MEG News

Appeal to Longstanding Members: JME Digitisation

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 18 May 2010 09:07:13 +0000

The Committee is excited to announce that we have recently entered into an agreement with JSTOR to digitise all past issues of the Journal of Museum Ethnography, the early MEG Newsletter which preceded this as well as MEG's Occasional Papers. What this means for you is that you will soon be able to have digital access to all these back issues through the MEG website. What this also means is that you may be able to free up some space on your bookshelves. In order to be able to complete this digitisation, MEG are looking for copies of: JME 4, any copies of the original newsletters as well as copies of the occasional papers. We would be very happy to reimburse any costs involved in sending these to us. If you have old copies of MEG publication that you would consider contributing to the digitisation process, please contact Chris Wingfield: web@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk

Museums and Restitution conference

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:54:29 +0000

Museums and Restitution International conference 8-9th July 2010, the Manchester Museum, University of Manchester http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/museology/museumsandrestitution/ Museums and Restitution is a two-day international conference organised by the Centre for Museology and The Manchester Museum at the University of Manchester. The conference examines the issue of restitution in relation to the changing role and authority of the museum, focussing on new ways in which these institutions are addressing the subject. The conference will bring together museum professionals and academics from a wide range of fields (including museology, archaeology, anthropology, art history and cultural policy) to share ideas on contemporary approaches to restitution from the viewpoint of museums. *Places are limited; book early to avoid disappointment!*

Gift Aid Forms

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:32:24 +0000

Those of you who attended this years conference will recall the committees plea for members to fill in gift aid forms. HM Revenue and Customs confirmed that we can claim for 4 years retrospectively, so that would be anything from March 31st 2006 onwards. The minimum claimable is 20% of fees paid, which works out at 25p for every £1 however it is variable based on the tax rates of those paying the fees. I would encourage all members who currently pay tax to fill in the gift aid form and return to Alison Clark Centre for Anthropology The British Museum Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG It is proposed that these funds be invested in improving the MEG website, to improve its design, capacity for advertising and taking membership payments and payments for future conferences. The form can be found by going to: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/appendix_b1.pdf It was also attached in the current newsletter and will be going out with the journals. Thank you for your support!

Marketing and Publicity Project: MLA Grant

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:33:43 +0000

It was formally announced at the recent AGM, that MEG has been successful in our application to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) for further Subject Specialist Network funding. The MLA has recently recognised Museum Ethnography as a 'key subject area'. MEG will be spending this on a marketing and publicity project, which will be aimed at giving MEG a new logo, publicity materials and ultimately website. We are hoping to be able to relaunch at the 2011 Conference in London. For more information about the project, please see the Invitation to Tender that has been circulated to those we hope will bid for the work: http://www.museumethnographersgroup.org.uk/?p=news&n_id=102

Workshop: TRACES: Thinking Objects Through Remains

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:45:31 +0000

The Department of Anthropology at UCL/Material Culture and the Centre for Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies will host a one-day workshop on the theme of TRACES: Thinking Objects Through Remains that will be hosted by the Department of Anthropology at UCL (Daryll Forde seminar room), on 04 June 2010. For further details, please visit: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/conferences/index.htm

Museum project manager job vacancy at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:15:06 +0000

For more details see: http://www.museumjobs.com/jobdetails.php?JobID=6163 CLOSING DATE 3rd MAY P/T Project Manager £32,800 - £35,430 pro-rata 22.5 hours per week, Brighton Were looking for an experienced project manager to deliver an exciting high-profile new gallery to coincide with the 2012 Games. Youll be part of the team redeveloping the World Art Gallery at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, part-funded by Renaissance and one of just 14 UK partners in the Stories of the World Cultural Olympiad strand. This is an innovative, audience-led project, involving working with young people to inform all stages of the gallerys development. Required Skills: Experience of museum display projects and managing complex assignments involving multi-disciplinary teams in a museum context will be essential, combined with a commitment to developing access to the collections and engaging new audiences. Application Instructions: CLOSING DATE 3rd MAY Apply online now at: jobs.brighton-hove.gov.uk T 01273 292284 (24-hour answerphone) Please quote reference CUS0023. Closing date: 3rd May 2010. Interview date: 10th May 2010. We do not accept CVs as part of our recruitment process. This job is subject to pay and grading review.

