ICME NEWS 49 - January 2008

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ICME Ethnography - Ethnographie - Etnografia

International Committee for Museums of Ethnography - ICOM/ICME

http://icme.icom.museum

In October at the direction of the ICOM Secretariat, I was contacted by Prof. Raoul Weiler, member of the Advisory Board of the Wikimedia Foundation. Earlier in the fall in Taiwan, Professor Weiler made a proposal to Advisory Board to incorporate uniform records of collections in ethnographic museums worldwide, especially the objects in the storage.
The initiative is provisionally titled “Compilation of Ethnographic Objects from Museum Reserves.” The underlying premise of Weiler’s proposal is the oft repeated motion that “cultural diversity … is threatened at high speed.” Through developing uniform documentation records that would be centralized by Wikipedia it is thought that information about collections could be better accessed. Weiler envisions that this initiative would be a contribution~toward safeguarding cultural heritage, already a primary mandates of all museums.
A meeting to discuss the Wikipedia proposal was convened in Paris in December. Attending the meeting were representatives of UNESCO, ICOM, the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia France, and Dr. Weiler of the Wikipedia Advisory Board. The representative of the World Bank was unable to attend. Carla Bonomi of the ICOM Secretariat represented ICME in place of me or any ICME Board member. A report outlining the December discussion and the direction the group will take will be forthcoming shortly.

For this initiative, Wikipedia is seeking support from UNESCO, ICOM, ICME and private sources.

Thanks to Beate Wild for making a presentation about ICME at the recent ICOM Germany meeting. I believe other board members are acting upon my challenge to spread the word of ICME in their communities.

Following months of internet discussions ICOM has established a program of youth grants to allow full-time museum professionals under the age of 30 to attend costly ICOM meetings – whether the triennial congresses or annual meetings of international committees. In 2007, three youth grants were awarded to museum ethnographers to participate in the Vienna ICME meetings. In this newsletter you will read a report from one of those young professionals.

On a personal note, I appreciate the effect this funding can make. I first participated in ICME meetings in 1980 when I was a graduate student.
Fortunately, I was in the position that I was able to carefully guard my savings and attend the ICOM triennial meetings. Today’s young professionals are fortunate to have a helping hand to participate.
Please also read the notice in this newsletter to apply for youth funding to attend the ICME 2008 meeting in Jerusalem in the fall.

With warmest regards,

Annette B. Fromm

president@icme.icom.museum

2. ICME ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN JERUSALEM 2008

Call for Papers
First Announcement

Migration, Diaspora, Pilgrimage, Museum and Cultural Perspectives Jerusalem
17-19 November, 2008

ICME (the ICOM International Committee for Museums Ethnography) will hold its 2008 annual conference in Jerusalem on 17-19 November, 2008. The meeting will be hosted by the The Isaac Kaplan Old Yishuv Court Museum
http://ilmuseums.com/museum_eng.asp?id=23
Sponsors include the Jerusalem Foundation and ICOM/Israel.
This conference is open to museum professionals and all scholars involved in the issues and topics of the annual meeting.
Presentations should not exceed 30 minutes. The main language of the conference will be English. We are encouraging the use of visual images wherever possible.

Abstracts, which should not exceed 300 words, should be sent to Annette B.
Fromm by 31 March 2008 at the latest. Please also ensure that you include your contact address and all professional details (name, position, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail). Abstracts will be submitted to our editorial committee and a decision on their suitability will be made by the end of April.

