Museums and Universal Heritage.
Universities in Transition - Responsibilities for Heritage
UMAC's 7th International Conference
19 - 24 August 2007, Vienna, Austria, within the ICOM General Conference
General information: http://www.icom-oesterreich.at/2007/index.html
Programme (short) • Programme (details)
Sebastian Soubiran
University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg, France
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The aim of this paper is to analyse the various role that were conferred to university collections and museums within the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg for the last thirty years. This reflection is at the crossroad of four major phenomena that occurred quite at the same period: the broadening of heritage concern, the building of scientific and technical culture of science, the entering into the era of communication, the rising concern of universities to be recognised as a cultural actor. All these phenomena participated at different level and in a different way to give a new role to university collections and museums and still do. Meanwhile, they are also various expressions of the dramatic changes to which French universities are confronted to since the late 1980s: for instance, disengagement of the State, rising of international competition, the praise of techno-scientific value of knowledge versus fundamental research, the rising concern of public opinion towards scientific research and their applications, the change of social position of academics within the political area. Thus university collections and museums participated to the numerous questionings university was confronted to toward its future. However, going with those changes, doesn't assure that university collections and museum are to be given a role once the change has occurred. Even if they are, what that role should be?
Nicola Ladkin
Museum of Texas Tech University, USA
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The Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA, was established as the result of equal determination and support from both Texas Tech University and the surrounding local community. The Museum provides a centralized location where collections are made, researched, interpreted, exhibited, and preserved for the benefit of the academic and the broader community alike. In this way, the Museum has existed and operated on the interface between the academic world and the wider world beyond from the time of its founding, and continues to do so today. This situation gives the Museum something of an advantage in the current transitional academic climate.
This does not mean, however, that the Museum is not challenged by demands placed upon it by the parent institution that is itself in transition. An increasingly diverse student body, opportunities presented by new technologies and related pedagogies, leadership succession concerns, and rising costs in the face of declining budgets, to name a few, all contribute to an academic identity in flux. In response, the Museum fulfills the traditional role of a university museum by providing the core functions of collections care, scholarly research, and exhibition and embraces the role as an interface between the university and the public by acting as a conduit for knowledge on heritage in both its tangible (collections) and intangible (information) forms.
The Museum accomplishes this by aligning its academic and intellectual mission and vision with that of Texas Tech University. For practical purposes, this is achieved through a strategic planning process that also mirrors that of the University. Through identifying goals, critical success factors and objectives (including strategies and assessments) the Museum can prioritize all of its activities, from traditional object-based research to innovative public programming. In turn, this process assists in making the most of limited resources and raises the profile of the Museum both within the University and in the world outside.
Graciela de la Torre
National Autonomus University of Mexico, Mexico
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It is rather worrying that well into the 21st century, museums are still considered reservoirs of knowledge whose main function is to exhibit and study the valuable products generated by man or to demonstrate natural phenomena. It is worrying that they be seen as data banks that make knowledge more democratic; that they are projected as places where, with their enormous knowledge and generosity, they take the spectator by the hand and enable him in the pleasure of the discourses they unfold; that they are judged according to the approval of the speciality they reflect, be that artistic, technical, scientific or any other among many typological possibilities imposed by their collections.
It is not so strange then that tired and practically universally accepted definitions are repeated over again to describe the duties of the museum and that epistemologically it is still the place where a world is made orderly, where, with the help of material objects, the world is "realized", understood and mediated.
However, we are in the post historic era and this is, or should also be, the era of the post museum. Today the "museum" exceeds the physical limits of the architectural understanding and the functional limits of its capacity as an educational instrument in order to assume the role of a knot of crosses for the multiple processes that are possible for the construction of knowledge. In the post museum, the human being replaces the collection and takes over as the main element in the museum occurrence, in the construction of the significant experience towards knowledge and in the holistic interaction with exhibitive didacticism.
We are certain that exhausted museum models are crying for renovation and that one of the most viable fields in which to generate a new paradigm could very well be the university museum.
William Alfonso López Rosas
National University of Colombia, Colombia
Full Text in English (PDF)
Full Text in Spanish (PDF)
After the conclusions from the VI International Congress of University Museums in Mexico City, the Master in Museology and Patrimony Management and the Fine Arts Museum, both from the National University of Colombia, wanted to open the discussion with colleges from other Latin-American Museums about the creation of a mechanism for regional integration, which allows to share not only knowledge, experiences, initiatives, projects, buy information about the collections, museological programs, etc. In this sense, the First Latin-American Lecture in Museology and Cultural Patrimony Management was the main scenario for the negotiation of a work agenda for Latin-American University Museums.
Between 7th and 10th of May took place in Bogotá, Colombia, the First Latin-American Lecture in Museology and Cultural Patrimony Management; museums directors from USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Colombia were invited to discus the main topic for this version: "Museums, Universities and Globalization".
The Latin American commission integrated by Museums Directors from: University of São Paulo -USP-, some UNAM Museums, Puerto Rico University, Caribbean University and from Colombia: Antioquia University, Magdalena University, Pedagogic and Technological University of Colombia, Caldas University, the Corporative University UNIMINUTO and the National University of Colombia -UNC-, got together with the main objective of create the Latin American University Museums Network. Through work sessions the Directors exposed their positions about University museums, and the problematical situation related with the university patrimony management. As well, in the course of the meeting were discussed and approved the first actions and strategies to been follow for the Network.
On behalf of the Latin American University Museums Network, I would like to present at the UMAC Conference 2007 its objectives the General Plan and the most recent management advances.
Luisa Fernanda Rico Mansard & Bertha Teresa Abraham Jalil, Mexico
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At the last conference in 2006 in Mexico it was realised that the factors that UMAC needs to address for greater recognition are organised on a regional, rather then global scale. It was therefore decided encourage members to set up regional groups with the aim of achieving regional recognition, or to stimulate existing regional groups to collaborate with UMAC in achieving our goals.
Luisa Fernanda Rico Mansard, Dirección General de Divulgación de la Ciencia, Autonomous University of Mexico, started a regional initiative ("working table") in Mexico, in cooperation with Bertha Teresa Abraham Jalil, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, and Lourdes Monges Santo, Historical Collections of the Popular Art Museum.
At the first meeting on 22 November 2006 the group laid down the following main working lines:
1. Create a working group entirely dedicated to museums in universities.
2. Integrate a complete database of the university collections and museums.
3. Form a complete web list with people who works in university museums.
4. Detect the main interest of university museums to improve their services.
5. Provide members with specialized information about university museums.
6. Create spaces in which these topics can be expressed.
7. Connect the national museum group with the International Committee.
Since the first meeting in November 2006 the regional group has met three times.
Monika Knofler
Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
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The implementation of the University Law 2002 has, since 2004, fundamentally changed the legal as well as the economic situation of the Austrian Universities. For the University Museums and Collections, these changes bring challenges and dangers, as up to now their mission within the Universities has not been clearly defined. Their right to exist within the Bologna process is discussed, as most of the Collections are no longer used for instruction, and they need to find a new position within the curriculum. For the first time in their history it is vital to present them as an integral part both of their University, and of the history of their science.
Claudia Feigl
University of Vienna, Vienna
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In September 2006 the University of Vienna started a project, which aims to identify all university collections that are kept at the different departments and to draw up a list in the form of a database that will be accessable on the internet. Besides, an attractive programme of accompanying events is going to be developed, which encludes exhibitions, guided tours, publications and lectures. The project is settled at the Vienna University Library and under the direction of the Deputy of the Head of the Vienna University Library and Archive Services Dr. Andreas Brandtner.
At the moment, most of the collections are almost unknown to the majority of the students, and even members of the university staff do not know about the treasures, that are kept in their neighborhood. Some of the collections, such as the collections at the departments of archaeology, astronomy, numismatics, palaeontology, pharmacognosy, prehistory or the herbarium are unique all over the world. Because the history of the collections is reflecting the history of the departments where they are housed, the collections can be seen as witnesses of the history of the University of Vienna, whose ideally account can not be overrated.
This lecture will offer a short overview of the collections at the University of Vienna and give a little look at their stock. It will be completed with guided tours through selected collections in the afternoon.
Emily Peppers
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
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The Cultural Collections Audit project began at the University of Edinburgh in 2004, searching for hidden treasures in its 'distributed heritage collections' across the University. The objects and collections recorded in the Audit ranged widely from fine art and furniture to historical scientific and teaching equipment and personalia relating to key figures in the University's long tradition of academic excellence. This information was gathered in order to create a central database of information, to identify objects in vulnerable or dangerous situations, to identify items that require conservation, and for insurance purposes.
