The Passing On of The Former Director General of Department of Museums Malaysia

Former Director General of the Department of Museums Malaysia, Dato’ Dr Adi Taha, 60, died after a long battle from cancer at his house in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur on 4  February 2012.  Born on Aug 3, 1951 in Kodiang, Kedah, Dr Adi leaves wife, Wan Aminah Wan Yusof and six children.

Dato’ Dr Adi joined the museum as a curator of archaeology in 1975 after graduating from the National University Malaysia with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology.  In 1981, he enrolled at the Australian National University, Canberra, for his Masters and later obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the same university in 2001.

During his tenure with the Department of Museums Malaysia, Dato’Dr Adi had held several positions before culminating in the position of Director General in 2002, a position he held until his mandatory retirement in 2007. Dato’ Dr Adi had pioneered museum work and research on prehistoric human artifacts, the Bujang Valley civilisation and the establishment of new museums in Malaysia and several block buster exhibitions.

He was also very enthusiastic on international collaboration and the department of museums was involved in several ASEMUS projects during his tenure as the Director General. Dato’ Dr Adi was very supportive for the establishment of the Museum Volunteers programme at Muzium Negara in 2006, which eventually led to the official launch of 25 volunteers on 19 April 2007.

During his tenure with the museum department, Dato’ Dr Adi had attended many ICOM general conferences and assemblies, presented papers at international seminars and workshops abroad and locally, the last being the Shanghai ICOM2010.  Among his social and professional involvement were; Vice President of the Association of Malaysian Archaeologists (1997), President of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association (2002-2004), President of the Museums Association of Malaysia (2002-2009) and President of ICOM Malaysia (2002 – 2010)

Although retired from the museum, Dato’ Dr Adi’s zeal and passion for the museum did not falter. He joined the University Malaysia Kelantan as a principal fellow in the Faculty of Creative Technology & Heritage and continued to contribute to the field of museology, history and culture. His expertise on museums and history was often sought after by museum’s curators, academicians and individuals. Dato’ Dr Adi had also written several books and articles on the prehistory of Malaysia.

Malaysia will miss the eminent and affable Dato’ Dr Adi Taha, R.I.P.

Tobacco box, Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), 19th century State Ethnographical Collections of Saxony, Grassi Museum of Ethnography Leipzig collection of H. Saenger

Ten German museums with Korean collections have come together to do a travelling exhibition titled ‘Korea Rediscovered ! Treasures from German Museums’. 

A project initiated by the Korean Foundation, this exhibition features outstanding Korean artefacts from German museum collections, many of which have very seldom been put on public display. Each museum curates the same collection of objects based on their own concept. The main focus in the GRASSI Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig will be the mediation of the intellectual, social and aesthetic aspects of traditional Korean culture. Another theme in the exhibition in Leipzig will focus on the relations between Korea and Germany established in the 19^th century. Insights in the eventful history of the Peninsula of Japan will be given as well as the multifaceted contacts and cultural relationships that connected Korea with other parts of Asia.

The GRASSI Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig will be the second location after the inaugural exhibition in the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne . The exhibition will then travel to Frankfurt/Main and Stuttgart.

Amber norigae, Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), 19th century State Ethnographical Collections of Saxony, Grassi Museum of Ethnography Leipzig collection of H. Saenger, purchased in 1902

City Museums:  Collisions | Connections, CAMOC/Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada, October 24-26, 2012

CAMOC, the International Committee for the Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), in collaboration with the Museum of Vancouver, invites papers for “City Museums:  Collisions | Connections”, a conference on city museums and their engagement in city life.

The conference will be held at the Museum of Vancouver from October 24-26, 2012. CAMOC is soliciting panels, presentations (15 minutes in length), virtual exhibitions/apps, films, and other presentations about city museums.

The conference will bring people together to talk about how city museums are reconsidering their role in civic life due to the enormous pressure cities face in terms of aging infrastructure, the need for urban regeneration, economic and environmental crises, and social issues such demographic shifts, global diasporas, increasing immigrant and urban Aboriginal populations. The conference will look at city museums under development, urban/suburban city museums, and city museums in large and small cities.