Annette B. Fromm, president, ICME[ mailto:annettefromm@hotmail.com ]annettefromm@hotmail.com 3060 Alton Road Miami Beach, FL 33140 USA phone, 305-532-3530, fax 305-535-8083 Final details are still being confirmed, but the general format of the annual meeting will consist of papers, museum visits including discussions with staff, and walking tours with community scholars. Registration forms, registration fee information, hotels, pre-conference tour costs and other details will be available on the ICME web site in February at [ javascript:ol('http://icme.icom.museum'); ]http://icme.icom.museum

ICME 2008 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

PRE-CONFERENCE WALKING TOUR
Sunday, November 16 - Arrival, pre-conference walking tour of the
pilgrimage sites in the Old City of Jerusalem; opening reception at The
Isaac Kaplan Old Yishuv Court Museum
http://ilmuseums.com/museum_eng.asp?id=23

CONFERENCE

Monday, November 17th

Museum visit and paper sessions at the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art http://www.islamicart.co.il/default-eng.asp
Walking tour in the afternoon.

Tuesday, November 18th

Museum visit and paper sessions at the Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem http://www.towerofdavid.org.il; walking tour of Meah Shearim http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meah_Shearim and Prophet Street.

Wednesday, November 19th

Museum visit and paper sessions at the U Nahon, Museum of Italian Jewish Art http://www.jija.org/, http://www.jija.org/; afternoon walking tour of Mahane Yehuda
open air market http://www.fonerbooks.com/guide_30.htm. Closing dinner hosted by the Jerusalem Foundation.

POST-CONFERENCE TOUR
Thursday & Friday, November 20-21

Thursday, November 20th

Travel north through the Judean Hills to Kibbutz
Gesher and the memorial site at Naharayim http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000015747.htm. Continue to Tiberias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberias and the Yigal Allon Museum at Kibbutz Ginossar http://www.israntique.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=5&subj_id=90.
Travel north to the Tabgha Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, with its monastery with a noted winepress
http://www.bibleplaces.com/tabgha.htm. Then Tel Hai for a tour of the Tel Hai Museum http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000065671.htm.

Friday, November 21st

First stop will be Safed, the early center of kabbalists and Kabbala http://www.safed.co.il/. Then to Nazareth and the Basilica of the
Annunciation and other sites http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/geo/Annunciation.html.
Continue to Nebi Shueib to see burial place of the Prophet Joshua, a holy site for the Druze community http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information/Ethnic+Groups/Druze/.
The city of Haifa, the site of the World Baha’i Center Gardens http://info.bahai.org/article-1-6-5-3.html, a holy place and pilgrimage site for the Baha’i religious community is the next stop. Then head back to Jerusalem.

3. BENEFITS OF ATTENDING ICOM PROCEEDINGS AND ICME MEETINGS

I was privileged to be amongst the three individuals given the mentoring
grant by ICME, through ICOM arrangements, to attend the ICOM triennial
meeting in Vienna this summer.

Current Responsibilities and Academic Qualifications
I am female, 24 years old, and a Zambian by birth. At the moment I reside
in Mbala, the Northern Province of Zambia.
Currently, I serve under the National Museum Board, Moto Moto Museum, in
Mbala, the Northern Province of Zambia. I was employed at Moto Moto Museum
in April 2006 as an Assistant Keeper of Ethnography and Arts. The job
description entails carrying out research, curation of objects, exhibition
mounting, collection and documentation of objects.
To qualify for this post, one had to have a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Sociology with a minor in Development Studies at University of Zambia. I
Graduated from University of Zambia in 2005, and recently have had some
training in Conservation Management, Exhibition Designs and Counseling.
The Counseling affords me the responsibility of being a Peer Educator with
respect to HIV/AIDS in the Museum. Peer Education is a new phase of
combating the increasing HIV/AIDS ratio in Zambia’s work force, which is
at 1:5 ratios. In addition, I also serve as the Coordinator of the
Environmental Conservation Club in Mbala. This entails educating the
school children in particular, about the need to conserve our cultural
heritage and natural resources i.e. trees. Mbala is experiencing
deforestation at a rapidly pace. This situation has proved to be the
catalyst of the formation of the Environmental Conservation Club in Mbala.