World Cultures Partnership with the British Museum

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:10:18 +0000

The British Museum's Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas has begun to work with curatorial staff at Museums Sheffield, Leeds Museums and Galleries, and TWAM Great North Museum on ways in which to further enhance use of their world collections. We would like MEG to be a key contact as we progress, and hope to engage the group through a possible discussion meeting at the BM later in the year. Contact staff: Natasha McKinney: nmckinney@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Devorah Romanek: dromanek@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk'

MEG Marketing and Publicity Project: Invitation to Tender

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:11:28 +0000

MEG has been awarded a grant by the MLA to carry out a marketing and publicity project. We are actively inviting tenders for this work. Please see the Invitation to Tender in the Publications section of the site under Publications: http://www.museumethnographersgroup.org.uk/?p=cms&pid=2

2010 Conference 'Making Things'

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:03:07 +0000

Monday 12 April - Tuesday 13 April Museum of English Rural Life , University of Reading 'Making Things' From technological interpretations through to gallery-based artistic interventions, museum ethnographers have long grappled with issues of creativity and with the physical techniques and social forces that underpin the making of our material worlds. However, in recent years other topicscollecting processes, disciplinary histories, and questions of materialityhave come to the fore, often at the expense of pragmatic and material-centred relationships between people and things. This conference seeks to re-engage with the practical elements of the profession. Registration is 9-9.45am at the Museum of English Rural Life Dinner is at 7.30pm at RISC Global Cafe, London Street, Reading Directions to Museum of English Rural Life: For drivers the postcode is:RG1 5EX The closest station is Reading. The Museum is a 15 to 20 minute walk from Reading station, or a 5-10 min taxi ride (around £6). Buses from the train station: Services 20 and 21 These services run every 20 minutes. Get off at the first stop at the bottom of Kendrick Road. Walk a short way up the hill and cut through the footpath to the left of Abbey School. At the end of the path the Museum is on your right hand side. Services 9 and 144 The number 9 runs every twenty minutes. The 144 is hourly. The bus stops in Craven Road next to the Hospital. Walk down to London Road and left past the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Turn left in to Redlands Road and the Museum is located a short way up on the right hand side immediately past Acacias Road.

Melanesia Project Conference - June 2010

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:43:58 +0000

Art and Encounter The contemporary significance of museum collections from Melanesia Evening lecture and conference at University College London Monday 28 June 2010 Lecture by Ralph Regenvanu and reception (5.30pm8.00pm) Tuesday 29 June 2010 Full-day conference (10.00am5.00pm) Location: University College London, Anthropology Department. What is the significance of museum collections of Melanesian material to Melanesians today? What history, what narratives, what relationships do collected objects evoke or create for contemporary communities? This conference will address crucial issues in the anthropology of engagement and in the evocation and creation of historical transformations. Drawing on the results of a five-year research programme at the British Museum and Cambridge University, developed in collaboration with a number of Melanesian colleagues, this conference will explore the different kinds of exchanges, both intellectual and material, that are possible around collected objects today. Peter Kinjap from Mondika Village, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea and Sarah Byrne. Photo: Melanesia Project, April 2007 Cost - £20 (£10 for students or concessions) includes registration, drinks, lunch, tea & coffee. To register for the evening lecture and/or conference, please contact Polly Bence on 0207 323 8578 or pbence@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Please RSVP by 9th April 2010.

UNESCO CONVENTIONS FOR NON-LAWYERS

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:44:31 +0000

We have been working for some years to familiarise cultural professionals who are not lawyers with the contents and impact of UNESCO conventions and policies on the protection of heritage. There will be a one-week professional development course on the international legal standards and practices for heritage protection at the University of Queensland from 13-17 July 2010. Earlier courses at ANU and UQ have included anthropologists, archaeologists, an economist, journalists, a conservation expert, public servants working in the heritage area, a textile expert and other creative artists as well as museums staff. The course is designed to be accessible across a wide range of professional skills and the interchange and different perspectives of the students is one of its strengths. We have also had students from Hong Kong, Italy, Japan,Thailand, United States and Viet Nam. If you are interested please consult the webpage http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=114407&pid=37084 Lyndel V Prott and Patrick O'Keefe Former Director International legal consultant Cultural Heritage Division Cultural Heritage Law and Management UNESCO

