ICME Ethnography - Ethnographie - Etnografia
International Committee for Museums of Ethnography -
ICOM/ICME
http://icme.icom.museum
CONTENT
ICME Newsletter, June 2009
1. Words from the President
2. Call for Papers for ICME Annual Meeting 2009 in Seoul
3. Link to "Tropenmuseum for a change"
4. "Encounters" - two exhibitions in one at the Museum
for European Cultures, Berlin
5. "Touch the world" - use of mobile phones in children's
exhibition
6. Calls for papers
7. Up-coming conferences
8. Words from the editor
1. WORDS FROM THE PRESIDENT
Planning is underway for our next ICME annual conference - ICME/2009/Seoul.
This year's meeting is hosted by the National Folk Museum of Korea.
It will afford opportunities for us to visit with colleagues and
learn of their work, hear interesting, substantial papers, and see
museums. Perhaps there will be the chance to revisit sights seen
during the ICOM 2004 triennial, perhaps this sojourn in Korea will
open new doors to ICME members. I hope that many of you will be
able to participate in the conference and the intangible heritage-filled
post conference tour (see announcement and registration below).
There is still time to submit a paper proposal or to simply register
to attend the conference.
In the last quarter of 2008, ICOM filled the long-vacant position
of Director General. Julian Anfruns was chosen for the job. He comes
from a background in the French diplomatic corps and management
at the Louvre (yes ask him about Tom Hanks, I did!). This combined
experience strikes me as totally relevant to the tasks at hand -
knowledge of French infrastructure and experience in museum administration.
I had the opportunity to meet Julien last month at the annual meeting
of the American Association of Museums. There is always an ICOM
presence at these huge meetings. This year, Julien joined by Alessandra
Cummins, ICOM's president.
The Advisory Committee of ICOM will be meeting in Paris early next
month. This will be the first time the joint meeting of International
Committees, National Committees and Affiliated International Organizations
will meet formally with the new Director General. In the past few
months, the dates of the meeting have been shifted and changed (from
what was announced at the close of last year's meeting) and the
agenda has been tinkered with. The Internet has been alive with
conversations criticizing these changes.
Change happens. Change is difficult. Being in the position of the
agent of change is precarious. In the museum profession each of
these statements run all too true and might be situations in which
you have been placed. ICOM has been under good leadership of interim
directors for a few years, albeit interim. It is time, now, to allow
the organization to return to the center and move forward with guidance
from its constituents.
We need to consider what we believe is the purpose of ICOM and
ICME. To me, the two most significant roles are establishing best
standards and ethics for a profession to which I've devoted a long
time and networking - having the opportunity to forge relationships
with colleagues facing like challenges and seeing how these challenges
are solved in their museums. In that framework, let's have a clear
focus of how we can best serve both organizations we have chosen
to become active members of. As ICME members, remember to serve
as advocates for this group of museum ethnographers. As ICOM members,
let's be part of the changes that are happening in Paris.
With best wishes for an enjoyable summer (our work never stops!).
I hope to see many of you in Seoul in the fall.
With warmest regards -
Annette B. Fromm,
2. CALL FOR PAPERS FOR ICME ANNUAL MEETING 2009 IN SEOUL
PLEASE NOTICE: the registration form for ICME/2009/Seoul is on
the ICME website http://museumsnett.no/icme/icme2009/index.html#form
Second - Call for Papers
ICME/2009/Seoul
Museums for Reconciliation and Peace
Roles of Ethnographic Museums in the World
Seoul, Korea
19-21 October 2009
ICME (the ICOM International Committee for Museums Ethnography)
will hold its 2009 annual conference in Seoul, Korea on 19-21 October,
2009. The meeting will be hosted by The National Folk Museum of
Korea (icme2009seoul.icom.museum).
ICME 2009/Seoul invites papers addressing one of two topics - Peace
and Reconciliation, as addressed in ethnographic museums and The
Role of Ethnographic Museums, in general. This conference invites
museum ethnographers and others to address either this very focused
topic or the more general topic both from the point of view of museum
collecting activities and public programs including exhibitions
and educational programming.