Goals and Achievements in Attending ICOM Proceedings and ICME Meetings
I anticipated to meet and interact with other ICOM members, especially
ICME members; with a hope that it would bring enrichment on the ongoing
research topics and issues facing museum professions.
The ICOM proceedings and ICME meeting achieved that goal fully. It was a
grand opportunity to peer in the challenges which faces museum
professionals world over. I appreciated the fact that theft of cultural
heritage is a phenomenon affecting all museums. In addition the need to
include the community was a very important point raised. Cyber Museology
was also an issue raised that rarely occurs in the mind of an African
Curator.
The meeting was also an eye-opener especially on the ongoing research as
noticed from the Norwegian counterparts. The meeting opened up new links
with other professionals outside Zambia. And this interaction enhanced my
profession as am relatively new in the field of museology.
Moto Moto Museum is currently engaging in the reorganization of its
permanent exhibitions, and the ICME organized visit to ethnographic
museums in Austria proved most beneficial in this respect. From the
museums visited, I learnt about trends in exhibition design as well as how
best to conserve objects.

Goals as Young ICME Member
I am still hopeful that I can have other interactions like the Vienna
experience. This would aid me to better develop the museum, my
museological profession as well as better contribute to ICME. The paper
presentations were indeed ‘knowledge powered’. And that is an aspect I
wish to take part in; that in the future.
The ICME membership as well as representation from Africa is still low. It
would be pleasing to be part of the stimulators of growth in membership of
ICME in Africa.

Namasiku Kabika

4. EXHIBITION: ROMANIA – CHANGING VIEW POINTS (RUMÄNIEN - BLICKWECHSEL)
A special exhibition at the Museum of European Cultures, Berlin

How does one present a country whose perception in western media varies
between negative headlines and glossy postcards for tourists? Images of
street kids in Bucharest give way to idyllic landscapes, begging Roma kids
contrast with modern shopping malls. Romania, a member of the European
Union for almost a year now, embodies many contrasts and contradictions.
The pictorial journey to Romania sets out in the second half of the 19th
century, when engravings are slowly being replaced by photographs. The
technology is new, but the choice of motifs is entirely in the tradition
of old paintings and lithos. Arranged studio photographs, often portraying
actors dressed as peasants or shepherds in traditional gear, give evidence
of the urban interest in the countryside at that time. Glorification of
rural life, combined with romantic nationalism at the beginning of the
20th century provide a fountain of clichés about Romania that have
persisted to this very day inside and outside the country. They can be
found on postcards, and in picture books and travel literature, even when
the reality has long since changed completely. The images have penetrated
deeply into the subconscious and the observer's expectation accordingly.
The Berlin exhibition consciously juxtaposes these stereotypes with
numerous still photographs and moving pictures of Romania today: the
non-traditional view. The images have been conceived by German and
Romanian photographers, professionals as well as amateurs. They choose
their own point of view, their individual motif and detail, and thus a
mosaic of everyday life situations eventually forms itself into an image
of Romania that has nothing to do with high gloss pictures or sensational
press photographs. Instead, manifold realities of a country undergoing
radical change are revealed: a strong belief in progress confronts strong
traditional values; radical development is experienced next to regressive
standards. Against this backdrop a complex view of people in modern
Romania develops, with their creativity and their concepts of life between
wishfulness and reality.

In realizing this concept the exhibition does not follow the usual method
of putting pictures on display. The concept of changing the viewpoint is
not just pertinent to the exhibition but relates to its artistic design.
There are no extended texts explaining various aspects, but rather one
introductory and one associative text to introduce the concept. The
visitor is not prescribed one view of Romania, but is given numerous
possible approaches to the country. A great variety of forms of
presentation also allow for a constant change of viewpoint: large
photographs lit from the back are contrasted with series of small pictures
on large sized sheets. Film clips on small monitors stand back to back
with film projections. Like an eternal golden braid, a montage of
newspaper clippings from papers published in Romania is rolled out along
the walls.

The central element of the exhibition’s design –from which all photograph
series are hung –is a large, 2 meter high and 25 meter long spiral fixed
to the ceiling. On the outside of this flows the river Danube – in the
form of a digital projection. Following the ”river“ to the inner side of
the eddy the visitor faces a highly colourful presentation of large
photographs on the inside of the coil.