For further information or to submit a proposal (300–500 words accompanied by a 200-word biography by April 15, 2012)Contact CatherineC.Cole@telus.net ; Tel: 1-780-424-2229

Funding of up to €500 may be available from CAMOC to assist one or two young (under 35) participants from developing countries. Please advise whether funding is required. Canadians may apply to the Canadian Museums Association for up to $1,200 (50% matched funding); Albertans may apply to the Alberta Museums Association for up to $5,000 (75% matched funding) to attend.

Detail of Sho-Kannon Bosatsu, Japan, 12th century

The exhibition, In the steps of the Buddha – held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, features 80 Buddhist and Hindu works of art drawn from the museum’s collection. This exhibition explores the development of Buddhist imagery across Asia. Objects displayed range from early Buddhist works created in India in the 2nd – 4th centuries CE to a contemporary Zen Buddhist ink and brush painting in the Chinese tradition.

Mon Buddha, 9th century

In the steps of the Buddha illustrates different artistic traditions associated with the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist schools. The exhibition presents a wide range of Buddhist works of art including sculptures of the Buddha, bodhisattvas and Buddhist deities in a variety of media like bronze, wood, clay and lacquer. Aside from sculptures, there are ritual items, pilgrimage souvenirs, paintings, masks and manuscript covers. These artefacts come from a variety of Asian countries like  India, Thailand, Mynmar, Laos, Vietnam, Japan, China, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.

The Princess stares wistfully at the moon

The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin with the support of The Sumitomo Foundation in Tokyo, have now commissioned Restorient to conserve one of their most treasured Japanese paintings.

Restorient is a conservation unit attached to The National Museum of Ethnology in the Netherlands.

The Sumitomo Foundation provides grants, by public subscription, involving international exchanges, culture, environment, and basic science.

This pair of hand scrolls date from the 17th century and are comprised of twenty-one lavishly decorated paintings interspersed by twenty-six calligraphic panels that tell the story.

It will be possible to follow the conservation of these magnificent hand scrolls on the Restorient blog.

We at Restorient are delighted to have the opportunity to share this remarkable project, and to offer some insights into this type of specialist conservation.

 

© Peter Sanders Photography

The Hajj or the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is the pilgrimage that every Muslim must make at least once in their lifetime if they are able. This major exhibition at the British Museum, London charts the history of this spiritual journey.

Examining the extraordinary travel logistics involved and how the wider operation of the event has changed over time, the exhibition compares how pilgrims over the centuries negotiated this journey and how the pilgrimage continues to be experienced by people from all corners of the globe today.

Haji: Journey to the Heart of Islam

‘This exhibition will enable a global audience to deepen their understanding of the significance and history of the Hajj. In particular, it will allow non-Muslims to explore the one aspect of Islamic practice and faith which they are not able to witness, but which plays such a major part in forming a worldwide Islamic consciousness.‘
Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum

Hajj certificate (detail). 17th–18th century AD. Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art (Khalili Family Trust).

Various loans have been sourced for this exhibition including significant material from Saudi Arabia like a seetanah which covers the door of the Ka’ba as well as other historic and contemporary artefacts from key museums in the Kingdom. Other objects come from major public and private collections in the United Kingdom like the British Library and the Khalili Family Trust.

These objects evoke and document the long and perilous journey associated with the Hajj, gifts offered to the sanctuary as acts of devotion and the souvenirs that are brought back. They include archaeological material, manuscripts, textiles, historic photographs and contemporary art. The Hajj has a deep emotional and spiritual significance for Muslims, and continues to inspire a wide range of personal, literary and artistic responses, many of which are explored in the exhibition.

This exhibition concludes the British Museum’s series of three exhibitions focused on spiritual journeys.

Founded in 1974, the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka (also known as Minpaku) is an Inter-University Research Institute, housing a research center and a museum. In April 2004, it became a member of the National Institutes for Humanities (NIHU). Since then, Minpaku has been promoting its own research as well as carrying out joint research with other members of the NIHU, addressing the study of human cultures.

Minpaku’s motto, “To the Ends of the Earth, To the Depths of Knowledge”.

Minpaku conducts anthropological and ethnological research and aims to promote a general understanding and awareness of peoples, societies and cultures around the world through the collection and conservation of ethnographic materials and through public exhibitions.

Collection:

Research achievements based on the ethnographical collection and information including 280,000 artefacts, 70,000 audio-visual materials and over 600,000 books, are presented through exhibitions and a variety of media to the public.

The 12th Annual Meeting of the International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC) will be held at the NUS Museum, National University of Singapore (an ASEMUS member museum) from the 10th to 12th October, 2012. This is the first time UMAC is being held in Southeast Asia.