Reconciliation and peace is a topic much of concern in today's
world. Inherent in intercultural understanding are such values as
mutual respect, trust and shared commitment to each other and to
the institutions of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies. Museums
stand poised as educational facilities to serve as neutral places
where issues of difference and similarities and the historical,
cultural, linguistic and religious particularities of their region
can be presented and discussed openly. At this conference we seek
to learn how ethnographic museums in many parts of the world have
tackled this significant issue.
Authors may address questions such as:
" How committed are museums to collecting cultural materials
representative of all cultures in the community-at-large?
" Are the history, cultural traditions, and values of all communities
presented in exhibitions in an equal manner?
" Do public programs for youth and adults strive to bring together
individuals from different cultural backgrounds?
In a more general sense, papers are invited on the general topic
of Roles of Ethnographic Museums in the World. The conference seeks
to serve as a forum to understand the place that ethnographic museums
have sought to take in their own societies whether they are representing
cultures living in their communities or the cultures of overseas
peoples.
The exchange of ideas on these two topics promises to be rich and
interesting.
This conference is open to museum professionals and all scholars
involved in the issues and topics of the annual meeting. Presentations
should not exceed 15 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 250 words, should be sent to
Dr. Yang Jongsong, Senior Curator, The National Folk Museum of Korea
by 1 July 2009, at the latest. Abstracts will be submitted
to our editorial committee and a decision on their suitability will
be made by the end of July.
Dr. Yang Jongsung, Senior Curator, Folklorist
National Folk Museum of Korea
Samcheongdong-gil
Jongno-gu Seoul 110-820, Korea
Phone +82-2-3704-3101; fax +82-2-3704-3149
icme2009seoul@gmail.com
Final details are still being confirmed. The general format of
the annual meeting will consist of keynote speakers, papers, roundtables,
and museum visits. Registration forms and other details are available
on the ICME and the conference websites at http://museumsnett.no/icme/icme2009/index.html
& http://www.icme2009seoul.icom.museum/
Note: There is no registration fee for the ICME/2009 conference.
Hotel arrangements are being made with the Somerset Palace Hotel
(http://www.somersetpalaceseoul.com),
near the National Folk Museum of Korea. Hotel fees for all invited
or accepted speakers will be paid by our hosts. One half of the
hotel fees will be paid other conference attendees. Post conference
fees of $100 payable upon arrival, pre-registration necessary.
ICME 2009 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE
Monday, October 19 - Opening Ceremony, Keynote Speeches, Paper sessions,
Welcoming Reception and Performances
Tuesday, October 20 - Conference paper sessions, Gyeongbok Palace
Tour, Museum Tour and Performance, Formal Dinner
Wednesday, October 21 - Conference papers sessions, Declaration,
ICME meeting, Closing Ceremony and Farewell Dinner
POST-CONFERENCE TOUR (October 22-24)
Thursday, October 22
Morning bus from Seoul, Travel east to North Kyungsang province,
Andong
City, Hahoe
village
Visit Andong Hahoe Mask Dance Drama designated as an Important Intangible
Cultural Property by Korean government.
Visit Korean Studies Advancement Centre (Museum of Confucian culture/
Library of wooden printing plate)
Friday, October 23
North Kyungsang province, Kyungju city/ Korean traditional village,
Kyungju
Sukgulam (stone Buddha grotto) and Bulguk
Buddhist Temple
Saturday, October 24
Kyungju
National Museum of Korea, Visit traditional Winery, The
Great Tumuli/ Chum-sung-dae (observatory), Hwangyong
Buddhist Temple, return to Seoul
The program is subject to changes.
ICME
The International Committee for Museums of Ethnography is an international
committee within ICOM, the International Council of Museums. ICME
is comprised of professionals working at and with museums of many
names: museums of ethnography, ethnology, anthropology, folk museums,
popular culture museums, völkerkunde- and volkskundemuseseums.
Some of the museums deal with cultures from far away, some with
their own cultures, and some with both. Some work for indigenous
peoples, some for immigrants, some for minorities, some for majorities.
Some are concerned with the historic past, others with the present.