The coil itself also represents the basic concept of media within the
exhibition. This concept is a holistic one, giving equal value to all
media formats, be it engravings, photographs, film or animated computer
sequences. The projection on the coil uses particularly the emotional
value of the medium of film far more than its informational value. The
calmly moving image of the stream that winds 25 meters into the exhibition
emotionalizes the visitor and attunes him to the exhibition. This
installation is deliberately not meant to go beyond such only vaguely
perceived informational value, as are other media installations in the
exhibition, e.g., a film about a nunnery projected onto a wall of fog,
which leaves the visitor with a vague, mysteriously fading image of an
orthodox world. And no more than that; where other exhibitions frequently
use film in a didactic way to explain artefacts on display on a
meta-level, here film, or rather media, have themselves become artifacts,
integrated into all the objects on display. They are but one more
viewpoint relating to the complex concept of Romania, the nation. Their
content, form and function have become artefacts.

This didactic approach is almost futuristic. No film in the exhibition, be
it vaguely emotionalizing or of outright informative value asks for the
visitor’s attention for more than three minutes – the timespan any visitor
is willing to dedicate to an artefact, but every media item stands in
direct visual and conceptual context with all other artefacts, this being
a mutual relationship. This homogeneity unobtrusively but compellingly
leads the visitor to the basic conclusion of the exhibition: what is the
concept of the Romanian nation? The exhibition presents a multitude of
facets, but not encyclopedic knowledge. An approach to encyclopaedic
knowledge is given in the info gallery attached to the exhibition, where
the visitor will find a large number of books, newspapers, film and
internet-access that provide an opportunity for extensive study of
Romanian related information of all kinds.
The exhibition aims to raise an awareness of an image of Romania beyond
the common cliché and tradition. The unexpected perspective in conjunction
with the unexpected presentation opens the eye to surprisingly fresh
insights. It might help abandon those extremely persistent clichés about
Romania and might shift our image of Romania closer to reality – by a
change of viewpoints.
Wolfgang Davis, Beate Wild
The exhibition ”Rumänien – Blickwechsel“ is open to the public until
March, 16th, 2008, and will be travelling afterwards.

Exhibition “Rumänien – Blickwechsel”
Museum Europäischer Kulturen
Arnimallee 25D-14195 Berlin (Dahlem)

contact:
w.davis@smb.spk-berlin.de
b.wild@smb.spk-berlin.de

5. PRESENTATION OF ICME BOARD MEMBERS

In this and the following newsletters we will present the members of the
new ICME board. Within a few months all presentations can be found on the
ICME website.

Ralf Cèplak MencinBorn in 1955 in Ljubljana, Slovenia where he graduated
in ethnology and psychology in 1981. 23 years of work in different museums
(provincial, city, ethnographic). 11 years head of Museum of non- European
Cultures in Gorièane castle near Ljubljana. His research work is focused
in the field of museology, sinology and tibetology. Two mandates chair of
Museum Association of Slovenia (1991 -95), two mandates chair of ICOM
Slovenia National Committee (1997- 2003). Member of the board of ICOM/
ICME (1989-92) and ICOM-Europe (2002-2007), member of the ICOM Task Force
on National Committees and Regional Organizations (2005 – 2007). He has
published more than one hundred fifty articles and two books, was
co-author of the~ Museums Guide in Slovenia (1992) and organised (was
author or co-author) sixteen museum exhibitions. He has held numerous
lectures in Slovenia and abroad (Germany, France, Austria, Romania and
Hungary). Vice-chairman of KULA (Slovene ethnological and anthropological
association), member of EASA (The European Association of Social
Anthropologists), Tibet support group of Slovenia, Slovene Museum Society.