The response of colleagues in all areas of the University has been overwhelmingly positive.
Colleagues have gone out of their way to assist in the Audit, understanding that their knowledge
contributes to the creation of a multifaceted and continually expanding record of innovation
and achievement at the University of Edinburgh. The Audit has proved successful in raising
awareness of collections and collections issues both within the University and with the national
media, instilling a sense of pride among non-museums University staff who have tirelessly
safeguarded these heritage collections despite ongoing pressure to downsize.
The Audit highlighted a number of issues in the University's non-formal collections including environmental conditions, departmental relocations, object conditions, security, insurance, storage and long-term preservation. With the positive support and specialist knowledge of established contacts in every department of the University, the Audit worked to bring these collections and issues to light by acting as a resource for information, identifying vulnerable items and challenge areas, and by celebrating the University's rich object history through an online website dedicated to the Audit. This paper explores issues faced by the Audit, and gives examples of positive solutions that enable preservation while promoting pride in academic excellence and innovation.
Ahmad Mashadi
National University of Singapore, Singapore
The NUS Museum operates within a fluidity of contexts. While its history and material patrimony in the form of its collections may form a significant imagination of itself, its realities are informed by the structural contexts, and broader University and state responses to culture as a direct or mediating force of knowledge or economic production. The Museum's collection is diverse ranging from classical Chinese and Indian materials to contemporary Asian art. Initiated in 1955 by its first curator Michael Sullivan, it was first introduced as a teaching collection. Among the Museum's original aims were the provision of "a centre for the study and enjoyment of art"; to complement an art history programme; to facilitate "research into the art and archaeology of Southeast Asia"; and to gather a "representative collection of art of those civilisations that have chiefly contributed to the creation of Malayan culture". Since 1955, contingent on the developments of Singapore and the University and curatorial directions, the Museum and its collection underwent a series of changes. The collections were divided, transferred temporarily, recalled, integrated and separated, amalgamated with other collections, expanded, eventually into its current form. This current state is by no means permanent, as the Museumand its collection will continue to be contingent to the shifts in the University academic and budgetary priorities and other tangible external developments, including the dramatic growth of the museums and exhibitionary interests in Singapore and Asia, and the continual emphasis of economic productiveness of the cultural industry in Singapore. How does a Museum, encumbered by its commitment to its collection and perceived universal role, respond to these situations, one the one hand, encouraged by the prospects of growth in the museum industry, but on the other observant by the expectations measured inclear tangible terms? In charting newer roles and directions, how does it reconcile or revaluate its fundamental missions with other broader aims of the University and state - whether complementary or contrasting? How may the Museum meaningfully participate as partner in the ongoing structural changes, rather than simply being a derivative of change?
Lucia Matos
University of Porto, Portugal
The University of Porto faces the same challenges as other European universities in the current period of transition. Emergence of new fields of knowledge, growing needs for interdisciplinarity, global competion for the best students, and financial dificulties demand innovative approaches to teaching and research methods as well as creative means of communicating an attractive image of the institution.
The University readily understands the usefulness of its museum collections in strengthening the University identity, attracting new students and developing links with the community at large. Funding for mediatic events that target a wider public as is the case of temporary exhibitions is therefore relatively easy to secure. However, funds for less visible initiatives dealing with fundamental tasks such as researching, documenting, and preserving objects and collections are much more difficult to find as the once central role played by these collections as primary sources of knowledge in the University context is considerably diminished today.
The Fine Arts Museum of the University of Porto has redefined its strategy in answer to both the new found interest of the University in its art collection as showcase and the present moment of transition in the University research policies and academic programs. This paper will briefly explain new established priorities to place the art collection at the core of University teaching and research activities while devising diversified temporary events geared to increase public and institutional awareness of a valuable heritage. Results, translated into additional human and material resources, increasing visibility and stronger presence in the community will be presented and projects in partnership with other national and international institutions, will be discussed. A specially commissioned work of video art will act as a commentary on and an example of this new beginning for the Fine Arts Museum of the University of Porto.
Ricard Huerta
University of Valencia
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La Nau (Universitat de València) is an important cultural space in the historic centre of the city. Locates into this emblematic building are the show rooms and the collection of the Patronato Martínez Guerricabeitia (www.fguv.org/pmg), an institution which participated in the university events like the International Conference Museums and Art Education (2005).
Our group Art Education and Visual Culture purpose new concepts of educational workshops for museums. We based our investigations in the teacher's figure, than exceed to be object to be fastened with self-interests according to our proposals. We could have known the opinion of teachers in relation to the artistic offer of museums thanks to a project developed during 2006. The present paper wants offer the results of investigation, because we contributed also a dilated experience like university efforts to forming futures specialists (teachers of primary and secondary school, museum educators).
We believe that the teacher is an important piece to expedite and to get better results in students' visits to museums. The teacher works like a gatekeeper (as Lasswell in his theories presented). It is true that we should make an effort to improve the educational offer of the museums. But else we take into account the teacher's figure (initial university formation, life learning, specialized courses) then we are attending only to a part of the request, not taking into account the importance of the paper that the teachers play. We propose a renewed reading of teachers' formation (in base to Visual Cultural and studies from Hooper-Greenhill, Hernández, Juanola, Padró, Freeman and Barbosa), that has provision for the contributions curricular and extracurricular can generate the visits to museums. Also we presented a new education experience developed in the PMG of the Universitat de València during the exhibition Art of the War.
Svetlana Sizykh
Irkutsk State University, Russia
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Gardens have been always recognized as tangible resources for the improvement of humans. World botanic gardens as living museums and their international and national networks should be considered as unique combination of natural and cultural resources providing tangible and intangible benefits for life quality improvement and sustainable development. In new ecological/economic conditions of globalization and transition of Russia to market economy, the university BGs are becoming innovative and ecologically significant resources for human well-being. This report demonstrates that tangible and intangible aspects of BG's functioning are equally valuable for regional sustainable development. World BGs facilitate a rational use of natural and cultural resources via harmonization of research, education and public awareness, creation of safe environment, as well as through other socio-ecological activities for the community, conservation, restoration and enrichment of heritage, including some aspects of commercialization. The numbers of botanic gardens in different countries are positively correlated with their countries human development indexes (HDI) and other indexes of life quality. This work gives a review of comparative quantitative study for wide spectrum of world botanic gardens in 153 countries in relation of their tangibles and intangibles linking natural heritage and human-well-being.
Beatrix Patzak
Federal Museum of Pathology, Austria
The federal museum of Pathology was founded in 1796 with the establishing of the university Institute of pathology in Vienna.
Since then the museum collected human bodyparts. In 1974 the museum became one of the federal museums of the republic of Austria. The aims and requirements for which the university collection was changed into a state-owned museum will also be discussed, as well as reviewing how far the expectations of this change have been met, and how the situation at present is.
Helmut Gröger & Manfred Scopec
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
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Since the end of the 18th century collections in the medico-academical field were of special importance, for instance in anatomy. When speaking of collections today we always have to distinguish between still existing authentical collections for teaching purposes and those documenting the development of a specialty. One of the oldest still existing collection for teaching is the collection of anatomical and obstetric wax models of the former Medico-Surgical Joseph's Academy in Vienna. In this historically valuable building, known as Josephinum, the Institute for the History of Medicine of the University of Vienna - now Medical University - has been housed since 1920. In the middle of the 20th century the First and Second Vienna Medical School were documented on the Institute's initiative. Objects from the Josephinian era up to the 20th century were included in the documentation, the latter originating to a large exent from Vienna's University Clinics. In recent years associated collections were added such as the world's largest collection of endoscopic instruments.
At the beinning of 2007 a new structure for the collections was imposed by the Medical University with the effect that all collections fomerly under the supervision of the Institute for the History of Medicine were put under a new administration. While on the one hand this reflects an increased appreciation of the collections of the Medical University and its cultural heritage, it yet remains to be seen on the other hand what effect the separation of the Institute for the History of Medicine from practical all its collections will have in the future. Needless to say that the splitting brings about numerous organisational problems.
Christian Bachhiesl & Jürgen Tremer
University of Graz, Austria
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This presentation attends to the Hans Gross Museum of Criminology, a small museum annexed to the Department of History of Law of the Karl-Franzens-University Graz. The museum was founded in 1896, when it served as a collection of teaching materials. For decades it was part of the Department of Criminology, and like this institution it had a varied destiny. The museum was closed in the 1970ies, and the objects were stored in boxes and were no more accessible. After years of reorganisation the museum reopened 2003. The speakers, Christian Bachhiesl and Jürgen Tremer, are responsible for the reconstruction of the Hans Gross Museum of Criminology. They will report the difficulties connected to the (re)building, structuring and running of a small museum annexed to a University, with very limited financial and personal resources at its disposal. The organisation and conception of the museum and the presentation of the collection will be in the centre of the report. The capacities of a so called "niche museum" and its possibilities to attracting visitors in great number (in relation) shall be examined, as well as the ways of attracting the attention of the media and the general public.