Some focus on small societies, others on continents or the whole
world.
What these museums usually have in common is that they are about
whole societies or cultures and their tangible and intangible heritage,
rather than solely a specific class of objects.
The National Folk Museum of Korea
The National Folk Museum of Korea is one of the Korea's leading
institutions dedicated to the preserving the legacy of traditional
Korean life, attracting more than two million visitors annually.
As such we serve an educational and cultural role, providing you
with opportunities to experience first-hand how Koreans lived in
traditional times. The NFMK was established in 1945 and has remained
dedicated to historical investigation and research as well as the
collection, preservation and exhibition of artifacts related to
Korean folkways. Over the years, we have presented our findings
and collection in the form of theme exhibits, reports and public
lectures. Today we are focusing on our visitors more than ever while
adopting a more open and specialized approach to remain in step
with the changing paradigm for museums in the 21st century.
3. "TROPENMUSEUM FOR A CHANGE"-website
In December the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam organised a one-day symposium
to celebrate the completion of the renovation of the museum's permanent
exhibitions. The symposium invited international scholars and museum
professionals to discuss the role and importance of ethnographic
museums in the 21st century. For those of you who were not able
to attend the symposium the Tropenmuseum has made a video report
from the symposium.
You will find the video report at http://www.tropenmuseum.nl/smartsite.shtml?id=25655
4. "ENCOUNTERS" - TWO EXHIBITIONS IN ONE AT THE MUSEUM
FOR EUROPEAN CULTURES (Museum Europäischer Kulturen), BERLIN
For a few months, two touring exhibitions meet under the title
of Encounters in Berlin; after those months in Berlin, they will
part again. The exhibition Multi-Ethnic Dimensions - Southern Hungary
1916 - 1920 ("Multi-ethnische Dimensionen - Südungarn
1916-1920") is organized by the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs,
Hungary. It shows portraits of people who lived in the Southern
Hungarian village of Véménd during World War I.
By means of pictures and sound, You are now leaving the map! Traces
of German Culture in the Tri-border region between Croatia, Serbia,
and Hungary ("Sie verlassen jetzt die Landkarte! Spuren deutscher
Kultur im Donaudreieck") creates a contemporary panorama of
the German minority in the tri-border region between Hungary, Serbia,
and Croatia.
At first sight, Encounters seems to be a "normal" exhibition
of photographs. When taking a second look, however, one quickly
learns that this first impression is by no means exhaustive. Obviously,
the pictures are not displayed for their own sake. They are exploited,
regarding both their content and the way they are arranged. There
are too many "ingredients" which catch one's eye and which
normally do not belong in a photo exhibition. Zebra-crossings, different
ways of hanging the pictures, silhouettes … all these features indicate
that this exhibition is not meant to be an ordinary display of photographs.
The exhibition showing both historical and recent pictures from
the so-called tri-border region crossed by the Danube river highlights
multi-ethnic co-existence from different perspectives. It reflects
upon the meaning of local and regional aspects in their relation
to ethnic ascriptions. Concerning content as well as arrangements,
it encompasses
" Aspects of limitation and dissolution
" Concepts of social spaces within a region where minorities
make up the majority
" Ethnic and cultural concepts beyond political boundaries,
beyond the "map"
" Areas of tension between inclusion and exclusion, between
acceptance and dissociation
It is no coincidence that the exhibition is called Encounters.
And it is no coincidence that it starts off with a map that does
not focus on political boundaries. When teacher and amateur photographer
Béla Hernai started to portray the people living in his village
of Véménd in Southern Hungary, today's boundaries
did not exist. Today, ninety years later, and after at least three
wars having hit the region, these boundaries have become political
reality - a reality, however, which does not coincide with the daily
experience of the people living in the region. Their conception
of space is a different one. It is a vital conception that has evolved
from a lived experience and that is vehemently opposed to political
ideologies, nationalisms and theoretical notions of homogeneous
states. Despite all kinds of adverse political influences, arbitrary
demarcations, political persecutions and sanctions, the people living
in the area have all found and kept their way of a multi-ethnic
coexistence, continuously redefined until today. Likewise, they
feel at home in several cultures, cultures they esteem and would
not exchange for a life anywhere else, like Germany, for example.
