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A new Observatory of University Museums

 

The Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Argentina, created an OBSERVATORY OF UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS.

The Observatory is an interdisciplinary project that encourages the reflection, analysis and innovation in the practices of the museums of the UNLP. It proposes a space for study and collective construction in order to contribute to the formulation of proposals and actions on subjects regarding the patrimony, that have an impact in social, cultural, economic and political contexts.

Objectives

  1. Promoting spaces for the dialogue, exchange and spreading of knowledge and interdisciplinary experiences.
  2. Elaborating diagnoses to encourage the knowledge and comprehension of the variety of collections and museums in the National University of La Plata.
  3. Defining criteria for the gathering and comparison of the data, concepts and methodologies related to the museology field.
  4. Defining and developing topics of investigation, parting from common interests.
  5. Producing theoretical material as a product of the investigations and data-gathering.
  6. Designing processes of professional development for the museums’ workers and the future professionals.
  7. Innovating in the field of social museology and the patrimony.

 

More information here.

Contact:

Mariana Santamaría | Museo de Física | Salas Museo de la Biblioteca Pública | UNLP

mariana@fisica.unlp.edu.ar / wassap +54 9 221 6037324

 

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Continuing partnership between Kyoto University Museum and National Cheng Kung University Museum

During the International Symposium ‘Activities of University Museums and their Significance’, organised by the University Museum Association of Kyoto, at the end of last month, Kyoto University Museum and National Cheng Kung University Museum (NCKU), Taiwan, signed their second MoU to extend cooperation for another five years. 

Naoko Iwasaki and Jeng-Horng Chen, Directors of the Kyoto University Museum and NCKU Museum, respectively, after signing the second MoU, last month in Kyoto.

NCKU Museum visited Kyoto University Museum unofficially in 2008 for the first time after its own establishment in 2007 in order to learn from the experience of Kyoto. The first MoU between Kyoto University Museum and NCKU Museum was signed in 2013. Since then, they have been cooperating in collection research, academic symposiums, and management experience exchange. A recent cooperation is a collection research by a curator from NCKU Museum to study the collection of Taiwan’s aboriginals at Kyoto University, which will be exhibited in Taipei with a special traveling exhibition of the 14 members of University Museum Association of Kyoto in December 2019.

With this renewed MoU, NCKU Museum and Kyoto University Museum will soon cooperate in the planning of a traveling exhibition to Taiwan in 2020.

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Strengthening global university museum collaboration in China

UMAC President, Marta Lourenço, recently signed two significant agreements in Shanghai, spin offs of UMAC’s partnership with the Qian Xuesen Library and Museum of Shanghai Jiao Tong University since 2016. 

The first is for the development of a university museum app for iOS and Android (pilot version). 

Marta Lourenço and Zhao Ke, director of the Electronic Science and Technology Museum (ESTM) (photo courtesy QLM-SJTU).

This is a partnership with The Electronic Science and Technology Museum (ESTM) of the University Electronic Science and Technology (UESTC) in Chengdu. This is a university museum, and the first comprehensive electronic science and technology museum in China. UMAC President Marta Lourenco says “We are committed to increasing the visibility of university museums and collections worldwide. With the ubiquity of hand held devices these days, this development will make UMAC’s world-wide database more accessible to a broader global audience.” “We believe China’s Electronic Science and Technology Museum, as a university museum are excellent partners for this enterprise. We are delighted to be working with them. It will bring data about university museums to everyone’s phone.” 

The second is the translation of Journal editions into Chinese. This is an agreement with Shanghai University Museum. UMAC has been publishing a journal since 2001. This agreement will make the University Museums and Collections Journal (UMACJ) available to a new and large sector of museum practitioners and university administrators.

Marta Lourenço and LIU Shaoxue, Director Shanghai University Museum (photo QLM-SJTU).

UMACJ Editor Andrew Simpson says “We are working towards making UMACJ the primary academic source for the emerging speciality of university museum work. This agreement will engage Chinese university museum curators and scholars in the work of UMAC”.

Read the full media release.