Christoph Hölz
University of Innsbruck, Austria
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In times of shortfall of public money in education and strict budget constraints between the different faculties the foundation of a new University collection or archive is both: a rarity and a big fortune. Only the cooperation of the University, the city of Innsbruck, the state Tirol and the the Republic of Austria made it possible in January 2005 to establish the "Archiv für Baukunst" (Archive for Architecture).
The task of the Archive comprises the documentation of the development of modern architecture and engineering in the central alpine region, focussing on Tyrol, South Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Trentino from the 19th century.
With this objective the Archiv für Baukunst is related to its affiliated institutions in Munich (Architekturmuseum der TUM), Vienna (Albertina and the Etching Cabinet) and Zurich (ETH, Institut gta), though size and volume of the collection have been adapted to Innsbruck's dimensions.
The collection contains architectural bequests, specific projects, companies' archives, photo collections, publications, models and similar materials, the main emphasis lying on Classical Modern Art. With the architecture of the Twenties and Thirties, the central alpine region can look back on an autonomous development: Between the poles of the international "Modern White Architecture" and the regional architectural scene, a specific Tyrolean architecture came into existence, which proved to be of an extraordinary quality and diversity and attracted Europe-wide attention with its powerful, distinctive formal vocabulary. It is quite astonishing that of the many outstanding architects only Lois Welzenbacher and Clemens Holzmeister are still internationally well-known today. This "forgotten modern architecture" needs to be rediscovered.
The exhibition "Modernism: Designing a New World 1914-1939", planned by Christopher Wilk for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2006, among other things aimed at demonstrating the "National Modernism", i.e. the national varieties of "Modern Architecture". Unfortunately, the modern alpine architecture of Tyrol was not even represented there with a single example.
The steadily growing collection and the results of the latest research are regularly being customized with exhibitions, publications and series of lectures as well as with an internet-supported database. Moreover, the archive is integrated into the teachings of the Institute of Architectural Theory and Building History at the Faculty of Architecture of the university, which enables it to administer any specific research projects in cooperation with the students. Thus, an appreciation for modern architecture is encouraged on a large scale, at the same time contributing to the preservation of classified historical buildings.
The Archiv für Baukunst is accommodated in the former ADAMBRÄU-brewery, which was designed by the architect Lois Welzenbacher in International Style from 1929 to 1932 and has been renovated in line with conservational practice. The archive uses its space of 800 m2 for both its permanent collection and for alternating exhibitions.
Further information: http://www.uibk.ac.at/
Kwang-shik Choe
Korea University Museum, Korea
In need of the donation to the university museum, the Korea University Museum has arranged the special room for the contributors and exhibited the artifacts with the nameplates of the contributors of three kinds according to the scale of the contributions. For the contributor who has donated the considerable artifacts, the museum is opening the special exhibition, and also publishing the exhibition catalogue. This special exhibition has encouraged other future contributors and many of the visitors have announced their will to donate their possessions. In the case of large quantity of donation, the museum is promising the condition of the opening the special exhibition and the publishing the exhibition catalogue. Especially, due to the frequent burglary of the family artifacts, there have been cases donating the remained artifacts to the university museums.
The Korea University has a history of one hundred years and more than 250,000 graduates, so the human resources of the graduates are main contributors of the museum. Professors are donating the research materials while the entrepreneurs are donating their private collections. Among the contributed, there are paintings, calligraphies, materials related to the modern history of Korea, etc. When I became the director of the Korea University Museum in 2000, I found out that the budget for purchase was as same as the amount for opening special exhibition once, so I have begun collecting the artifacts from modern period. Among them there are materials related to the important figures in modern history of Korea as well as in the history of Korea University. These are donated, but we still need to acquire the ample budget for special exhibitions and catalogues related to the donated artifacts.
Therefore, the Korea University Museum has prepared special exhibitions celebrating the 60th anniversary of the College of Liberal Arts in 2006 with sponsorship by the College and the 100th anniversary of the Korea University Alumni Association in 2007 sponsored by the Alumni Association and has gained public favor from in and out of the campus. The initial thing to do for expanding the collection of the university museums is that collecting the materials related to professors, alumni, and the prospectus of the university establishment.
Federica Maria Chiara Santagati
University of Catania, Italy
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The University of Catania, founded in 1434, is endowed with fifteen museum structures (museums, labs, archives, libraries, an herbarium and a botanical garden) created with the help of European funds (CIPE).
The paper highlights how, through the new culture of openness with regard to the citizenship, the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy changed its traditional role and image of inaccessible white tower of knowledge and its premises became a "living" museum.
Different typologies of objects are present in the university museum collections. The museum of the former Benedictine monastery has no collections, being an exhibit item itself. Run by the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy it is grounded on a stratigraphy datable from prehistory to the present; the very building (with its multileveled stratigraphy) represents the cultural heritage which is to be preserved, exhibited, communicated and "shared".
During the last two years, the Faculty has opened its premises to the residents of the surrounding city area, called Antico Corso (rich in millenary history, but socially and economically degraded). Parts of the building of the Faculty are often the stage for events aimed at museum education that promote forms of social aggregation linking the university museum and the city: seminars on the former Benedictine monastery development, guided tours of the monastery for school pupils and exhibitions of their drawings related to these experiences, other museum cultural events and educational programmes.
This new cultural policy received enthusiastic reactions from the citizens of the Antico Corso, who had contrasted the presence of the academy in the building of the monastery and had been hitherto totally unaware of its high cultural value.
Rashid El Sheikh & Madeleine Sarley Pontin
University College London, United Kingdom
PowerPoint Presentation (PDF)
The Petrie Museum has long established relationships with communities who feel ownership of its collection of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology. For over 8 years there has been an on-going programme of community engagement and inclusion. The museum is currently host to a MLA funded project within the Hidden Histories strand - Re-dressing Identities. This museum-wide project involves the community in collections care & conservation, debates re interpretation and display as well as opportunities for the community to undertake meaningful interaction with objects/ records. The project is overseen by an advisory panel of eminent professionals from a range of fields and embassy representatives from Egypt and Sudan. The community themselves are making the choices re the direction of the project's end results.
The aims of the project include:
- To investigate and execute a model for sustainable community cooperation and collaboration in a museum setting.
- To investigate and execute models for embedding community interpretation within museums.
- To engage the community in museum processes.
- To give community groups ownership of process and product.
- To conserve/ re-string up to 100 objects of personal adornment for visible storage.
- To select and mount 10 objects for permanent display in the new museum (2010).
- To celebrate the end of the Re-dressing Identities project in a community setting.
- To disseminate the project evaluation report and its findings.
The Petrie will move to its first purpose built museum in 2010. The Re-dressing Identities project is the first phase in audience development work towards the new museum. Outreach, with all stakeholders will form the basis of public interaction for the museum during its moving period, when the old site will be shut (January - Nov 2010).
Patrick J. Boylan
City University London, United Kingdom
The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is an inter-governmental body, with now 47 States in membership, which seeks to develop common and democratic principles throughout Europe. Between 1999 and 2004 the Council researched and developed principles relating to the very rich tangible and intangible heritage of European universities, recognising that in many ways these were at a crossroads with the rapidly changing world of higher education policy and funding in many European countries.
In 2002 an initial study was published based on the first three meetings of study "The Heritage of European Universities" edited by Nuria Sanz and Sjur Bergan of the Culture and Higher Education secretariats of the Council, and in December 2005 the full Committee of Ministers, representing all 47 Member States, adopted a formal "Recommendation" addressed to all Member States, and to the managements of universities where these are autonomous or otherwise self-governing without State control or direction.
The "Recommendation" seeks to guide all concerned as to good practice in relation to the proper care and development of the heritage of the university, including museums, historic buildings, libraries and archives, institutional management structures, the need for adequate financing, and the professionalising and proper training of heritage and museum staff, among many other things. At a time when university museums and collections are seen to be under significant threat due to changes in university teaching curricula and research programmes in many cases, and to the increasingly difficult, often commercialised, financial climate within which most European universities are now operating, the Council of Europe initiative has considerable potential value for university museums and collections within Europe, and may serve as a model for similar developments in policy and practice more widely around the world.