Beyond all kinds of political slogans they invigorate the area and
clearly lack the bitterness that the respective committees suggest.
What we encounter here is a set of notions which exist as a part
of a lived experience and which question so many of the out-dated
historical concepts that linger even today.
The exhibition consists of two parts which seem to differ in their
colouring, their hanging and their artistic composition. However,
the parallel worlds of historical monochrome pictures on the one
hand and contemporary colour photographs on the other directly engage
with one another: The zebra crossing is not the only bridge from
one room to the other. The arrangements offer many common features
which closely connect both rooms and accompany the visitor: the
arrangement of small separate rooms that still remain accessible
to the visitor, the artistic alternation between two- and three-dimensional
parts of the exhibition, interconnections between the subjects of
the pictures and the design elements (fences, veranda patterns,
houses etc.), unexpected visual axes and vistas, unusual realities
(a chair hung up, an "audio tree" etc.).
The visitor is deeply irritated in his perception by these visual
stumbling blocks - purposefully and for a long time. The visitor
does not only consume or receive. The unusual perspectives ask for
a modified perception and at the same time a different evaluation
and classification of the perceived. What seemed familiar before
suddenly becomes strange and the other way round. In times when
images assail us constantly, here, the perceived runs the risk of
being scrutinized, of being put into question, of being reflected
upon. Does the visitor who regards the pictures delude himself?
Is he beguiled? What is he to make of the picture showing a little
boy in a sailor suit when there is a picture next to it showing
the very same boy in a typical Danube Swabian girl's dress? Even
his orientation in the room is subjected to deception. Boundaries
seem to dissolve.
Even the time leap of ninety years which de facto separates the
two exhibitions becomes irrelevant by their immediate relatedness.
The past is visualized; the present is given its own historical
frame. The Véménders portrayed in the pictures still
have to face the consequences of two world wars in their village
in Southern Hungary; the people who have been interviewed in the
tri-border region in 2008, on the other hand, reflect upon these
events in their own, very personal histories. They think about how
they became a pawn in the hands of ideologists nationalistic fanatics.
They remember, how multi-ethnic communities, whose members had been
living together naturally until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian
empire, suddenly fell apart. But at the same time, the images tell
us about how the people developed their very own strategies to cope
with these events.
There are traces of World War I in the pictures of the historical
part of the exhibition (Multi-Ethnic Dimensions - Southern Hungary
1916-1920), not least when the bells are given their blessing, after
having been taken down and before they are melted into cannon balls.
The war becomes visible in those pictures which were taken for medical
examinations for the military service, in the pictures of prisoners
of war, and of the many men in uniforms, with or without their relatives.
And it becomes visible in the numerous pictures of mothers and their
children without their husbands or fathers. However, this is only
part of the Véménd reality between 1916 and 1920.
Small children, youth, adults, families, even wedding parties had
their portraits taken by Béla Hernai: many aspects make up
the picture of the Véménd society. The portrayed all
assemble in the garden or the veranda of the teacher's house. What
has come down to us is the panorama of a multi-ethnic society, only
moments before it ceased to exist. Politicians asked the people
to declare their own ethnic background for the first time and drew
clear boundaries between those who were allowed to stay and those
who had to leave (Serbs, Roma). During World War II, more Véménders
got expelled (Danube Swabians, Jews).
The historical pictures are turned into "speaking" pictures
by their expressiveness. They literally start a dialogue with the
visitors. Another part of the exhibition demands the visitors' active
participation - the picture initiative "Bring an Object!"
carried out at the "photo studio". Its configuration takes
up elements of the historical pictures: Béla Hernai mostly
took pictures of the Véménders with an object in their
hands. Something that met their community's expectations, an object
that underlined their personality, their culture, and their region.