CfP: The Circulation of Museum Objects

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:27:40 +0000

American Anthropological Association Meeting, New Orleans, November 17th- 21st, 2010 Panel organizer: Chris Wingfield, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford / University of Birmingham - chris.wingfield(at)prm.ox.ac.uk Deadline for title and abstract: Friday 19th March. When things become museum objects, they can appear to be removed from the world of normal circulation. The process of collecting ethnographic objects has been described in terms of detachment and excision (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998). Storage technologies in museums such as locked doors, alarm systems and glass cases all serve to restrict the movement of museum objects. Museum labeling and documentation can attempt to define museum objects as an immoveable and fixed part of a particular museums collection. Nevertheless many museum objects continue to circulate within and between museums through exchanges and loans. Particularly charismatic objects can be regular travelers between exhibitions staged in different world cities. In some ways it may be more sensible to think of museum objects as forming part of a particular sphere of exchange (Douglas and Isherwood 1979), rather than as being removed from circulation altogether. When museums are closed down, their collections may be transferred to other museum institutions, but can also be sold and returned to other arenas of circulation through the market. Repatriation has also seen museum objects enter new spheres of exchange in recent years. As well as the circulation of the material objects themselves, museum objects circulate through indexical forms (Gell 1998). Casts and physical replicas of particularly iconic objects can form part of the way in which they circulate. Other indexes include photographs and drawings in museum publications, as well as scale models that may be sold in museum gift shops. For some museum objects, there is a relationship between their relative immovability and the number of indexes that circulate in the world. This panel will seek to understand museums as institutions which on the one hand restrict and block the circulation of their objects, but on the other, channel their circulation in particular directions, and through particular spheres. By bringing some of the resources of anthropological exchange theory to the analysis of museums and their objects, it is hoped that museums may be understood in relation to the networks in which they operate, rather than as isolated monolithic institutions. In emulation of recent work on the anthropology of colonial archives, it is suggested that focusing on the circulation of museum objects may be a step towards an anthropology of museums that operates along the grain (Stoler 2009). References Douglas, Mary, and Baron C. Isherwood (1979) The world of goods : towards an anthropology of consumption. Allen Lane, London. Gell, Alfred (1998) Art and agency : an anthropological theory. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara (1998) Destination culture : tourism, museums, and heritage. University of California Press, Berkeley ; London. Stoler, Ann Laura (2009) Along the archival grain : epistemic anxieties and colonial common sense. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford.

THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE - Appointment of Director

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:23:30 +0000

THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE Appointment of Director The Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) seeks to appoint a Director to succeed Hilary Callan, from 1 October 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter. This is an exciting opportunity for an appointee to build on the RAIs established record of furthering and promoting anthropology in its broadest and most inclusive sense. Applicants should have demonstrable administrative, management and financial skills, be experienced in working in an organisational setting with a staff and committees, and with a variety of stakeholders, including universities, NGOs, museums, the media and the general public. All candidates should have some level of anthropological background and training. The salary is likely to be comparable to that of Senior Lecturer/Reader in a UK university context, subject to the experience and qualifications of the successful candidate. Further particulars for the post can be found here http://www.therai.org.uk/jobs-and-opportunities/appointment-of-director/. Annual Reports and information on the range of RAI activities, can be found on the RAI website: http://www.therai.org.uk/. Copies of the Further Particulars can also be sent on request (The Office Manager, RAI, 50 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 5BT, UK; Email: admin@therai.org.uk; telephone: +44 (0)20 7387 0455; Fax: +44 (0)20 7388 8817). Applications for position of Director should include a full CV, a covering letter, and the names and contact details of three referees. Informal inquiries about the post can be made to the RAI President, Professor Roy Ellen (R.F.Ellen@kent.ac.uk). Closing date for the receipt of applications is 20 April 2010. Interviews to be held during the first week in June 2010.