More information: https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=946661
Kati Heinämies
University of Helsinki, Finland
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The facilities at the University of Helsinki have undergone major changes during the past couple of decades. Several of its institutions have been relocated to newer and more efficient facilities in campus areas outside the city. The University buildings that were built in the centre of Helsinki in the 19th and 20th century have been renovated in order to accommodate the needs of new users.
The valuable old buildings that were originally designed for the University, and are considered such a vital part of the town centre of our Finnish capital, still belong to the University, even though operational changes have been made.
The University Museum has been documenting these changes. It has preserved the material heritage by rescuing research equipment found in attics and basements. But the Museum has also been responsible for documenting the facilities before the original users left and the extensive renovation and restoration works were started. The photographic collection and the archive material of the Museum have been used during the renovation process in order to gather information about and determine the original appearance of the buildings.
The University Museum has strived to follow the same guidelines in its own building that it has issued to other institutions at the University with regard to protecting the original character of a building. The restoration of the old chemistry laboratory and museum building that started in 2001 was carried out while taking into consideration its over 130 year old history. The Museum exhibition was constructed by respecting the conserved building and thus avoiding unnecessary renovation and constructional work.
The Helsinki University Museum is turning into a veritable information centre of University history. It documents the material history and traditions of its own University, but also literature and photographic material pertaining to universities and students in general. In addition to material donated by members from within the University community, the Museum has also been active in acquiring literature and objects deemed important to the University history.
Panu Nykänen
Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
PowerPoint Presentation (PDF)
Up to the 1940's the collections formed for the research and education in a TU embraced usually special selections of materials: minerals, pieces of wood, chemical substances, and various physical instruments built to the research purposes. A very special branch of collections was the mathematical device, needed in the various calculations in engineering. A special branch of artefacts is the collections of the mechanical models that have been used for the education of engineering.
After the Second World War a change in the collections nature happened. The new research problems given to the engineers needed huge construction of computers, electronic microscopes, radio device, and all containing earlier unknown electronic components. The result was that the science went "hiding" in to the deaf and dump structure of the apparatus. Up to these days, the idea of the mainly mechanical instruments had been usually obvious even to an uneducated onlooker, but after the revolution of electronic components, three earlier unknown things happened:
1. The reconstruction of the scientific experiments became more difficult because the equipment needed usually auxiliary written data, so called software.
2. The equipment became so sensitive, that aging of the instruments usually destroys them, and the researchers themselves usually rebuild the instruments several times during their usage.
3. The size of the instruments grew dramatically.
The task of the university museums is to preserve the knowledge. The scientists are not willing or able to keep the materials produced by the technical research. We need special structure for the databases, material or written, of the museum collection, archives and the library, working together as a memory organisation. The written description of the scientific experience gets more importance, and so does the organisation that holds the documents and the artefacts needed to keep the data. Because of the nature of the modern scientific device, the importance of keeping one experimental device is not as drastic as in earlier times.
Jérôme Thomas
University of Burgundy, France
PowerPoint Presentation (PDF)
Trans'Tyfipal® is the national database of all palaeontological types and illustrated specimens housed in French collections. According to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, types are the international standards of reference that provide objectivity in zoological nomenclature. The laboratory "Biogéosciences" from the University of Burgundy (Dijon, France) coordinates this program, which associates laboratories and museums. This database collects textual information (systematic, geography, stratigraphy, bibliography, comments) and images of fossils.
This program has four missions:
- To archive the palaeontogical heritage housed in France,
- To increase the value of this heritage,
- To teach curation and database management within the teaching program of the "Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes" and the "Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique",
- To help research on biodiversity and on applied physics (3D systems).
Trans'Tyfipal® network is structured in three parts:
- The Head is "Biogéosciences". This laboratory builds the database, hosts the server and coordinates the national data entries.
- The Nodes are laboratories or museums with a lot of specimens. The Nodes coordinate the regional data entries.
- The Data providers are laboratories or museums with few specimens. The Data providers coordinate the local data entries.
This new network increases the integration of all laboratories and museums, the protection and conservation of palaeontological collections, and the communication among curators and researchers.
The Trans'Tyfipal® web site (http://transtyfipal.u-bourgogne.fr) is indexed by the UNESCO/IFLA Directory of Digitized Collections, HEREIN (European Heritage Network), Biocase (Biological Collection Access Services) and palaeontological web sites.
This indexation by research and heritage international programs, the national deployment of the network, its intrinsic qualities (reliability, stability, evolutivity, flexibility and scientific validation) prove the capacity of Trans'Tyfipal® to be a reference for the research on past biodiversity and for the valorization of the ex-situ palaeontological heritage.
Helen Chatterjee
University College London, United Kingdom
Full Text (PDF)
University Museums are outstanding resources and afford a unique opportunity for effective object based learning, the dissemination of subject specific, observational, practical and other transferable skills. Further, they represent sources of inspiration, enjoyment and could play a potentially important role in health, wellbeing and therapy. Critically, therefore, we need to understand the role and value of object handling for learning, knowledge transfer, emotions, wellbeing and health. This paper will report on the outcome of a series of recent workshops, organised by UCL Museums & Collections, examining the value of touch and object handling. These workshops brought together museum practitioners, researchers and clinicians who are engaged in exploring the value of object handling, touch and sensation and in measuring the impact object handling might have for a variety of emotions, in therapy, general well-being and in enhancing knowledge acquisition. The role of object handling in a variety of contexts was explored, such as the use of handling collections in outreach and for inspiration. Other workshops explored the psychology behind touch, the underlying mechanisms behind physical stimulation and its link with emotions experienced during object handling.
The paper will also explore a range of practical and strategic initiatives employed at UCL Museums & Collections to understand the value of object based learning. Numbering nearly 1 million objects UCL Museums & Collections are used widely across the university in subject specific teaching, knowledge transfer and in the acquisition of key and transferable skills. Innovative uses include the assessment of the value of object handling as an enrichment activity in hospitals by medical students, the use of natural history collections as inspiration by fine artists and the development of virtual object teaching resources by computer science students. In summary, the paper will draw together a range of experiences and current research to provide a practical approach to repositioning university museums as fundamental teaching resources.
Karen Brown
Queen's University, Ireland
Full Text (PDF)
In December 2007, the Naughton Gallery at Queen's will unveil a major, semi-permanent exhibition of silverware and sonic art funded principally by NESTA (www.nesta.org.uk). Using technology developed by the University's Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) and interface design by a leading practitioner and curator of sound art, the exhibition aims to display and interpret the University's diverse and interesting silver collection in a fresh and innovative way.
International sound artists are currently being commissioned to compose six-minute soundscapes based on individual items from the collection (www.sarc.qub.ac.uk/pages/silver). Their responses will be based not only on the history and provenance of the items, but also on materials, techniques, and the aesthetic qualities or emotions attached to them; for example 'triumph' for a ceremonial mace, 'loss' or 'victory' for a crucifix, and 'affection' for a certain donation or bequest.
To mark the occasion, a new silverware commission will use a combination of 21st century hydraulic-forming technology, together with the ancient crafts of hand-raising and planishing, and will be included as part of the visual and aural display. A film recording the production of this piece, together with 3D images and the soundscapes, will then be brought together in an interactive display accessible to people of diverse ages and abilities.
This paper considers both practical and theoretical concerns relating to this project. From my perspective as project manager, I firstly address issues relating to the diplomacy involved in managing such innovative collaborations between University departments, external specialists, and funding bodies. Secondly, I extol the value of technological innovation as a means of displaying the pieces in a University Museum setting. And thirdly, I discuss the benefits of collaborations between departments as they relate to both the educational role of the University Museum, and to current pressures within Universities for research returns and multi-disciplinary initiatives.
Marion Ruisinger
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Full Text (PDF)
The Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany) holds about 17 collections. Some of them have been established only recently, others date back to the very foundation of the university in 1743 or have their roots even in the Kunst- und Wunderkammern of the Margraves of Ansbach and Bayreuth. The collections differ not only in regard to their history, but also concerning their size, accessibility and presentation and the extent in which they are utilised for academic teaching and research.
In spite of these differences, the collections show common characteristics as well: First, they all care for "things", for three-dimensional objects. These things have an immense potential for the communication of science and for the representation of the university to the public. Second, they all face more or less similar problems regarding the basic museological tasks of collecting, preserving, investigating and presenting their objects.
With regard to this shared needs and chances the curators of the collections organised themselves in a working group about three years ago. As a first step, information material (leaflet, set of postcards) and an information platform (www.sammlungen.uni-erlangen.de) was realised. With the support of the university's government, the working group mounted in the summer term 2007 a campaign to inform the common public about the widely unknown treasures of their collections. This campaign used different ways and means to achieve it's aim.