Anette Rein
Director, Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt am Main
I was born in Wiesbaden, Germany on April, 15, 1955. In 1975, I went to
the former West-Berlin to study Social Anthropology, Pedagogics and
American Archaeology (Altamerikanistik) at the Free University. In my M.A.
thesis I analyzed the Balinese mask drama "Barongan". After finishing all
the exams I became part of a Swiss project to conduct research in Bali
(1985-1987) on Balinese dances. In 1994 I finished my PhD. thesis on
Balinese temple dances, which are still practiced today in the Eastern
part of the island.
My professional career was always been split between my work at museums
and at universities. During my studies in Berlin I worked for eight years
as a freelance worker in the Museum für Völkerkunde (today: Ethnologisches
Museum) in several departments. After my research time in Bali I started
to work as an assistant (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at the Joh.
Gutenberg University in Mainz (1987-1994), in 1994 I went to Kupang in
Timor (Indonesia) to teach at the Universitas Nusa Cendana as a short time
lecturer. In January 1995, I moved to Leipzig where I worked as an
assistant (wissenschaftliche Assistentin) at the University Leipzig until
2000. On April 1st, 2000 I started my job as a director of the Museum für
Völkerkunde (today: Museum der Weltkulturen = Museum of World Cultures) in
Frankfurt am Main

During my studies and my teaching times I always followed my special
interests of how can we translate different world views to each other and
how can we communicate them for a better mutual understanding. I have
specialized on dance anthropology, ritual studies, gender studies
and~museum studies (material culture) concentrating also on non-verbal
ways of communication and the possibilities of transferring knowledge
without talking or writing - but by moving and acting. Working as a
director of an~ethnographic museum I~find it very important to combine in
our exhibitions the knowledge of the tangible and intangible knowledge of
the world cultural heritage. So I participate in many conferences
organized by the UNESCO and other institutions which are working on these
topics belonging to the world cultural heritage.

Barbara Woroncow
OBE, MA, FMA
Degree in Archaeology & Anthropology, Cambridge University.
Postgraduate Certificate in Museum Studies, University of Leicester and
Further Education Teacher’s Certificate, Leeds Polytechnic.
8 years experience 1975-1983 as a Curator of Ethnography in local
government museum services. Elected Chairman of the Museum Ethnographers
Group 1982-1984.
4 years as Deputy Director 1983-1987 and 16 years 1987-2003 as Chief
Executive of the Yorkshire Museums Council, a strategic regional
development body funded by the UK Ministry of Culture, the DCMS, with
responsibility for 200 museums of all types and sizes.
Awarded Associateship (AMA) in 1977 and Fellowship (FMA) in 1989 of the UK
Museums Association. Elected President of the Yorkshire & Humberside
Federation of Museums & Art Galleries 1994-1996.
Elected President of the UK Museums Association 1996-1998.
Experience of development, advisory and training work in the cultural
sector in Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Austria, Uzbekistan, Ukraine,
Macedonia, Hungary, Tajikistan and Armenia.
Expert Adviser to UNESCO and Project Co-ordinator for museums in Armenia,
Georgia, and Azerbaijan 2003 – 2005.
Awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2000 for
services to museums.

Current appointments
Deputy Chair, UNESCO UK National Commission Culture Committee
Independent Assessor for Public Appointments for DCMS
Non-Executive Director of the Board of the Yorkshire Tourist Board and
member of the YTB Executive and Nominations Committees
Deputy Chair of the Leeds Cultural Partnership
Member of the Going Up A League Executive of the Leeds Initiative
Member of the Court of the University of York
Visiting Research Associate, Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change, Leeds
Metropolitan University
Member of the Board of ICOM UK (International Council of Museums), ICME
and the St. Petersburg Centre for Museum Development