The picture initiative in the context of the exhibition is supposed
to highlight the extent to which different cultures are connected
today. Cultural artifacts can help us pave the way towards other
cultures: someone's favourite music, their favourite football club,
their favourite author. They can establish relations which finally
become part of one's own identity. Visitors of the exhibition are
welcome to have their picture taken with an object representing
a culture different from their own or the one they used to live
in. The story behind this object will be written down, mirroring
the object's relation to its owner. Both actions cause the visitor
to reflect on the Other and on being different - and the pictures,
the object and their descriptions become part of an ever-growing
exhibition.
The contemporary part of the exhibition (You are now leaving the
map! Traces of German culture in the tri-border region between Croatia,
Serbia, and Hungary) imposes unusual perspectives on the visitor,
and yet these perspectives seem familiar at the same time: a street
with median strip disappearing on the horizon. Telegraph poles along
the street, cables wound around insulators, and opposite a row of
houses characteristic of the area, typical colouring and fences;
fences which help to maintain private spaces and individual identities;
fences which still allow for chats with the neighbour, for his or
her way of life, for his or her system of values. This is why the
gates are open - they invite the visitor to enter the gardens and
the houses. A bench characteristic of the area makes an audible
contribution to the exhibition, from wooden boxes which seem unprepossessing
at first sight: excerpts from talks between Joern Nuber, the current
DAAD-lecturer at Osijek, and members of ethnic minorities living
in the region. The most important statements can also be found in
writing pinned to the fenceposts. The demarcation thereby encourages
communication.
Occasionally, when entering the house one cannot trust one's own
perception because the pictures of houses and gardens - all taken
by the Berlin photographer Sandra Kühnapfel - seem remarkably
real the way they are hung on the wall in those old frames. The
divide between reality and portrayed reality is on the verge of
becoming indistinct. The silhouettes of the towns portrayed seem
to grow upwards from the neighbouring "gardens".
The houses are connected with each other and with the power poles
on the other side of the street. This is also where the entire exhibition
is situated: between the poles of dissociation and overcoming distances.
The exhibition ends on a country road which apparently leads to
nowhere, somewhere beyond the map; in an area beyond touristic interests;
an area which cannot be booked via internet; an area in which the
majority consists of minorities; an area which has always been "Europe
in a nutshell".
However, the exhibition does not primarily wish to introduce the
area beyond the map. Rather, it focuses on the inhabitants of the
tri-border region between Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia. It is no
coincidence that their portraits line the wall on the other side
of the street. The area's inhabitants have staked off their living
space in a different fashion than prescribed by today's map. Now
and then, the people living there offer ways of living together
that are not restricted to the area. In this context, the exhibition
can also be seen as a "catalyst" for contemporary processes
within society, on this side and beyond the map. Since both exhibitions
are shown in Serbia, Croatia and Hungary as well as elsewhere in
Central and Western Europe they may have an impact on the tri-border
region on the one hand; on the other, they may point out the possibilities
of multiple identities to other countries. What is at stake is a
living inter-regional way of life in a Europe of regions which -
hopefully - will care less about politically determined boundaries
in the future.
The exhibition will be on until July 5, 2009 at the Museum Europäischer
Kulturen, Arnimallee 25, D-14195 Berlin. Tue - Fri: 10am - 6pm,
Sat/ Sun: 11am - 6pm.
www.smb.museum/mek
The exhibition also travels to: Ulm, Budapest, Osijek, Sombor and
other places.
For information, please contact: Beate Wild, b.wild@smb.spk-berlin.de
 
 
5. Touch the World - and communicate the experience via Mobile
Phones - when mobile media promote personalised learning processes
at museums
Jørgen Bang1, Christian Dalsgaard1, Peter Bjerregaard &
Thea Skaanes2
1 Department of Information and Media Studies, Aarhus University,
Denmark
2 Moesgaard Museum, Denmark
jbang@imv.au.dk, cnd@imv.au.dk,
etnopb@hum.au.dk, etnothea@hum.au.dk
In the autumn of 2008 Moesgård Museum in Århus, Denmark
presented an exhibition for children entitled "Touch the World".
The exhibition made use of the museum's UNESCO Collections. The
UNESCO collections are collected by ethnographers during fieldwork
and consist of everyday objects like kitchen utensils, clothes,
school books, posters, tools etc. as well as a rich audio-visual
material and background texts developed particularly for these collections.