In my talk, I will present the central event of this campaign, the exhibition "Ausgepackt. Die Sammlungen der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg" (http://www.ausgepackt.uni-erlangen.de/ ), which was realised in collaboration with the City Museum Erlangen (20.5.-20.7.2007). The project faced the problem to put 17 collections on the scene without creating an "omnium-gatherum". The talk will focus, therefore, on the concept of the exhibition. And it will close with the final question "What to do next?" One answer could be the formation of a nationwide "task force university collections" for the discussion of common problems and possible solutions.
Peter Trowles
The Glasgow School of Art, Scotland
Full Text (PDF)
Professor Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art has remarked that 'the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Glasgow School of Art is 'the only art school in the world where the building is worthy of the subject' whilst Sir Terence Conran, the designer and retailer, has stated that the School is 'an architecturally inspirational place that has played a unique part in the history of design'.
Fine words, but as The Glasgow School of Art enters the 21st century it faces a complex challenge. It certainly aims to maintain the world famous Mackintosh Building as a teaching facility, now at the heart of a very busy campus. Nevertheless, it also recognizes the importance of the Mackintosh Building as an architectural monument and wishes to preserve the fabric of this unique structure. It also accepts and understands the wider cultural significance of Mackintosh and role of the arts in Glasgow and has increasingly, since the late 1980s, been seen as a major tourist attraction.
With this in mind, summer 2007 sees the start of an ambitious £8.5m conservation and access project that will:
- Conserve and protect the building's fabric, and restore many of its original features and spaces.
- Improve the care, exhibition and access to the School's internationally important archives and collections including the provision of new environmentally controlled stores and a new Research Centre
- Manage and enhance visitor access to a successful and continually working art school but allow for a predicted growth in visitors numbers (expected to rise by over 35% by 2011), to approximately 33,000 visitors per year.
Expectations are high but The Glasgow School of Art is confident that its cultural past will continue to play a crucial part in shaping its educational future.
H. Christian Carr
Sweet Briar College, USA
In 2003, the planned demolition of a local historic house, Tusculum, became the catalyst for an innovative educational partnership between Sweet Briar College and the Virginia Department for Historic Resources, a government agency. "Tusculum", a late 18th-century plantation house built by the founders of Sweet Briar College, a private four-year school for women, had evolved over time to serve as a symbol of the community's past. Local development placed the house in harm's way, and with the assistance of the Department of Historic Resources, the house was dismantled in the summer of 2006 and moved to Sweet Briar College, where it will be reconstructed in the campus historic district, which is home to thirty-four listed buildings.
Although "Tusculum" is no longer a physical presence in the local community, the college has developed a plan to reuse the building as the Tusculum Preservation Institute, which will serve as a regional office of the Department of Historic Resources. This unique public-private partnership will encourage the study and appreciation of local architecture, and educate the public about preservation and adaptive reuse as a useful and preferable alternative to demolition or new construction.
Regional residents of this rural area are accustomed to using the college's athletic facilities or academic resources, and the Tusculum Preservation Institute will be an additional service provided to them by Sweet Briar College. Here they will be able to gain assistance in researching the history of their own homes and community, and we anticipate that the result will be an increase in listed homes in this area of Virginia as well as an enhanced appreciation for the unique heritage of our region.
In addition to these services, the Tusculum Preservation Institute will also host lectures and short courses on preservation from visiting faculty, thus insuring that the college's established role as a steward of our built heritage continues to expand into a model to be followed outside of our local community, benefiting residents of our region, state and country.
Peter Stanbury
Australian Society of Anaesthetists, Australia
Poster (PDF)
Open Storage: Some solutions and suggestions for open storage display in a small museum are presented. They are based on the collections of a medical museum, but are applicable to many collections of small objects. Some mistakes to avoid will also be confessed!
Michael A. Mares
University of Oklahoma, USA
Since it's founding in 1890, the University of Oklahoma has developed some of the major collections in the Midwest and the largest in Oklahoma. Collections represent several areas: the Carl Albert Congressional archives; the Charles M. Russell Center and archive for the study of art of the American West; and one of the premier archives on Western History. Three other major collections are world class and now have facilities that are state-of the-art. In the 1980's a new library provided a home for the world's finest History of Science collection. In the 1990's the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History provided a marvelous facility to house 6 million items. In 2006, the Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art, provided a new facility to display and protect priceless examples of art from throughout the world. Oklahoma is one of the poorest state, but the University, often spurred by strong directors or major donors, has managed to preserve its collections for the foreseeable future. In 2004, an online Masters in Museum Studies Program was implemented through the College of Liberal Studies. Today more than 140 Masters students are enrolled in advanced museology.
Lea Leppik
University of Tartu, Estonia
From 2003 in Estonia there is a state program, supporting the management of the historical scientific collections considered as important part of national culture. More than a half of scientific collections in Estonia are concentrated in University of Tartu. In this framework the mapping of the collections restored in University of Tartu is done.
Some collections are in museums - Natural Museum (Botany, Zoology, and Geology), History Museum and emerging museum of Medicine. Some collections are distributed in different faculties and institutes - most of them are in everyday use.
Some collections were neglected, but the program helped to improve their conditions. The most problematic was the story of the collections - very often the owners don't know exactly what they have. The most important thing is continuity. Of course the aims of use are in change - some things that for 100 years were top-science, can today are useful for schoolchildren. But there is no collection without any scientific value.
The scientific collections of the University of Tartu reflect the development of the science in Estonia and Europe as well, the local and international developments. Traditionally the history of science is written mostly by books and papers, but the picture is one-sided when we don't take into consideration the material part.
Bertha Teresa Abraham Jalil
National Autonomus University of Mexico, Mexico
In a society that is constructing the democracy, and at the same time is supported the transformation to the University roles, it is necessary create strategies to form citizens with the characteristics values from the democracy. Considering that it is necessary study systems supported - by the Commission Delors from the UNESCO- to the students be able to: a) learn to be, b) learn to know , c) learn to do and d) learn to live together, and that these basins contain implicit democracy values like: respect to the others and be free, dialogue, tolerance, to be in disposition to work in a group. We make some questions: What form is in a University museum used its heritage to contribute to educate on the democracy values? and How the University museum can contribute to take part for the universitaries people education, and how they participate to revaluate and care the patrimony to the museum?
From a sample obtained from different university's museums, I obtain a diagnostic about the museum roles like promoters to the democracy values and the conscience to the heritage importance in the museum. I present a museological proposal and some strategies to help the universitaries people to be conscious about the care and values from the museum heritage.
Luisa Fernanda Rico Mansard
National Autonomus University of Mexico, Mexico
Full Text (PDF)
There is no doubt that teaching collections as well as university museums are responsible for defining the academical features of the modern world. Not only have they revolutionized their practical work, but also have given great prestige to institutions of high education. Each reign, later every nation had to have a university which had to form its own collections as well as their own museums.
During the 20Th century these collections, together with the buildings and laboratories in which they were held turned into what is known as university heritage, a heritage that, because of its original idea (conception), its formal integration and its final intention stayed in order of high studies.
But, today, it is a need to ask: How far are the interests of the university community represented in these museums and collections? On the other hand: How many other social uses is the university heritage getting nowadays?
Each university from the Occidental world is feature of social updating and is therefore compromised to adopt and adapt new technologies to its daily activities and educational practices so to turn into the promoter of the cultural globalization. The university can't lose contact with the original characteristics and values of its heritage treasure, it's local and social functions to recover them and return them to the community. which gave them life: the university.
The traditional use of collections and university museums is being judged within this presentation in so far that they can further on fulfill nowadays needs and allow the university community as well as the society in general to the heritage.
To reactivate and open an approaching to the university community and the society in general this revision has to return to nowadays uses from the heritage.
Diana Gasparon & Nathalie Nyst
Free University of Brussels, Belgium
The European project "Unis vers Cité" has been introduced to the UE program Culture 2007-2013. The Network of the ULB Museums (Brussels) contacted some other universities, among which three were interested: Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg), Universidad do Porto and University of Tartu.
The main purpose of the project is to prove that university heritage is a testimony of humanist culture coming from the Middle Ages. And, further, that this material and immaterial heritage has contributed and continue to do so to the development of our intellectual and cultural European identity.
In order to reach this objective, it has been proposed to conceive a common exhibition that should be partly travelling. Meaningful pieces coming from the four partners' collections will be studied by specialists of several disciplines. This 'multiplicity of looks' should at the same time enhance the knowledge of each selected object, and prove the complementarity of the university disciplines rather than their concurrence or compartmentalization.
