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2. PEACE IS NEVER NEUTRAL: THE PARTICULAR RESPONSIBILITY OF MUSEUMS OF ETHNOGRAPHY FOR PROMOTING PEACE AND RECONCILIATION




Are museums the "common ground" of humanity?
http://icme.icom.museum/, and in the International Journal of Intangible Heritage. Editor)

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3. COMPARING TWO MINORITY-RECRUITMENT PROGRAMMES




There are two distinct aims for this work: one is about inclusion in the museum sector, the other is to strengthen the diversity in society as a whole. The project aims at diversifying the workforce in Norwegian museums by capturing the competence of individuals with a background from immigrant, refugee, national minority and indigenous groups in various museum professions. The project also aims to create openings for interested individuals to build their competence as professionals within the museums sector. We see this as one possible approach to combat social inequality, and in this way the museums involved are actively working towards a better and more inclusive society. By October 2009, 7 people have participated in project and 5 institutions. The programme is launched by the National Network: Diversity in the museums (Mangfoldsmuseene)






Brief comparison of the two projects


In NMAI the program is organized as job-positions where the participants get paid normal wages, this will be a great advantage when we may go through with a similar system in Norway. To emphasize the value of the human connection and be aware of the important role the museum may play in giving opportunities for interested people to develop their skills and become role models is also an interesting area to develop further.

The ICME 2009 Seoul conference provided inspiration on many levels of museums work, and maybe we will be able to arrange international seminars; sharing our experiences and exchange ideas in the field of recruiting people with special
minority competence, in the future.

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4. 3 DAY POST-CONFERENCE TOUR IN EASTERN SOUTH KOREA


By Galia Gavish and Chavi Feingold

We would like to thank the organizers of the conference and the tour in South Korea. The organization and promptness were excellent. We were very impressed with the singing, music, dance and martial arts shows that exposed us to such a
rich culture.

The culture of design and costume is very rich and colorful. We were especially impressed with the museum design: toned down design in calming colors that enhanced the colorful objects; the art of lighting that lit-up objects with meticulous details - lone objects in small glass cabinets are lit with optic fibers directed on their most interesting part. We are grateful for the opportunity to see and taste the unique, varied Korean culture.

Andong, Thursday 22.10.2009

We traveled in three buses on multi-laned highways. We passed over modernistic bridges over wide rivers, among early autumn-colored forested hills. The trees had just started changing color. In between the trees one could now and then see villages with turquoise and bold green roofs, with tended fields and orchards around them. Every now and then we saw hollows with small mounds. I asked Prof. Choi, the archaeologist who is in charge of museums in the Korean Ministry of Culture, and native to the area, about them and he explained they were the villagers' graves. Prof. Choi









concubine of Yangban and Sonbi.

In the beginning of the dance each character was introduced, in dancing. Later they danced in pairs and as a group, each one with its typical characteristics. After the dance we were invited to form a circle and learn the various steps.
Some of the delegates put on a mask and tried to dance the character's role. 

We toured the village and saw the traditional houses, for the rich and for the poor. The houses are built from local stone and have tilted tiled roofs, pagoda-like. The houses of the poor have thatched roofs. In front of the houses there are carved wooden screens and gates with the name of the owner written in black Chinese letters. Each house has a garden with flowers and herbs, some planted in pots. Around the houses there are stone and dirt walls, with tiles along the top. Some walls have deep niches where the rich put money for the poor traveler, because tradition says one must not let anyone go hungry. Everybody had to give a third of their profits to the community, so no one would go hungry. Work is a very important fact of life. A young bride wore only cotton clothes for three years, during which she did chores around the house. Only then was she allowed to wear silk. At the center of the village we saw the Wishing tree. Wishes are written on slips of paper and tied on to a string fence around the tree. Very similar to wishing trees in Muslim and Jewish folk traditions.  The village was named a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.

For dinner that night, at the city of Daegu, we were hosted by the Deputy Cultural Director of the province.

Friday, 23.10.2009

We began the day's tour in Gyodong, Gyeongju, Prof.'s Choi's home village. His family has been living here for many generations. We tasted Gyeongju Gyodongbeopju, a liquor brewed from rice, which is considered an important World Intangible Cultural Property. After drinking some of the sweet liquor we drove to Daereungwon, the site of many royal tombs. The tombs are mounds covered with grass, some seven meters high. Only one is open to the public, Cheonmachong. In it were found amazing objects, many from gold. The originals are at the National Museum in Seoul. In this tomb one can see how the body was laid out in a wooden box, with all the objects needed for a good "life". All this was covered in stones. Over the centuries, the stones were removed, taken as building material. Not far from the existing mound we saw an archaeological dig of uncovered mounds.