Annette B. Fromm
Dr. Annette B. Fromm is a folklorist and museum specialist. At the
present she serves as Associate Professor/Coordinator of Museum Studies at
Florida International University and Membership/Education Coordinator at
the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. She also serves as President of the
International Committee of Museums of Ethnography (ICME).
Over the past thirty years has Fromm has worked in museums in Ohio,
Oklahoma, and Florida. Fromm gained her basic experience in essential
museum functions and human relations practices as a collections assistant
at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.
At the Greater Cleveland Ethnographic Museum, a pioneering museum that
emphasized the diversity of Cleveland, Ohio, Fromm cut her teeth in
working with immigrant/ethnic communities. She established all the museum
functions for this grass-roots organization, developed a series of
exhibits, and supervised an oral history project.
Fromm was able to put much of this cumulative experience into practice at
the Fenster Museum of Jewish Art in Tulsa. Among other activities, she
initiated the Oklahoma Jewish Archives Project to preserve local history.
At the Creek Council House Museum she was responsible for a $1 million
restoration of a 19th century building for continued use as a museum. She
also made reestablished all museum procedures including temporary and
permanent exhibits.

At the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Fromm was the planner for all
social science exhibits. Under her leadership, all cultural exhibits were
developed - the Global Gallery, the Fred Brown Gallery of Native American
Art, and the People of Oklahoma Gallery, which explores an expanse of
15,000 years of people in Oklahoma. The later was accomplished through
the establishment and involvement of a Native American Advisory Committee.
As Director of Education at the Jewish Museum of Florida she was
responsible for developing all curricular and docent material for
permanent and temporary exhibits on Florida Jewish history as well as
public programs.
Fromm managed the Deering Estate at Cutler, a 440+ acre environmental,
archeological, architectural and historic preserve on Biscayne Bay. There
she directed the staff in the development of cultural and environmental
programs.
Fromm’s doctoral dissertation, “We Are Few, Folklore and Ethnic Identity
of the Jewish Community of Ioannina, Greece,” written for Indiana
University, was published in November, 2007 by Lexington Press. She has
conducted extensive field research in ethnic communities across the United
States and in Greece. Fromm has published articles on immigrant-ethnic
groups in America, Jews in Greece, Greek folklore, Native Americans in
museums, multicultural museums, and folk art. Another area of research is
food history and traditions. She has taught many workshops on folklore
and folklife, American ethnicity and museum issues. Fromm has taught
anthropology and museum studies at the University of Tulsa for over seven
years.

6. UP-COMING CONFERENCES

January 17-18 2007, “Clothing childhood, fashioning society: Children’s
clothing in Britain in the 20th century”, the Pasold Research Fund, the
Foundling Museum, London, UK
http://www.pasold.co.uk/conferences.html

February 21-23, 2008, “Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade:
Telling the Story”,The College of The Bahamas
http://www.cob.edu.bs/News/AbolitionConference/

February 29 – March 1, 2008, “Journeys of Expression VII: Celebrating the
Edges of the World: Tourism and Festivals of the Coast and Sea”,
University of Iceland, Reykjavík http://www.tourism-culture.com/

Wednesday 5th March 2008, 10am - 4pm. “Celebrating Diversity and Looking
at the Impact of the Slave-Trade and Multiculturalism Today”. Part of the
Hunterian Diversity Initiative Funded by Awards for All. Hunterian Museum,
University of Glasgow, Scotland.
http://www.museumethnographersgroup.org.uk/?p=news&n_id=42

March 13 - 14, 2008, “Memory as Medium: Experience, Exchange,
Representation”, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
http://www.cgcannualconference.ca/

19 March 2008, “Cultural Borrowings: Appropriation, Reworking and
Transformation”, Nottingham, United Kingdom [
http://www.meccsa.org.uk/pgn/

2-4 April 2008, "Folklore and Ethnomusicology", Istanbul Technical
University Musicology Club 1st International Student Symposium, Istanbul,
Turkey http://www.muzikbilimi.itu.edu.tr/sempozyum/index_en.htm

April 5, 2008, ”Muslim Geographies”, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert
Dock, Liverpool.
http://www.liv.ac.uk/geography/muslimgeographies/

April 27 – May 1, 2008 Annual meeting and MuseumExpo, American Association
of Museum
Denver Colorado. http://www.aam-us.org/