Karl Mager
University of Innsbruck, Austria
Power Point Presentation (PDF)
Gerald Bast, Austria
Born in 1955, studied jurisprudence and economics at Kepler University in Linz, Austria where he graduated in law in 1979. After his studies he served for one year in the County Law Court for Upper Austria, and then he worked for the Federal Ministry for Higher Education and Research from 1981 to 1999. During this period he was lecturer at the Federal Academy for Administration (university law, university management, administrative law) from 1987 to 1999. In 1991 he became head of the legal department at the Federal Ministry for Higher Education and Research (university organisation, university management, university research contracting) and from 1992 to 1999 he was consultant at the Ludwig Boltzmann Research Society. Since 2000 he is rector at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, since 2003 speaker of the rectors of the Austrian Universities of Arts and executive board member of the Austrian Rectors Conference.
Cornelia Weber, Germany
General Manager of the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, & Deputy Managing Director of the Department The Scientific Collection
University studies in German Philology, particularly Medieval Language and Literature, and Art Education; Doctor of Philosophy
1990-1995 Scientific Coordinator at the Institute for the European Cultural History, Augsburg University; since 1995 science management at Humboldt University
Co-organiser of the exhibition Theatre of Nature and Art - Treasure-trove of Knowledge, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2000/01; since 2004 Chair of UMAC (ICOM's International Committee for University Museums and Collections); Chair of UMAC's Working Group Directories.
Project on University Collections in Germany: Research on their Holdings and History.
Further information: http://www2.hu-berlin.de/kulturtechnik/weber_e.php
Ing-Marie Munktell, Sweden
Ing-Marie Munktell is Director of the Museum Gustavianum since the year 2000. Since 2005 she is also Director of the Linnaeus Museum in Uppsala. Her PhD was finished in 1982. She is Historian with focus on medieval history and art. Her first museum work was as Director of Canal and Shipping Museum in Motala, and then she was Director of The Art Museum in Uppsala and after that for some years Head of the Pedagogical Department at the Museum National Antiquities in Stockholm. She also served as coordinator of historical events in Stockholm.
Sebastian Soubiran, France
Mission Culture scientifique et technique, University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg
Doctorate in History of science and technology; Research Engineer, in charge of the preservation and valorisation of historical archives and scientific instrument collections of the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg. Research works: history of post-WWII physics in Strasbourg; physicists, heritage preservation and communication at the turn of the 21st century.
Soubiran S. [2006], " Communicating scientific heritage: The university museums and collections of the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg ", in Opuscula Musealia, n°15, p. 93-98.
Soubiran S. [2007], " Patrimoine des universités et médiation scientifique ", La lettre de l'OCIM, n°109, janvier-février 2007, p. 33-41.
Soubiran S. [à paraître 2007], " Réconcilier passé et avenir : le patrimoine scientifique une mobilisation intermittente ou inachevée ? ", in Soraya Boudia, Anne Rasmussen et Sébastien Soubiran, Patrimoine, savoirs et communautés savantes, Presses universitaires de Rennes.
Nicola Ladkin, USA
Nicola Ladkin is the Assistant Director for the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA, and its Center for Advanced Study of Museum Science and Heritage Management, where she also is on the faculty. She teaches a course in preventive conservation and serves on numerous graduate student advisory committees. She has worked in collections, registration, and research, and is especially interested in preservation. She enjoys and appreciates the opportunity she has had to work on projects with museum professionals from around the world.
Patrick Boylan, United Kingdom
Patrick Boylan directed major arts and museum services in England for over 23 years before coming Professor and Head of Department of Arts Policy and Management (now Cultural Policy and Management) at City University London in 1990, retiring in 2004 as Professor Emeritus of Heritage Policy and Management. A former Vice-President and now an Honorary Member of ICOM, he has undertaken many national and international research and professional development projects, programmes around the world and has published almost 200 research and professional publications. From 2001 to 2005 he was on the Council of Europe joint higher education and culture Expert Steering Group on the Heritage of European Universities, which resulted in this 2005 Council of Europe "Recommendation".
Steven de Clercq, Netherlands
Steven de Clercq is vice-chair of UMAC (ICOM's International Committee for University Museums and Collections) and former Director of Utrecht University Museum. He is also vice-chair of the Vechtplassencommissie, an independent specialist working-group for the natural and cultural heritage of the Vecht-area (Netherlands). As such he is engaged in the development of "Cultural Landscape Explorer "- a visual portal for cultural landscapes (http://www.vensteropdevecht.nl/).
Graciela de la Torre, Mexico
Clara Graciela de la Torre Perez was born in Mexico City. She is an art historian alum of the Museum Management Institute Program of the Getty Leadership Institute.
She was the Director of the San Carlos National Museum (Old Masters, 1975 to 1989) where she developed a method for artistic education. As of 1989, she became Director of the Museo Nacional de Arte (National Gallery) where she established a pioneer program that influenced other Mexican museums. She was responsible for the renovation and update of the Museo Nacional de Arte with the MUNAL 2000 project, which set an example in Mexico and abroad.
Since March 2004 she has been the General Director for Visual Arts of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico). She currently is the chair of three museums and responsible for the creation of a public contemporary art collection and of the construction of the University Museum Contemporary Art (MUAC), that will be opening during the spring of 2008.
With the UMAC Board, she was the organizer and host of the Sixth International Congress for University Museum in Mexico City in 2006.
William Alfonso López Rosas, Colombia
William is professor of the Aesthetic Research Institute of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Currently, he is the director of the Museo de Arte and the coordinator of the MA in Museology and Cultural Heritage Management, at the same university. He is Journalist, Specialist in Literary Studies and MA of Theory and History of Fine Arts and Architecture. He has had a considerable experience in museums education, management and coordination of the cultural projects for museums. He has worked in the Museo de Arte of the Banco de la República (Bogotá) and in the Museo Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá). Is co-author of the Cómo se lee una imagen: lectura de diez pinturas colombianas (Universidad Nacional Autónoma a Distancia, Bogotá, 1999).
Monika Knofler, Austria
Director of the Graphic Collection of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and UMAC coordinator for the General Conference ICOM 2007. University studies in Art History, Archaeology and Psychology; Doctor of Philosophy.
1978-1980 Assistant to the Director of the Graphic Collection Albertina for the exhibition "Marie Theresia an her time", 1980-1982 Curator at the Albertina, 1982-1995 Art Director of Unicef in Geneva, 1995 Chief Curator of the Graphic Collection of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna since 2004 Director. Planning and organisation of about 100 exhibitions. Research and publications in following fields: the History of the Collection of the Academy, 18th century Industrial Archaeology, 20th century architecture and contemporary art.
Claudia Feigl, Austria
University studies in German Philology and Philosophy; Master's degree (2005).
Since 2003 various workings at Austrian Museums and Libraries:
2003 Practical at the Collection of Manuscripts and Letters of the Vienna City Library, 2003 Practical at the Austrian Literary Archives of the Austrian National Library, 2003-2006 Exhibition assistance, Education in Art and Scientific Cooperation at the Wien Museum Karlsplatz, Department of History and City life 1500-1918, 2004-2005 Cooperation at the Department of Manuscripts, Autographs and Closed Collections of the Austrian National Library, 2005-2007 Scientific Employee in the context of the preparation of the exhibition Kabarett Fledermaus (Villa Stuck, München / Österreichisches Theatermuseum, Wien, 2007/2008) at the Austrian Theatre Museum, since 2006 responsible for the realisation of the project University Collections at the University of Vienna at the Vienna University Library.
Peter B. Tirrell, USA
Associate Director, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma (US). Former Board Member of the American Association of Museums (AAM) and former President of the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries (ACUMG). Adjunct Professor, Museum Studies Online, College of Liberal Studies, University of Oklahoma.
Emily Peppers, Scotland
Emily has been Cultural Collections Audit Officer with the University of Edinburgh's Museums and Galleries since 2004. She is also Assistant Curator with the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. She received her Bachelor's in Music History from the University of Massachusetts, a Master's in Musicology from the University of Edinburgh, as well as more recent professional UK work-based museum qualifications. Emily's main research interest is bowed string instruments of the Renaissance period, and she plans to begin a PhD part-time Autumn 2007. She has published internationally on the subject of cultural use of musical instruments, and serves on the student grant committee of the American Musical Instrument Society.