At present Moesgård Museum holds 25 UNESCO Collections from
13 different countries around the world.
Learning activities are king
Normally, the UNESCO Collections circulate between Danish schools
where each class can hold them for three weeks and work with them.
The children are induced not only to look at the objects and read
about them but to use them hands on. The collections are used to
make exhibitions, show and tell at parent arrangements or for role
plays, where the children dress up, imitate, and explore different
environments like "the home", "the school",
"the tea bar" etc. As such these collections are ideal
for what has been termed a "constructivist" approach to
learning. Koper sums up the core of the constructivist approach:
"(…) a lot of learning does not come from knowledge resources
at all, but stems from the activities of learners solving problems,
interacting with real devices, interacting in their social and work
situation. (…) it is the activities of the learners into the learning
environment, which are accountable for the learning." (Koper,
2001 p. 3).
For "Touch the world" the collections were mixed and used
for four different workshops. One particular experiment that aimed
at extending the potential of constructivist learning was the use
of mobile phones in the exhibition. Mobile phones were handed out
to the school children as a means for on-the-spot communication
of what happened in the four different workshops. This article will
discuss the pedagogical perspective of using mobile phones as a
vehicle to enhance pupil's learning. The use of mobile phones facilitates
the pupil's learning in the sense that the multi media phones enable
the pupils to produce documentation of their experiences and by
communicating these experiences to fellow pupils. We argue that
mobile phones have a potential to support these learning processes
as a personalised tool for documentation and communication.
Touch the World
As the title of Touch the World indicates, the exhibition allowed
school children to touch and use the exhibited items during their
visit to the museum. The main idea behind Touch the World was to
make use of the UNESCO Collections inside the museum so that the
children should not just look at objects in show cases, but touch
the objects and do something actively with them.
The target group for the exhibition was 4th to 10th grade. Touch
the World was divided into four workshops: clothes, food & cooking,
exhibition, and music & film. Each workshop also focussed on
a particular anthropological theme. In the clothes workshop children
tried out different kinds of clothes and posed on a cat stand as
an entrance to discussing cultural codes and the multitude of decoding
possibilities related to symbols and codes. In the food & cooking
workshop children made tea, cut out a variety of exotic fruits,
opened coconuts, etc. The workshop holder (a trained ethnographer)
would explain abstract concepts such as structures of commerce and
social organisation to the pupils. Such explanations would stem
from objects present in the workshop as for instance a tiffin from
India and evolve into telling about the tiffin wallas of Mumbai.
The exhibition workshop contained various artefacts such as a solar
energy kitchen stove, kangas, drums, hand made toys made of recycled
materials, the game bao pottery and baskets, all from Tanzania.
In arranging their own exhibition the pupils were induced to consider
the the way contextualisation and juxtaposition improves the scope
and depth of understanding. Finally, the children in the fourth
group watched videos, listened to music CDs and read magazines in
the music & film workshop. Both films, books and music were
mediated by the workshop holder and used to exemplify the creative
inventiveness that cultural hybridity and re-use of sounds and images
in new ways instigate exemplified for instance by some of the most
famous Danish music artists.
Instead of visiting all four workshops, the pedagogical idea behind
the exhibition was that children in each group should communicate
their experiences between groups by making presentations when they
came back in the classroom. To support the children's choice of
workshop, a wiki containing pictures and short descriptions of the
exhibited items was available prior to the visit.
The groups in each workshop were equipped with two mobiles phones
with picture and video functionality. The objective of the mobiles
phones was that the children should use them to document their work
in the workshops by taking pictures and speaking or writing notes.
In that sense, the children worked as ethnographers collecting information
from the exhibition. Further, the objective was that the children
should use the mobile phones to communicate their experiences to
the other pupils. Besides taking pictures, the children recorded
videos, in which they presented the artefacts in their workshops
(see examples of pupils' productions at http://roerverden.dk/1/.
