, it can take 25 years to see the effects of that change. So you have to start early, and…be stubborn! But in the end, if the idea is big, if you’re right, and if it brings about a positive change in society, you’ll get there.’

In order to collect the stories, Bird used its expertise by creating an interview form with documentation support from the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre. The audiovisual production team La Laverie was commissioned to enhance the aesthetic quality of the videos for their screening in the exhibition space. The videos were edited by topic, Interview with Hugues de Varine-Bohan with sound and visual design elaborated in order to facilitate the public’s understanding of their content.

In addition to presenting the videos to the public as part of the exhibition, this project aims to create relevant and lasting historical content that can be archived, studied and used by future generations. ICOM and Bird have laid the foundation for thought process and practice aimed at preserving and highlighting the voices of the many diverse individuals who make up the organisation and who shape its history on a daily basis. ■

N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 25

ICOM COMMUNITY International museum day Journée internationale des musées

Countdown to IMD 2016

Since 1977, ICOM has celebrated International Museum Day (IMD) to encourage public 18 awareness of the role of museums in the development of society. In 2015, nearly 35,000 museums in 145 countries museums and cultural landscapes participated in the event by musées et paysages culturels organising specific activities. In museos y paisajes culturales 2016, the worldwide community of museums will celebrate the next International Museum Day on 18 May, around the theme Museums and cultural landscapes. This will also be the theme of the 2016 ICOM General Conference to be held in Milan, Italy. It highlights the responsibility of museums not only to their collections, but also to their environment, including the cities, villages and communities to which they belong, and calls on them to promote and communicate about their own collections as well as the cultural and natural heritage Día internacional de los museos

www.imd.icom.museum

www.facebook.com/internationalmuseumday

@ICOMofficiel

design - www.justine-navarro.com

may mai mayo 2016

that surrounds them. Museums of all kinds can contribute to sustainable development by strengthening ties between people and their environment.

Museums and cultural landscapes asks museums to participate in raising awareness, making them ambassadors of a geographic area and engaging them in actively protecting cultural and natural heritage.

We invite all of the world’s museums – large or small, urban or rural, dedicated to the arts or sciences – to join us on 18 May in celebrating the complex link between people and their environment.

The official IMD website has also been launched and features the IMD 2016 poster and web banner in several languages, along with a kit for museums that contains tools, guidance and examples.

We are counting on the participation of everyone to make IMD a unifying and festive event worldwide!

For further information: http://network.icom.museum/international-museum-day https://www.facebook.com/internationalmuseumday

Beating traffic Cultural objects disappear every day, whether stolen from a museum or removed from an archaeological site, to embark on the well-beaten track of illicit antiquities – a track we have yet to map clearly.

The need to understand that journey, to establish the routes, to identify the culprits, and to ultimately locate these soughtafter objects, gave rise to the launch of the first International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods by ICOM in January 2013, with the financial support of the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme of the European Commission’s Directorate-General Home Affairs. This is the fruit of ICOM’s long-term involvement in the fight against illicit traffic in cultural property, and was created to serve as a permanent international cooperative platform and network of international organisations, law enforcement agencies, research institutions and other external expert stakeholders.

A transdisciplinary publication entitled Countering Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods: The Global Challenge of Protecting the World’s Heritage concludes the initial phase of the Observatory project, providing articles signed by researchers and academics, museum and heritage professionals, archaeologists, legal advisors, curators and journalists. It includes case studies on looting in specific countries, with the primary aim of eliciting the nature of the antiquities trade, the sources of the traffic and solutions at hand.

The publication was launched on 15 December, 2015, at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France. It is available online at: http://obs-traffic.museum.

26 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

Sixth Regional Museum Meeting held in South East Europe

by Sarita Vujkoviæ, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, Chair of ICOM Bosnia and Herzegovina ©NEMANJA MICEVIC

From 5 to 8 November, tions in South East Europe.