This is a call for submission of abstracts from museum professionals, academics, researchers and students interested in participating in this conference.

The theme of the conference:

Encountering Limits: The University Museum

This conference seeks to explore the evolving tensions that inhabit the condition of ‘globalization’, as it posses new challenges to the practice of museology within the university landscape that go beyond the (still significant) problem of representation. Exploring the ‘limits’ of the ‘university museum project’ as one that involves a particular encounter with cultural phenomena in a multinational global economy of ‘education’, the conference seeks to reconsider ‘strategies’ that university museums and Galleries have adopted by drawing on the experiences of museum professionals.

Presentations

Papers may either be presentations or posters.

Duration: 15 min (+ 5 Min Q&A)

Posters

Size: A1 (594 x 841 mm, portrait format)

Online Submission of Abstracts

15 February – 1 may 2012

Receipt of submitted abstracts will be acknowledged by email.

All abstracts must be submitted  in English (max. 300 word) online from 15 February to 1 May 2012.

Include a short biography highlighting your main research interests (max. 150 words)

Successful submissions will be notified by 11 June 2012.

More details and updates on Conference and Submission Details – visit - www.nusmuseum.blogspot.com or download UMAC 2012 Flyer

Contact : umac2012 [at] nus.edu.sg

The Lithuanian Art Museum is a public institution granted the national museum status by the Government of Lithuania in 1997. Originally founded in 1933, the museum, which is an ICOM member, is one of the oldest and leading institutions of its kind in the country.

The museum is distinguished for its rich Fine Arts collection that totals to about 230,000 exhibit items which represent Old and Contemporary Master Paintings, Sculpture Prints and Drawings, Applied and Folk Art including the collection of Australian and Oceanian art, as well rare amber stone and jewellery specimens. Geographically the museum covers nearly all the territory of the Republic of Lithuania through the network of its branch museums, including Vilnius Picture Gallery, the Museum of Applied Arts, Radvila Palace, the National Art Gallery that are located in the country’s capital city Vilnius, as well the Clock Museum and Pranas Domšaitis Gallery in Klaipėda city, the Palanga Amber Museum and the Museum of Miniature Arts on the Baltic coast.

Collection size:

The total collection numbers around 230,000 items.

Collections:

The permanent expositions are on display in many branches of Lithuanian Art Museum. The total collection includes:

*Lithuanian art from the 16th to the early 20th century
*Interiors in the Classical style
*Furniture pieces of the poet and diplomat Jurgis Baltrusaitis
*Permanent exhibition of amber (history of amber formation, morphology and its global distribution. Amber objects and artworks)
*Permanent exhibition of Pranas Domšaitis works
*History of the clock structures from the ancient times till the present and development of the clock form since Renaissance till art Moderne
*Permanent exhibition of miniatures (16th century – early 20th century)
*Permanent exhibition of 20th-century Lithuanian art

In-charge of Libraries and Archives, National Museum of Denmark.

I am in charge of the libraries and archives in the National Museum of Denmark, Ethnographic Collections. I have a MA in museum ethnography and a BA in history and art history. I have been educated as a web developer and have been an officer in the Danish Territorial Army. I have formerly worked in the archives of the Danish Foreign Office, but decided to work at the National Museum of Denmark due to my interest in other cultures not least in South East Asia.

My field of interest is the collecting of objects in a colonial context, especially how Danes worked within other European colonial structures. I have photographed villages on the island of Nias and travelled in the footsteps of a Danish expedition on the Niger River in Vest Africa to be able to document Danish collectors in a colonial context.

I have several personal interests, I enjoy fencing and the distinct Danish miniature theater called Model Theater and I collect antique travel books, but mostly I like to travel. I travel to South East Asia at least once a year, but mostly to Cambodia and Laos but I enjoy visiting every country in the region.

I have been been participating in several conferences organised by ASEMUS, and find it extremely valuable to meet colleagues from Asian and European museums. The knowledge I have acquired from my Asian colleagues have been immensely significant, and my experience with ASEMUS has been second to none.

I find it very important that European and Asian museums are in a continuous dialogue, as it is obvious that museums in Asia and Europe faces many of the same challenges in the future. It is my experience that there is a specially bond between people that work in a museum, we are all caretakers of history, it is a huge responsibility we share.