During the exhibition, computers (via bluetooth) collected the pictures
from the children's phones and projected them "live" on
a wall in the exhibition room. Furthermore, pictures, videos and
notes were sent to the school, so when coming home the pupils could
edit their pictures and videos into presentations to be shown to
the other groups in the class. Finally the pictures and videos with
comments from each class could be uploaded to a weblog at the museum.
Learning through communication and presentation
A main pedagogical principle of Touch the World was that the children
should focus on how they would present the artefacts and their experiences
to other children. When the children should communicate or present
their experiences to others, they had to reflect on the artefacts.
Following constructivist theory, this is a learning activity, because
the children are activated; they must do something with the artefacts.
The process of making such a presentation can be seen as a learning
process, in which you make the artefacts "your own". Learning
is an active process that involves the individual's use of tools.
This does not mean that knowledge exists within the tool, but rather
that it exists in the active use of the tool for a purpose. In that
process, the individual makes the tool his/her own.
The constructivist approach of activation, engagement and appropriation
was the basis for development of the learning environment in Touch
the World. As we observed the activities in the exhibition, we identified
two phases in the learning activities of the children:
3. Immediate and spontaneous interaction with the artefacts of the
exhibition.
A phase of touching the world, experimenting, exploring and playing.
4. Reflective attitude towards the artefacts of the exhibition.
A phase of documentation, narrative construction and reflection.
In the first phase the activities of the pupils was dominated by
exploration, examination, experimentation - much like play. When
the mobile phones were introduced in the second phase, pupil's relationship
with the exhibition was mediated. The pupils were asked to use the
mobile devices to communicate and present their experiences. This
triggered reflection. What happened was that the media created a
distance between pupil and artefacts, and, thus, a space for reflection.
Through the live projection of the pupils' documentation, the pupils
were made aware of their own participation in the exhibition. This
setup created a demand to narrate and document their experiences;
i.e. to transform their experiences into stories. The role of the
mobile media in this context was to create a reflective distance
and to function as a tool for documentation and narration.
The objective and the end result of the activities of the pupils
was a product in the form of pictures and videos. An analysis of
the videos show that the children really made the exhibition "their
own" and presented their approaches in a variety of ways. Different
kinds of videos include demonstrations of how to cut certain fruits
and how to play on musical instruments, "TV show" presentations
of artefacts, and "fashion shows" exhibiting clothes.
Also, certain videos were developed as interviews between the children.
So, in conclusion we will argue that the study of "Touch the
World" has shown that there is a learning potential of mobile
phones to provide a personalised tool for documenting and communicating
experiences in (and out of) museums. Applied to the Unesco collections
what was really interesting was the way in which use of mobile phones
enhanced the qualities already embedded in the ethnographic artefacts
as hands-on materials. This may induce us to think carefully about
what kind of new technologies we want to engage with in museum practice
in order to enhance the information and pedagogical perspectives
present in the kind of original material that is unique to the museum.
6. CALL FOR PAPERS
September 11-12, "Museums and Biographies", 2009 MGHG
Meeting, National Gallery, London, UK. http://www.mghg.org/events/
October 2-3, "Beyond Boundaries: Media, Culture and Identity
in Europe ", Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey. http://www.emcs.bahcesehir.edu.tr/conference.html
October 20-21, "Aesthetic Dimension of Visual Culture",
Institute of Art History, Prague, Czech Republic. http://estetika.ff.cuni.cz/conference/
October 21-25, "Examining the Ethics of Place", American
Folklore Society 2009 Annual Meeting, Boise, Idaho, United States.
http://afsnet.org/annualmeet/index.cfm
November 2009, "International festival of Audiovisiuel &
of Multi-media on the Inheritance" FIAMP 2009, Turin, Italy.