Latest from the RAI - Meaning of Water photo contest

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:04:16 +0000

Dear colleagues and friends, The RAI will be again running screenings and and events during the 2010 ESRC Festival of Social Science week in March, this year on the 'The Meaning of Water' and 'Water Cultures' on film (programme to follow soon). This time we invite you to get creative, too and to participate in our RAI 'The Meaning of Water' Photo Contest (see below)! Please share the invitation with interested students and colleagues around your end. (We have hard copies, too. If you like to display some, please send me an email). Thanks and best Susanne Hammacher RAI Film Officer The Royal Anthropological Institute's Education Outreach Programme invites you to submit your photos to it's 'Meaning of Water' Photo Contest. The contest is looking for photos that explore human relationships with water in the context of the following themes: 1) Livelihoods and Sustainability 2) Trade and Transport 3) Management and Access 4) Religion and Spirituality The competition is open to secondary school students, undergraduate and postgraduate anthropology students and anyone with a passion for anthropology and photography, excluding professional photographers. Deadline for submissions: 15 March 2010 For a list of prizes, submission and regulation guidelines visit: www.discoveranthropology.org.uk http://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/ We look forward to receiving your photos! Nafisa Fera Education Officer ------------------------------------- Royal Anthropological Institute 50 Fitzroy St. London W1T-5BT Tel: +44 (0) 20 7387 0455 Fax: +44 (0) 207388 8817 education@therai.org.uk

Japanese Sashiko Textiles at Plymouth

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:37:53 +0000

Major 'Japanese Sashiko Textiles' exhibition to travel to Plymouth this summer The first major British exhibition of Japanese Sashiko Textiles will go on display at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 31 July 2010. The show, which was launched at York Art Gallery in October 2009, presents traditional and contemporary textiles and garments, designed to decorate and protect the wearer both physically and spiritually. Entitled 'Japanese Sashiko Textiles', the exhibition presents a sense of time and place in which these works were created. The exhibition has been selected by textile artist Michele Walker whose research has been facilitated by a three year Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Fellowship. It is supported by the Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation, the Arts Council Yorkshire and Renaissance Yorkshire. Michele says: 'The objects have been chosen for the stories they tell. My research has taken place at a critical time when the last generation of (now elderly) makers is rapidly drawing to a close together with their traditional way of life and the disappearance of the natural landscape to which they belong.' The exhibition investigates two major aspects of Japanese sashiko. The first looks at the lives of women who made and wore sashiko. Until the mid twentieth century it was the traditional method of making work wear in fishing and farming areas throughout Japan. The makers were the cornerstones of communities but their lives passed unrecorded. The historical work in this exhibition dating from the nineteenth to mid twentieth century documents these women's achievements, perseverance and hardships. The second aspect focuses on the fact that the physical protection of sashiko garments was reinforced by the spiritual protection thought to be associated with the stitched patterns. Sometimes these 'talisman' took the form of small stitched symbols hidden on the inside of the garment, so as to protect vulnerable parts of the body, for example the neck and back. Or they may take on a more flamboyant character, as seen on the inside of fireman's garments that picture heroic images applied using tsutsugaki (freehand resist-dyed technique.) In total around 75 -100 garments and related objects, including videos and significant works from Japanese photographer, IWAYIMA Takeji (1920-1989) are featured in the exhibition. Most of the exhibits are being shown in the UK for the first time. Lenders include The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, The Aikawa and Ogi Folk Museums, Sado Island, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Fukuoka City Museum and private collectors. Alongside the historical items are examples of more recent work inspired by sashiko. NUNO Corporation creates innovative textiles that combine traditional aesthetics with the latest technologies. Textile artist TOKUNAGA Miyoko hand stitches one-off fashion garments. She combines sashiko and sakiori techniques and has produced a special collection for this exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AJ from 31 July to 25 September. Opening hours will be 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays and Bank Holiday Mondays. Admission is free. The show will be backed by an extensive events and activities programme. Details will shortly be confirmed and will be made available at www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk. Telephone enquiries can be made to 01752 304774. The Museum is hoping to hold a Symposium on Saturday 18 September. Speakers and the programme for the day are currently being finalised. If you would like to receive details when they become available please send your contact information in an email to museum@plymouth.gov.uk marked FAO: Marketing and Audience Development.