Ahmad Mashadi, Singapore
Ahmad Mashadi is currently the Head of NUS Museum, Singapore. Before joining the NUS Ahmad served as a Senior Curator and Senior Assistant Director at the Singapore Art Museum, National Heritage Board. Recent exhibitions he curated include Seni: Art and the Contemporary (2004), Singapore participation for Sao Paolo (2004) featuring Ho Tzu Nyen and Telah Terbit (Out Now, 2006), that explored the emergence of contemporary practices in Southeast Asia during the 1970s and Picturing Relations: Simryn Gill and Tino Djumini (2007).
Lúcia Almeida Matos, Portugal
Is professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History and Theory at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto and head of the art collection of the same institution. She graduated in Philosophy at the University of Porto, earned her MA in Art History at Syracuse University (EU) and her PhD at the University of Porto. She is coordinator of the MA in Art Studies - Museum and Curatorial Studies. Lúcia Almeida Matos presently coordinates a multidisciplinary research project aiming to identify and develop strategies for preservation of contemporary art based on case studies from the University of Porto art collection and the collection of the Serralves Museum.
Roser Juanola Terradellas, Spain
Professor of Art Education at the University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
Leader of the research group of Heritage and Education at the University of Girona; Coordinator of the doctorate with mention of quality entitled Visual Arts and Education: a constructive prespective, a joint venue of the Universities of Sevilla, Granada, Barcelona and Girona; Member of the Research Committee of the University of Girona; Honorary Member of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) and member of ICOMOS National Committee of Heritage Interpretation and Presentation; Member of UNESCO Forum; Charter member of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Heritage (IPCC); Member of the Editorial Board of the Catalan journal: Works in Cultural Heritage; Reviewer of several journals of Art and Education; Reviewer of Research Grants of the Spanish Government (ANEP) and Catalan Government; Member of several Committees for the evaluation of university teaching and research stuff and Committees of postgraduate studies.
Ricard Huerta, Spain
Lecturer Professor on the University of València. Researcher member of the Institute of Creativity and Innovation in Education.
Ph. D. in Fine Arts (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia). Audiovisual Communication degree (University of València), degree in Fine Arts, degree in Musics (Conservatoire of Valencia).
Director in the Department of Didactics Music, Visual Arts and Physical Expression. Universitat de València; Director and responsible of the Research Group Art Education and Visual Culture; Director of the University Museum Patronato Martínez Guerricabeitia (2002-2005); Director of the Music Conservatoire of Xativa (Spain, 1988-89), Information and Communication Service (1997-99) and Service of Cultural Activities (2000-01); Magazine director's Pensat i Fet (1995-2005).
International Prize of Research in Communication of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Honour Mention of the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca because of his interest and dedication to the Art Education for Museums.
As a visual artist Ricard Huerta is the author of any collections: L'alfabet del Tirant, L'alfabet de Jesucrist, L'alfabet d'Alexandre, Un dia, etc. Individual exhibitions in Galleries of Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Xàtiva, Alcoi, Alzira, etc.
Svetlana Sizykh, Russia
Deputy Director, Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University (1992-present), Responsible for Plants Collections and Education
1983-1988 Master of Science in Plant Physiology, Department of Biology and Soil Science, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia
2005 PhD in Ecology
Beatrix Patzak, Austria
Born 1965; Degree in Medicine, Vienna; Practitioner Training in Lower Austria; since 1993 Director of the Federal Museum of Pathology, Austria
Helmut Gröger, Austria
Helmut Gröger, born in Vienna in 1949. Physician and Medico-Historian. M.D. (University of Vienna). Since 1988 assistant and lecturer at the Institute for the History of Medicine, Medical University Vienna. Numerous medico-historical lectures and publications in Austria and abroad. Co-author (with Manfred Skopec) of 'Anatomie als Kunst. Anatomische Wachsmodelle des 18. Jahrhunderts im Josephinum in Wien, Vienna, 2002.
Manfred Scopec, Austria
Manfred Skopec, born in Leonfelden (Upper Austria) in 1946. Ph.D. (University of Vienna). Since 1973 at the Institute for History of Medicine, Medical University Vienna. Since 1989 Assistant Professor. Compiled the world's largest collection of endoscopic instruments. Organizer of the 12th Congress of the European Association of Museums of the History of Medical Sciences in 2004. Co-author (with Helmut Gröger) of 'Anatomie als Kunst. Anatomische Wachsmodelle des 18. Jahrhunderts im Josephinum in Wien', Vienna, 2002.
Christian Bachhiesl, Austria
Born 1971; Mag iur. et phil., Dr. iur. et phil.; since 1997 scientific assistant/research associate and postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Graz, Department of History (Science History) and Department of Law (Civil Law, History of Law, Criminal Museum); self-employed scientist.
Jürgen Tremer, Austria
Born 1970; professional experience: advertising art and photography; since 1995 working student with the University of Graz, Department of Law (History of Law, Criminal Museum); staff member City Museum Graz.
Christoph Hölz, Austria
Born 1962 in Wangen im Allgäu/Germany. Study of Art History at the Universities in Munich and Vienna.
1988-2004 scientific assistant at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte München (Central Institute for Art History Munich) and at the Architectural Museum of the Technical University TUM in Munich. 1995-2003 Editor for art publications of the HypoVereinsbank (HVB Group). Since July 2004 scientific assistant at the Archiv für Baukunst der Universität Innsbruck (Archive for Architecture, University of Innsbruck).
Various publications on Art and Architectural History as well as the Arts and Crafts Movement since the 18th century, for example "Geschichte der Bildenden Kunst in Deutschland. Bd. 6 Klassik und Romantik" (2006), "Tradition und Moderne. Der Civil-Ingenieur Franz Jakob Kreuter 1813-1889" (2003), "Positionen der Gestaltung seit 1850" (2002).
Responsible for the conception an realization of exhibitions, for example "Tiroler Moderne" (Archiv für Baukunst, Innsbruck 2005), "Gottfried Semper. Architektur und Wissenschaft 1803-1879" (Pinakothek der Moderne, München 2003/2004), "schön und gut. 150 Jahre Bayerischer Kunstgewerbe-Verein" (Munich City Museum 2001/2002).
Kwang-shik Choe, Korea
Born 1953 in Seoul; 1976 B.A., Korea University;1981 M.A. Korea University; 1990 PhD Korea University; 1982-1995 Hoyseong Women's University Professor (Department of History); 1995-2007 Korea University Professor(Department of Korea History); 2000-2007 Director of Korea University Museum; 2004-2007 Vice-President of the Korean Association of University Museums(KAUM).
Federica Maria Chiara Santagati, Italy
Federica Maria Chiara Santagati is research professor of Museology at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Catania. She studied Archaeology at the University of Catania and at the University of Nottingham, and Archaeology and Museology at the University of Lecce.
Her activities: planning exhibitions at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of Catania; publications and research in: Museology, Archaeology, History of collecting, Art Education, Heritage Preservation and Communication, 19th century museums and collections.
Nick Merriman, United Kingdom
Director of the Manchester Museum; Certificate in Museum Studies, University of Leicester. Curator of Prehistory, Museum of London (1986-1990), Head of Department of Early London History & Collections, Museum of London (1991-1997), Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies, University of London (1997-006), Curator (then Director) of Museums & Collections, University College of London (1998-2006); Former Chair of ICOM-UK
Jérôme Thomas, France
Service de valorisation des collections de Géologie, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon.
Since 2004, he is the curator of geological and palaeontological collections of University of Dijon and the coordinator of TransTyfipal (national database of palaeontological types and illustrated specimens housed in French collections). He is also vice-president of Section Géole (Valorisation of Earth Sciences) for the French Geological Society.
Panu Nykänen, Finland
Historian and archaeologist Panu Nykänen, doctorate (2000) in history, working as a researcher for the Helsinki University of Technology TKK. Earlier as a museum professional working for the National museum of Finland, now in charge of the historical collections of TKK and the research of the history of technical research and technology in Otaniemi.
Publications in history of technology, industrial archaelogy, history of education.
Kati Heinämies, Finland
Kati Heinämies is Director of the Helsinki University Museum since 2003. From 1985 to 2003 she was chief curator and responsible for the care of objects of historical and artistic value covering the history of the University of Helsinki. From 1975 to 1985 she worked as curator in the Finnish National Board of Antiquities and took care of historical research needed in connection with the restoration works of some castles and fortifications.