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/avicom/index.php?section=0news&news=0
December 13-15, "Re-thinking Community in Contemporary Anthropology",
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. http://www.otago.ac.nz/asaanz/index.html
February 18-20 2010, "Images of the Other in ethnic caricatures",
Interdisciplinary Conference, Warsaw, Poland. http://www.siefhome.org/images/stories/IMAGES.pdf
7. UP-COMING CONFERENCES
June 10-12, "Trance, Mediums and New Media", Cologne,
Germany. http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=11569
July 1-2, "Repertoires of Violence: Multidisciplinary Analyses
of the Representation of Peace and Conflict", Centre for Peace
Studies, York St John University, York, UK. http://www2.yorksj.ac.uk/default.asp?Page_ID=6046
July 9-11, "Visuality / Materiality: Reviewing Theory, Method
and Practice", The Royal Nstitute for British Artists, London,
UK. http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/conf/visualitymateriality/Home/tabid/2944/Default.aspx
July 12-17, "The Art of Conflict Transformation: Culture and
Conflict", 2nd International Summer Academy, Bern, Switzerland
http://www.conferencealerts.com/seeconf.mv?q=ca1mhxmx
August 18-22, "Substances - Rethinking the material, the visual
and the narrative in culture", The 31st Nordic Ethnology and
Folklore Conference 2009, Helsinki, Finland. http://www.helsinki.fi/kansatiede/nefk/engindex.html
August 24-26, "Transcultural Montage", University of
Aarhus, Denmark. http://www.moesmus.dk/page.asp?sideid=1246&zcs=4
September 1-4, "Objects - What Matters? Technology, Value
and Social Change", CRESC 5th Annual Conference 2009, University
of Manchester, UK. http://www.cresc.ac.uk/events/conference2009/index.html
September 24-26, "The Best in Heritage", Dubrovnik, Croatia.
http://www.thebestinheritage.com/home.php
October 2-6, "The End/s of Anthropology", 108th AAA Annual
Meeting, Philadelphia, United States. http://www.aaanet.org/meetings/index.cfm
8. WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
With the second call for papers for the ICME 2009 Annual Meeting
on "Museums for Reconciliation and Peace - the Role of Museums
in the World" we hope that many of you will join us for the
meeting in Seoul.
While dealing with large issues as reconciliation, peace, and intercultural
understanding the two main articles of this ICME News focus on how
we may deal with these issues in concrete exhibitions.
The Museum of European Cultures in Berlin presents an experiment
in exhibition making by letting two exhibitions meet in a new constellation.
"Encounters" puts together an exhibition of photos from
Hungary 1916-20 with a contemporary exhibition on traces of German
culture in the border region between Croatia, Serbia and Hungary.
By letting these who exhibitions come together on a common plane
- as a large scale collage - the exhibition makes clear to the audience
that the purpose of the display is not contained within the singular
photo or installation element, but in the dynamics in between these
parts.
At Moesgård Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, a collaboration between
the museum staff and IT designers experimented with how to apply
the technologies of mobile phones to an ethnographic hands-on exhibit
for children. By asking the children to use the mobile phones as
a tool to document and communicate their experiences in the exhibition
an element of reflection was added to the exhibit.
While radically different I think both exhibitions reveal the strong
potential of the museum institution. Both "Encounters"
and "Touch the world" can be seen as efforts to renew
ways of exhibition making and probably also to reach new audiences.
But at the same time both exhibitions reflect some of the classic
virtues of the institution. "Encounters" stresses the
capacity of the museum to create virtualities in which the past,
present and future meets in the same room. By bringing together
the two exhibitions reflecting each their historical epoque the
exhibition both reflect changes and continuities in the region in
a vivid experiential space.
"Touch the world" focusses on the way in which being confronted
with original artefacts may establish a reflexive stance towards
our conventional understanding of the world. This effect is enhanced
by letting the children document the processes they are engaged
in by use of mobile phones.
In this sense the two articles may work as a comment to the videos
to be seen on the "Tropenmuseum for a change"-website.
While the world of ethnographic museum certainly needs change -
now and ever - I think we will do well making these changes from
a sound reflection of what are the central contributions of the
institution, and how these contributions may be worked out under
the conditions of the present, rather than tracing what seem new
and spectacular around us.
Peter Bjerregaard
The deadline for the next issue is August 26 2009. Please send
news and contributions to:
editor@icme.icom.museum
up
ICME - International Committee for Museums and
Collections of Ethnography
Updated by webmaster,
June 09, 2009
http://icme.icom.museum
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