After a traditional lunch in a small restaurant, which is itself a museum of anything, modern or old, found in the area, Gyeongju National Museum was our next stop. It is a well-planned, beautiful museum. It has three wings: the Archaeology Hall, the Art Hall and the Anapji Hall. Among the many outstanding objects are many statues of Buddha and his retinue. One is a big Buddha head found by villagers after a mud-slide.

Anapji Pond was our next stop. This was part of a royal palace. In the pond more than 30,000 objects were found, probably thrown in for ceremonial or religious reasons. There was also a big fire there and little remains. The place is a large garden now, and there is a large-scale model reconstruction of the palace, based on small parts of wood and tiles found in the water. From there we went to see the three stories that remain of the Ten-storied Stone Pagoda. The pagoda was harmed during the Mongolian invasion of Korea. Dinner that night was hosted by the mayor, with traditional dance and music performances. Speeches and thanks were given to all the organizes and helpers, who made our stay, at the conference and on the tour, so fantastic.

Saturday 24.10.2009

In the morning we drove up to the mountains. When Buddhism was forbidden, the monks fled to the mountains and many temples, large and small were built.

One of those is the Seokguram Grotto, on Mt. Tohmsan. This is a man-made cave, carved in the granite stone, overlooking mountain ranges all the way to the sea. There are many statues of Bodhisattvas and other deities in the cave, but the main one is a stone statue of Buddha himself, looking over to the East Sea. During the time of the Japanese rule alterations were made. In order to strengthen the cave they took it apart and used concrete, then put it back together, not quite in the right order. A well, at the bottom of the grotto, was blocked. The concrete caused condensation and the water had no place to go. Now there are hidden supports, air-conditioning and it is closed to tourists by a glass wall (believers may enter to pray).

Bulguksa Temple is one of the largest temples in the mountains. It is a large compound with many small temples and study halls, pagodas and shrines. The main building of the National Folk Museum in Seoul is an exact copy of the main temple. The entrance gate to the whole area is called the Gate to Heaven. Many families with children were there (a school holiday) and some children were building small pagodas around a tree and making a wish. Lunch was a personal Bibimbap dinner, a bowl of rice with six or seven different sliced vegetables and a hot sauce.

On the way back to Seoul we stopped in Inchen, for a traditional dinner, the last one together. Inchen is known for its pottery artists, and we went to see one of the work shops.

We would like to express our thanks, one last time, to ICME Korea, to the people of the National Folk Museum in Seoul and to all those who made our visit such a huge success.

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5. THE CHALLENGING MUSEUM/CHALLENGING THE MUSEUM - NEW ICME WORKGROUP



(p.b.rekdal@khm.uio.no).

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6. CHINA TRAVEL GRANT DEADLINES


Information and applications for travel grants to the 22nd General Conference of ICOM to be held in Shanghai, November 7-10, 2010. Information can be found at the following website: http://icom.museum/general-conference2010.html

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7. ANNOUNCEMENTS


On October 31, 2009, 59 cultural heritage leaders from 32 countries, including representatives of Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia, unanimously passed the Salzburg Declaration on the Conservation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage. http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=921579023&u=20065169&v=2&ke\y=f258&url=http://www.imls.gov/pdf/Salzburg_Declaration%2520.pdf
The declaration was the culmination of Connecting to the World's Collections: Making the Case for Conservation and Preservation of our Cultural Heritage, the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) held October 28-November 1, 2009 under the auspices of the U.S. federal Institute of Museum and Library Services and SGS.
http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/refer.php?s=921579023&u=20065171&v=2&ke\y=93b8&url=http://www.imls.gov
The declaration will be widely distributed to cultural ministries and other policymaking entities; it has already been translated into Arabic.

 From Marcy Brink-Danan (co-convener, CAJJ) on behalf of Erica Lehrer:
In the spirit of the "shout outs" for Jewish-themed presentations at AAA, I thought I might mention that my contribution to the associated exhibition "Ethnographic Terminalia" is on a Jewish theme (It's called: "Jewish? Heritage? In Poland?). The reception is, alas, on Friday eve from 7:30 - 10 p.m., but the gallery's open all week for viewing. The AAA website has info for anyone interested in visiting the show:
http://blog.aaanet.org/2009/11/16/philadelphia-exhibit-ethnographic-terminalia/ 
A virtual museum of European Roots has been launched on the web:
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/virtual-museum-of-the-european-roots-laun\ched-on-the-internet.html