North American Exhibition and Symposium at British Museum

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:36:04 +0000

Free exhibition Warriors of the Plains: 200 years of Native North American honour and ritual Until 5 April 2010 A rare opportunity to explore the fascinating world of Native North American warfare and ritual. This exhibition focuses on the material culture of Native North American Indians of the Plains between 1800 and the present, and the importance of the objects in a social and ceremonial context. It will also be supported by a programme of free gallery talks and the symposium Related symposium Scalps, headhunting and sacrifice: war and warfare in indigenous Americas Sunday 21 February, 11.00 - 17.00 Sackler Rooms Free, booking advised Curators and researchers examine case studies of practices such as scalping, human sacrifice and headhunting expressed by the material culture of indigenous American peoples. For more information visit www.britishmuseum.org

Job advert - freelance ethnographer

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:50:12 +0000

SCARBOROUGH MUSEUMS TRUST Here be Dragons Project Scarborough Museums Trusts offering for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad is a project entitled Here be Dragons one of seven Yorkshire museums projects that sit under the banner of Precious Cargoes. Key elements of the project are: 500 charms and fetishes from all over the world collected in the early 20th century by a local naturalist and historian John Clarke. Working with a specially selected group of young people called Cultiv8 on the context and content of the charm collection to inform the and design of an exhibition to be held at Scarborough Art Gallery in the summer of 2012. Working with the Curator of Exhibitions and two collaborative localinstallation artists who will create artworks in response to the charm collection and the human stories the charms symbolise. Scarborough Museums Trust requires an experienced ethnographer to: Research the charm collection to provide context and to explore the wider human stories that the charms represent such as control of the elements, preservation from harm, control of the body and common/complementary cross cultural belief systems. Lead a minimum of two discussion/activity sessions with the Cultiv8 group, provide one talk for the wider community and attend at least two meetings with the artists. Provide Scarborough Museums Trust with a database of information about the charm collection in a format to be agreed with the Head of Collections. Identify the conservation requirements of the charm collection and liaise with conservator. Financial Information This project is funded by grant aid with a total of £7000 to cover the cost of ethnographic support, £1500 in 2009-10, £4000 in 2010-11 and £1500 in 2011-12. Due to the time of year to avoid losing the first £1500 applicants must be able to start work on the project immediately. Timetable February - March 2010 initial assessment of the collection, data transfer to MODES XML, progress meetings with Head of Collections and agreed milestones for 2010-11 April 2010 March 2011 research collection including any necessary research related visits to other institutions, meetings with artists and Cultiv8, progress meetings with Head of Collections, source appropriate conservation services for the collection and work with conservator. April 2011 March 2012 progress meetings with Head of Collections, meeting with artists and exhibition designers, deliver public lecture, complete research report on collection. Tender process Tenders must be made by email to Karen.snowden@smtrust.uk.com no later than 5.00 pm on Friday 22 January 2010. Tender documents must include a brief CV (no more than one sheet of A4) giving details of any work with young adults, names and addresses of two references one of which must be a previous employer, a financial breakdown of the programme including an estimate of the time required to complete each phase of the programme with costs and estimated expenditure on travel and subsistence and a short written response to one of the charms which can be seen on our website at www.scarboroughmuseumstrust.org.uk. Other information Further information about Scarborough Museums Trust can be found on our website at www.scarboroughmuseumstrust.org.uk If you encounter any technical problems when making your application please contact Angela Doherty at angela.doherty@smtrust.uk.com or call 01723 384503. For more information about the Precious Cargoes project and the Cultural Olympiad visit www.london2012.com/stories-of-the-world for more information about the Here be Dragons project or the charm collection contact Karen.snowden@smtrust.uk.com or call on 01723 304506.

Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums - Project Co-ordinator (Stories of the World)

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:49:19 +0000

For further information please go to: YOUR LINK TITLE

University of Bristol / MEG Essay Prize

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:07:13 +0000

In early April 2009 MEG held the annual conference at the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at Bristol University. In recognition of the kindness of the department in hosting the meeting, the MEG committee agreed to make a small ex-gratia payment to them. The Bristol department in turn decided to award part of this small sum to the student whose essay that year had most closely reflected an interest in material culture. Her name is Emily Milsam and the topic of her dissertation was carnival cultures in Somerset, a most appropriate topic for a group whose 2008 conference had the theme of 'Ethnography at home' and one that points forward to the venue of our 2010 conference, the Museum of English Rural Life at Reading. A copy of her dissertation can be found on the 'Publications' - 'Other Publications' page of this web site.

Job Advert - NMS Senior Curator

admin@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk (Museum Ethnographers Group) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:42:30 +0000

The National Museums Scotland has recently advertised the following post of Senior Curator. Closing date for completed applications is 04/01/2010. http://vacancies.nms.ac.uk/nms/vacancies/viewjobsumm.asp?recordid=16843038&internal=&bounty=&f14id=