Helen Chatterjee, United Kingdom
Helen Chatterjee is Deputy Director of UCL Museums & Collections and a Lecturer in Biology at University College London. After completing a BSc in Natural Environmental Science and an MSc in Palaeoanthropology at Sheffield University, Helen moved to UCL to undertake a PhD and took up the role of Curator at the Grant Museum of Zoology. Helen stayed at the Grant Museum for 10 years and took up the post of Deputy Director of UCL Museums & Collections in 2006. In UCL Biology she teaches mammalian evolution, field biology and comparative anatomy and has research interests in primates and bats. Her museological research interests include touch and value of object handling and the integration of museum object handling in university teaching and research. Externally, Helen is a council member for the Society for the History of Natural History and the London Museums Group and is engaged in the Museums Associations continuing professional development scheme AMA+
Karen Brown, Ireland
Honorary Secretary of the executive committee of ICOM-Ireland, art historian Karen E. Brown earned a BA from Trinity College, Dublin, received a joint MPhil (from Trinity College, Dublin, and Université de Paris VII), and has a PhD from Queen's University, Belfast. From 1997 to 2001 she worked as Curator of the Queen's University, Belfast art collection, and she continues to teach museums studies at both graduate and postgraduate levels. Her academic research focuses on interactions between the arts, in particular between literature and the visual arts. She is currently project managing a new, interdisciplinary display of silverware and sonic art.
Marion Maria Ruisinger, Germany
Marion Maria Ruisinger, physician and medical historian. Assistant professor at the Institute of Medicine and Medical Ethics at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Co-founder and curator of the university's Medical Collection, official representative of the university's collections, co-curator of the exhibition "Ausgepackt. Die Sammlungen der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg".
Research topics: History of medical practice in the Early Modern, patient history, history of the Modern Greek health care system, medical museology, history of collections.
Peter Trowles, Scotland
After a first degree at art school, Peter completed a Masters Degree in Museum Studies at the University of St Andrews before joining the Glasgow School of Art at the end of 1987. Since then, as Mackintosh Curator, he has done much to raise the international profile of the School's museum collections. He has curated and co-curated exhibitions in the UK, USA, France, Poland, Norway, Italy, Singapore, Japan and Colombia and has contributed to international conferences in the USA, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Latvia, the Netherlands and Belgium. He has also worked on various books, magazines and journals. In1999 he was involved with the setting up of the EU-funded Réseau Art Nouveau Network - a project involving European cities with an art nouveau legacy, and is increasingly interested in issues relating to architectural heritage and the effects of cultural tourism on the built environment.
Christian Carr, USA
Christian Carr has been a member of the faculty of Sweet Briar College since 2001, where she is the director of the Sweet Briar Museum and teaches courses on architecture and the decorative arts. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at Virginia Commonwealth University, and has worked with museums and historic houses for the past decade. She holds a master's degree in decorative arts, design and culture from the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan, and is an alumna of Britain's Attingham Program, the Victorian Society's Summer School held in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Graduate Institute of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Rashid El Sheikh, United Kingdom
Hidden Histories Outreach Officer, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London (UCL).
Diploma in International Studies Berk beck college extramural centre, University of London.
Two years law studies University of Cairo Khartoum Branch.
Previous work experience includes community and trade union work and NGO and voluntary projects.
Interests: Environment and development studies; History and politics of Archaeology; Adult learning and continued education
Madeleine Sarley Pontin, United Kingdom
Manager of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London (UCL).
University studies in Middle Eastern Archaeology (UCL); Post-graduate studies in Islamic Archaeology (School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS), Education (Lancaster University and The Institute of Education), and Cultural Leadership (City University). Previous posts include Head of Adult Learning at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Primary Education Officer at The British Museum.
Interests include: Museums as teaching and learning tools; E-Learning; Cultural diversity & museums; Collecting; Archaeology of the Near East Alexander to the Ayyubid/ Mamluk Islamic period
Peter Stanbury, Australia
Vice-Chair of UMAC, has been working in and with university museums in Australia for over fourty years. He is presently setting up a museum of anaesthetics for the Australian Society of Anaesthetists. He has been involved with the National Trust of New South Wales (NSW) and was the inaugral Chair of the Historic Houses Trust of NSW. He has published widely in museum fields and contributed to many reviews including the Australian Government's Cinderella Collections (1996) and Transforming Cinderella Collections (1998) which extensively reviewed university museums and collections in Australia.
Michael A. Mares, USA
Former Director and Research Curator at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Presidential Professor of Zoology at the University of Oklahoma, Mares has held academic appointments at universities in the USA and Argentina. He also works in international museology (and is Adjunct Professor of Museum Studies). He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. His research centers on South American and desert mammals. He has authored or edited 12 books and published 200 articles. His books include Mammalian Biology in South America, Bats of Argentina, Latin American Mammalogy, Heritage at Risk (which began the movement for a new museum for Oklahoma), and the Encyclopedia of Deserts. He has discovered and described 15 mammals that were new to science, and has had three species named in his honor. Mares was a Fulbright Scholar, a National Chicano Fellow, and a Ford Foundation Fellow. He has received numerous awards for outstanding teaching, research and service and his research has been funded by national and international agencies. Mares has held office in more than 25 national and international professional organizations, including the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Commission and the Commission on the Future of the Smithsonian Institution. He is President of the Natural Science Collections Alliance.
Lea Leppik, Estonia
Lea Leppik, PhD (born 19.12.1962) has been teacher, member of the redaction of the Estonian Historical Journal "Kleio" (1995-1997), archivist in Estonian Historical Archives (1997-2002), Lecturer at the Department of History of the University of Tartu and the research director of the University of Tartu History Museum since 2002.
Main research areas are social history, science history, and biographies. Doctoral Thesis was defended in 2006, on the theme "Social mobility of the employees of the Tartu University" (1802-1918).
Bertha Teresa Abraham Jalil, Mexico
Auxiliary coordinator of UMAC-Mexico, since September of 2006.
Investigator of the Research center in Social Sciences and Humanities of the "Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México" (UAEM) in Toluca, city. Subjects: Museums, Education, Art and Democracy. Master in History of Art by the "Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México" (UNAM). Its thesis of degree: "The University Museum of Sciences and Art of the UNAM (1959-1979) Chronic of an Institution of Vanguard" obtained Honorary Mention in the National Prize of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) 2002, in the category of Museografy. Among the positions that have carried out they emphasize: Head of Museums, Libraries and Archives; General Director of Tourism, both in the Government of the State of Mexico. Investigator of the Research Center and Museology Services of the UNAM. She was the first Director of the University Museum "Leopoldo Flores" of the UAEM (art museum). It has published articles on museums, education and art, and the books: "Daniel F. Rubín de la Borbolla (1907-1990). Testimonios y Fuentes." [1996] UNAM, Mexico, D.F., about one of the creators of the Mexican contemporary museografy. Is co-author and coordinator of "Museo Universitario Leopoldo Flores. Alba y Vanguardia (Memoria 2001-2005)" + CD with information about 2005 [2005] UAEM, Toluca, Mex.
Luisa Fernanda Rico Mansard, Mexico
Ph.D. in History at the Nacional Autonomous University of Mexico, analizes the history of museums and the museums of history in Mexico. About these themes she has some publications: "ICOM-México. Semblanza retrospectiva" (History of ICOM-México) (cowriter), "Exhibir para educar. Objetos, colecciones y museos de México 1790-1910" (History of the museums of Mexico City from 1790 to 1910), "Entre gabinetes y museos. Remembranza del espacio universitario" (History of the university museums), "El Museo Escolar como práctica educativa: de las "Lecciones de cosas" a las ideas de Patrimonio. Reflexiones para el siglo XXI" (History of the school museums, patrimony and reflections for the 21st Century), "Colecciones y Museos Universitarios de Ciencia en México, Trayectorias y retos"(Collections and museums of science in Mexico, development and challenges). Nowadays she is working on museology, patrimonology and different uses of our heritage, and is the chair of UMAC Mexico.
Diana Gasparon, Belgium
Diana Gasparon was Deputy Director of the Museum of Medicine at the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles. She is now coordinating (with Nathalie Nyst) the Network of Museums at the ULB. Her background is in Management and History of Medicine.
Nathalie Nyst, Belgium
Nathalie Nyst is coordinating (with Diana Gasparon) the Network of Museums at the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles). She is responsible for an MA in Cultural Management at the University. Her background is in the History of Art and Archaeology.
Andrew Simpson, Australia
Andrew Simpson is a museum professional with a PhD in Palaeontology. He is interested in issues related to the public understanding of science and the interplay between science and art. He develops museum exhibitions and devises museum based education programs for a range of audiences through Macquarie University*s Earth Science and Biological Science Museums. He has published extensively in scientific, educational and museum journals. He is currently Chair of the Council of Australian University Museums and Collections (CAUMAC) and a member of the National Council of Museums Australia. He was involved in the development of an undergraduate and postgraduate Museum Studies program at Macquarie University and in 2007 was appointed Director, Museum Studies.