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8. CALL FOR PAPERS



http://www.museumethnographersgroup.org.uk/?p=news&n_id=82


April 20-21 2010, 'Journeys of Expression VIII: Celebrating through times of crisis: prospects and potentials for tourism, festivals and cultural events'. Copenhagen. Denmark.
http://www.tourism-culture.com/pop_up/forthcoming_conferences.html?PAGE=2


April 20-23 2010, Arab Popular Culture Conference. Beirut, Lebanon.
http://www.lau.edu.lb/academics/centers-institutes/imtr/arab_popular_culture.ph\p


June 2-4 2010, 'World Heritage and Tourism: Managing for the global and the local', Quebec City, Canada. http://www.fsa.ulaval.ca/tourisme (French) or http://english.fsa.ulaval.ca/sgc/faculty/quebec2010 (English).


http://www.heritage2010.greenlines-institute.org/


http://onmuseums.com/conference-2010/ 


August 24-27 2010, 'The 6th International Conference on Cultural Policy
https://www.jyu.fi/en/congress/iccpr2010


September 3-6 2010, International Conference in Landscape Ecology, Brno and Prague, Czech Republic http://icle2010.dnh.cz/en/welcome


September 5-8 2010, 'Global Change Economic Crisis in Tourism', IGU Conference. Stellenbosch, South Africa.
http://www0.sun.ac.za/gcect


September 10-12 2010, 'Tourism and Seductions of Difference', 1st Tourism-Contact-Culture Research Network Conference. Lisbon, Portugal. http://www.cria.org.pt/ and http://www.tourism-culture.com/


November 3-5 2010, 'Mass tourism vs niche tourism', ATLAS annual conference 2010. Limassol, Cyprus.
http://www.atlas-euro.org

 

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9. CONFERENCES


February 13-15, Fourth International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA. designprinciplesandpractices.com/Conference-2010/


February 24-26. 'Mapping, Memory and the City', an international interdisciplinary conference. University of Liverpool, UK.
http://www.liv.ac.uk/lsa/cityinfilm/mappingmemory/


February 25-27 2010, 'Contemporary Issues: Literature and Culture since 1980', 10th International MELUS-MELOW Conference. Chandigarh, India. http://melusmelow.org/ 


February 26-28 2010. 2010 International Conference on Humanities, Historical and Social Science. Singapore.
http://www.iacsit.org/chhss/cfp.htm


February 27-28 2010, 'Ensemble: Making Music Together', Annual Conference, International Council on Traditional Music: Ireland. University of Limerick, Ireland. http://www.music.ucc.ie/ictm/images/uploads/Call_For_Papers.pdf

March 13-14 2010, '(En)countering Globalizations: Religion in the Contemporary World', Asia Association for Global Studies (AAGS) 2010 Conference. National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan http://asia-globalstudies.org/call_for_papers_2010


March 22-24 2010, 'Articulation(s)', 2010 ASCA International Workshop. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
http://www.conferencealerts.com/seeconf.mv?q=ca1mmiam


March 26-27 2010, 'Making Senses of the Past: Toward a Sensory Archaeology', 27th Annual Visitin Scholar Conference. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA. http://www.cai.siuc.edu/vspages/day/vsconf.html


April 1-4, Professor Olu Obafemi International Conference on African literature and Theatre. University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=170289


April 14-16, 'Transforming Culture in the Digital Age'. Tartu, Estonia. http://transformingculture.eu/


July 8-9 2010, 'Museums and Restitution', University of Manchester. http://www.manchester.ac.uk/museumsandrestitution/

 

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10. WORDS FROM THE EDITOR



We also will have photos from the conference available on the website very soon!


In ICME News 54 I somewhat prematurely promised that the next, this!, version of the newsletter would be distributed in a more stylish pdf-format. As you see, this is not the case. Changes will happen with the next newsletter, though. Some of you might have noticed that the design of the ICME website has been changed. We felt that it was about time to give the website a facelift that will also allow a more flexible administration of the website. In the future the newsletter will only appear on the website. A notice with a link to the website will still be distributed through this mailing list, though.

For the next issue of ICME News we would like to focus on collections and new approaches to dealing with collecting and collections. We will have an article on the highly interesting new Wikimedia-project, but I would also like to invite articles and comments on collections more generally.

Deadline for the next ICME News letter is February 5. Please send news and contributions to editor@icme.icom.museum


Peter Bjerregaard

Dept. of Anthropology and Ethnography
University of Aarhus


Denmark

Phone: +45 89424642
Fax: +45 89424655

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