2015, ICOM’s South East It emerged that a number Europe Regional Alliance of institutions from the re(ICOM SEE) gathered togion share similar profesgether with ICOM Bossional experiences and that similar actions related to nia and Herzegovina and various aspects of social in collaboration with the inclusion were more or less National Committees of organised in these respecSlovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and the fortive institutions prior to the conference. However, it is mer Yugoslav Republic of necessary to work out a deMacedonia, for the Sixth Regional Museum Meeting tailed and precise working at the Museum of Contemstrategy in order to broadConference participants at the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic porary Art of the Republic en this topic from a limited of Srpska, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina of Srpska in Banja Luka, domain to apply it to the Bosnia and Herzegovina. Devoted to the theme of Social in- everyday activities and programmes of the museums.

The final conclusion of this three-day conference is that the clusion and the contemporary museum, the meeting brought together more than 70 museum professionals from Italy, museums, with their specialised programmes and mutual proSlovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav fessional support and networking, contribute to making social inclusion an everyday topic not only in their local communities, Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The conference was inaugurated with the opening of the ex- but in all segments of the society. Museum institutions have the hibition Space, Form, Touch – the first exhibition in Bosnia and mutual task of functioning as a platform for systematic actions Herzegovina fully adapted for blind and visually impaired visitors that are in accordance with appropriate structures of goverand which serves as an example of good practice in this area. nance. All of the above will contribute to long-term realisation The theme was selected because social inclusion is among the of these goals. leading issues currently faced within contemporary museology, Special guests of the conference were two professors from and is one of the biggest professional challenges that museum Italy, Roberto Zancan (UNESCO Venice) and Guido Incerti (Uniinstitutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region are strug- versity of Ferrara), who gave lectures connecting the theme with gling to overcome. The goal of the conference was for partici- that of the 2016 ICOM General Conference, Museums and culturpants to exchange experiences and broaden knowledge related al landscapes, which also resonated in the post conference tour: to social inclusion and the role of the museum in contemporary a one-day field trip to the Kozara National Park and memorial society, and to work out a new strategy concerning museum ac- complex housed there, whose highlight is the modernist monutions in this field of work. ment by Dušan Džamonja. This memorial complex represents a The programme consisted of 24 expert lectures and presen- unique example within Bosnia and Herzegovina of incorporating tations given by museum professionals from numerous institu- monumental architecture into natural surroundings. ■

New National Committee in Saudi Arabia ICOM is pleased to announce the creation of a new National Committee in Saudi Arabia by vote of approval at the 132nd session of the Executive Council in December 2015. The project was initiated in February 2015 through the Membership Department of the ICOM General Secretariat, with the assistance of Abdulaziz Alsaleh, Counselor of Tourism

and Heritage for the Permanent Delegation of Saudi Arabia to UNESCO, and a first meeting was organised at the recommendation of the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to UNESCO. The coordination of the creation of the Saudi National Committee was subsequently taken over by the Saudi Heritage Preservation Society (SHPS) under the direction

of Princess Adila bint Abdullah Al Saud and Ms Maja Al-Senan. Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud was appointed Chair; Rana Alshaikh, Secretary; and Fahad Al Mandl, Treasurer. As of December 2015, ICOM Saudi Arabia counted seven individual members and one institutional member. ■

N°3-4 2015 | ICOMNEWS 27

PUBLICATIONS

Seeing green Review by Edward R. Bosley, Director, The Gamble House, University of Southern California, US

W

ith apologies to Kermit the Frog, museum and historic site administrators can agree: it’s not easy being green. I’m glad that I read beyond ‘Green choices are usually complex choices,’ in Sarah Sutton’s Environmental Sustainability at Historic Sites and Museums, which lobs that slightly daunting statement into an otherwise scrupulously practical, highly readable presentation of environmentally sustainable practices for museum professionals. Using a case study approach, Sutton’s 208page title methodically unpacks those complexities for us, offering a refreshingly straightforward guide for institutional leaders on how to inspire staff, volunteers, donors and visitors to embrace being ‘green’, and how to actually do so.

Sarah Sutton (formerly Sarah S. Brophy) comes to the subject with credentials; she began writing on these issues more than a decade ago. Her book co-authored with Elizabeth Wylie, The Green Museum: A Primer on Environmental Practice (AltaMira Press, 2008) has served as the standard text on the subject.

This volume is essentially the continuation of a theme with a bit more emphasis on historic sites.