16 May 2008, “Culture in Physical and Virtual Space, Cultural Immigration
or Settlement: With Emphasis on Iran”, Tehran, Iran
http://inaes.ut.ac.ir/Events/news_layer.php?id=101

5 to 7 July 2008, “1st Global Conference: Diasporas: Exploring Critical
Issues”, Oxford, United Kingdom [
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ci/transformations/diasporas/d1/cfp.html

5 to 7 July 2008, “4th Global Conference: Creative Engagements: Thinking
with Children”, Oxford, United Kingdom [
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ati/education/cp/ce4/cfp.htm

30 August 2008 to 6 September 2008, “Intellectual Property & Intellectual
Technology”, Seattle -Alaska, Cruise from Seattle Washington, United
States - Canada – Russia http://www.cruise.apollomuses.com/

7. CALL FOR PAPERS

Museum Ethnography at Home
10th & 11th April 2008
Pitt Rivers Museum
Oxford

ONLY A FEW SLOTS FOR PAPERS REMAINING!
Museums of anthropology are supposed to be fascinated by 'the other', the
material culture of exotic cultures and remote places, far from the site
of the museums. However, the Pitt Rivers Museum is not the only UK
ethnographic museum which actually has large ethnographic and
archaeological collections from its own country.

This conference will explore the many aspects of museum ethnography at
home. It is hoped that participants will explore this theme as widely as
possible and it is anticipated that not all of the 'homes' that will be
explored will be English or British. Papers might consider the kind of
issues that arise when carrying out ethnographic research in a home
country or else look at historic research or historic collections of
'home' material.
It is hoped that one of the sessions will be led by Chris Gosden,
Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University, who is currently
the leader of an ESRC-funded 3 year research project looking into
precisely these issues regarding the large English collections at the Pitt
Rivers Museum. Other sessions may focus on other museums and collections.

In addition, a 'work in progress' session is planned for up-to-date
information on current and on-going projects, this may relate to any field
of museum ethnography not just this year's conference theme (informal 5-10
minute presentations are required).

Papers from the conference may be considered for publication in the
Journal of Museum Ethnography published annual by the Group.
There will be single accommodation and a three-course conference dinner
available at St. John's College.

For further information or to propose papers or sessions contact:Alison
Petch, Pitt Rivers Museum, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PP United Kingdom
Tel: [+44] [0]1865 613007 Email: alison.petch@prm.ox.ac.uk
The closing date for submissions and abstracts is Friday 1 February 2008.
Booking form can be found at
http://www.museumethnographersgroup.org.uk/?p=cms&pid=1

The Contentious Museum
'The Contentious Museum' conference will be held in Aberdeen on 20-21
November 2008. The sixth biennial University Museums in Scotland
conference, it will draw together a variety of people with professional,
academic and community interests in museums in Scotland and elsewhere.

Museums have become increasingly contentious places, engaging with debates
on issues such as repatriation, genocide, slavery, censorship, power and
the treatment of human remains. This conference will discuss how
responding to such challenges enables museums to depart from tradition and
embrace different ways of thinking, working and developing new audiences.

Proposals are invited for individual papers of 30 minutes. Proposals
should take the form of an outline of the topic to be covered and the name
and contact details of the proposer. It is intended that selected papers
will be published in a special issue of Museum Management and
Curatorship. Please indicate if you would like your paper considered for
publication.
All proposals for sessions or individual papers must be received by 29
February 2008. An outline programme and booking form will be available
from May 2008.

Further information is available from, and proposals should be sent to,
Neil Curtis (contact details below).
Neil Curtis
Senior Curator Marischal Museum
University of Aberdeen
Marischal College
Aberdeen AB10 1YSScotland
T: (+44) 01224 274304

General call for papers
The London Journal of Tourism, Sport and Creative Industries (LJTSCI) is a
new on-line journal that seeks to publish articles on a variety of related
topics encapsulating London's diversity and the nature of its local-global
interactions.~ The journal addresses a broad subject field. While under
the banner of tourism, sport and the creative industries it also includes,
but is not restricted to, events, the arts – including music and dance -
heritage, hospitality, advertising & communications, music media &
entertainment.