Larger institutions, with facilities staffing that might include an energy analyst, will understand the book’s use of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as a meaningful metric for determining institutional progress towards sustainability goals. The Minnesota Historical Society, for example, measures metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (MT Co2e) to evaluate its carbon footprint at 26 historic sites with 700+ staff, 24,000 members and 700,000 annual visitors. The text also recognises smaller institutions that may only be able to measure ‘greenness’ by occasionally noticing a shrinking power bill or an overflowing recycling bin. The main point, the author frequently reminds us, is that it’s never too late to begin to effect change in practice and mindset, no matter how big or small the institution. The low-hanging fruit is addressed, like swapping out incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs in favour of cooler, more efficient LEDs. More sophisticated and costly capital improvements are also described, such as geothermal and solar energy-generation, which can create substantial environmental benefits at institutions that are able to invest in longer payout periods. In an illustration of the former, the Minnesota Historical Society calculated that the relatively easy and inexpensive choice of switching to LED light bulbs also led to the unanticipated effect of lowering cooling costs in summer due to a significant reduction in directional heat versus the discarded incandescent technology.

Also impressive about this slim volume is its holistic approach. In Chapter 5, Elizabeth Wylie recounts her efforts at American writer Flannery O’Connor’s Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville, Georgia, to creatively engage with opportunities presented by hundreds of acres of land and farm buildings, while meeting the day-to-day challenges of conserving and interpreting the literary giant’s legacy. She turns to O’Connor’s own thrifty sensibility for guidance: ‘row crops fed the cattle, chickens and other fowl helped keep ticks and chiggers at bay while providing eggs and meat.’ This subsistence-like approach not only holds the promise of reducing carbon footprint and saving money, it also restores a historically correct ethic to the farm’s operations and, not incidentally, opens exciting new avenues for interpreting Andalusia Farm to the public. In case study #4, ‘Greening From the Ground Up’, John Forti, Curator of Historic Landscapes at Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, offers equally inspiring tips on how his institution integrates its operations with a self-imposed mandate to locally source most of its institutional needs, thus reducing or eliminating GHG emissions related to long-distance transportation of goods to its site.

Some of these admirable initiatives will be neither easy nor inexpensive to carry out for many institutions. Sutton sums up the financial demands of going green: ‘you will keep wondering “how do I pay for this?” The answer is “the same way you pay for anything else at your institution”…

It’s a cost of doing business.’ This sober observation is typical of the book’s occasionally daunting, frequently inspiring, always practical tone. Not only has the author organised an intuitively desirable and ultimately doable prescription for professionals to pursue environmental sustainability at their institutions, she has also led us to understand fresh ways for museums and historic sites to remain relevant in the 21st century, something any professional should gladly seek.

Environmental Sustainability at Historic Sites and Museums Author: Sarah Sutton Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015 28 ICOMNEWS | N°3-4 2015

ICOM PRESIDENT Hans-Martin Hinz DIRECTOR GENERAL Anne-Catherine Robert-Hauglustaine EDITOR IN CHIEF Sara Heft TRANSLATION Kristina Jackson CONTRIBUTORS Elisabeth Jani Ninon Sordi DESIGN AND LAYOUT, ADVERTISING, PRINTING France Édition Multimédia 70 avenue Alfred Kastler - CS 90014 66028 Perpignan Cedex Tel +33 (0)4 68 66 94 75 francedit@francedit.com © ICOM ISSN 1020-6418 COVER IMAGE © RUSSIA STATE MUSEUM OF KIZHI

In 2016, ICOM News is going fully digital.

Stay tuned for details on the launch of the new online platform in the coming months.

If you wish to know more or get involved as a contributor, please contact Sara Heft: sara.heft@icom.museum ICOM Maison de l’UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75732 Paris Cedex 15 France Tel +33 (0) 1 47 34 05 00 Fax + 33 (0) 1 43 06 78 62 secretariat@icom.museum http://icom.museum

ICOM News is a magazine published by the International Council of Museums in English, French and Spanish, with the financial assistance of the French Ministry of Culture. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not commit ICOM in any way and are the responsibility of their authors.

International museum day Journée internationale des musées Día internacional de los museos

18

may mai mayo 2016

museums and cultural landscapes musées et paysages culturels

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