The London Journal of Tourism, Sport and Creative Industries is presently
making a general call for papers on a range of topics relating to the
above themes. ~ The journal has an inclusive editorial policy and accepts
a wide range of research articles and notes on work-in-progress,
discussion pieces, case studies, conceptual development articles. ~
The journal aims to be a meeting place for research and discussion on a
wealth of topics that should appeal to scholars, practitioners, policy
makers and general readers. ~ Articles can include research, works-in
progress, case studies, developments in theory, book reviews and general
reviews contributing to the development of the subject field. ~ We
encourage submissions relating to these topics from a wide variety of
disciplinary perspectives; such as anthropology, management, economics,
politics, history, sociology, psychology, cultural studies and marketing. ~
Please email abstracts and enquiries to the editor [
mailto:p.kitchin@londonmet.ac.uk ]p.kitchin@londonmet.ac.uk
http://blogs.londonmet.ac.uk/ljtsci/welcome-to-the-london-journal-of-tourism-sport-and-creative-industries/call-for-papers-inaugural-edition-of-ljtsci/

8. OTHER UP-COMING EVENTS

SHAOLIN: Temple of Zen, photographs by Justin Guariglia
Over the course of eight years, American photographer Justin Guariglia
gained unprecedented access to China’s legendary fifteen-hundred-year-old
Shaolin Temple and its inhabitants, the “warrior monks,” who dedicate
their lives to practicing a form of kung fu referred to as the “vehicle of
Zen.” Driven by his passion for Chinese culture and Shaolin, Guariglia
earned the full trust and collaboration of the monks to create a stunning
photographic documentation of this revered, centuries-old art form that is
being exhibited for the first time in Shaolin: Temple of Zen. The
exhibition will tour for 4 years through Aperture Foundation beginning
spring 2008.

For complete information, please contact Annette Rosenblatt, Exhibitions
Coordinator, at (212) 946-7128 or visit the website at http://www.aperture.org/store/travex-detail.aspx?exhibition_id=45

9. WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

With this newsletter we would like to wish all ICME members and
subscribers to the ICME newsletter a Happy New Year.
We are happy to be able to present the programme for this year’s annual
conference taking place in Jerusalem. Further information about the
conference will follow in the next newsletter. But already now, I will
encourage contributions to the newsletter on the conference theme of
‘Migration, Diaspora and Pilgrimage’. These contributions may reflect on
ongoing projects, exhibition reviews or research projects.
In this newsletter we have also started a round of presentations of the
ICME board members. Considering the number of members of the board (18!)
we have decided only to present 4 or 5 board members in each newsletter in
order for everyone to be able to present thoughts and ideas, and not just
the regular two-liner bio. The presentations will be available on the
ICME-website with photos as soon as it is ready.We are still working on
the new ICME website. Hopefully, it will be ready within a month or two so
that we can present the latest information on the Annual Conference in
Jerusalem, and make the papers from last year’s sessions in Vienna
available.
As always I will also encourage comments on the newsletter. Would you like
more information on conferences etc.? Would you like the newsletter to
introduce discussion themes? Please, let me know if you think this
newsletter could do better to fulfil its purposes.

Peter Bjerregaard

The deadline for the next issue is March 28 2008. Please send news and
contributions to:editor@icme.icom.museum
----------------------------------

Peter Bjerregaard
PhD candidate

Moesgård Museum/
Dept. of Anthropology and Ethnography
University of Aarhus
Moesgård
DK-8270 Højbjerg
Denmark

Phone: +45 89424642
Fax: +45 89424655

ICME - International Committee for Museums and Collections of Ethnography
Updated by webmaster, January 28, 2007
http://icme.icom.museum

ICME NEWS 49 - January 2008

ICME Ethnography - Ethnographie - Etnografia

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