In this news section you will find Archival Platform announcements. You can also download Archival Platform newsletters.
Archival Platform August Newsletter
Dear Colleagues
Platform provides new opportunities for participatory democracy in arts and culture
Political analyst Richard Calland (Mail & Guardian, July 24) described the current political environment in South Africa as providing opportunities for participatory democracy that had been increasingly lacking under former president Thabo Mbeki. He pointed to a high level glasnost in politics, a new conviviality and openness under President Jacob Zuma, in spite of accountability and implementation problems in the nether regions of government. At the same time, after the 2007 ANC national conference in Polokwane, there has been a new effort, spearheaded by party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, to bring ANC policy closer to government.
What does this mean for the arts and culture sector? Arts and culture was very prominent in the anti-apartheid 1980s as a vehicle for participatory democracy, but today there is little serious debate about its role and value, apart from vague references to social cohesion and economic value. In the last 15 years, the sector has been affected by both neglect and heavy-handed interventionism, and it has suffered from poor co-ordination at a national level. There has been discontent, especially at provincial and local levels, about “service delivery” problems in museums, libraries and archives. At the same time, we have recently had a major national policy review process in the Department of Arts and Culture, we have large numbers of very dedicated and experienced people in the heritage and archives sector in the country, a strong network of institutions, and there is a new energy and excitement across the sector that can’t be ascribed simply to soccer fever.
How do we use the new political climate and our existing resources to address old problems and new challenges facing the sector? The idea behind the Archival Platform is to encourage the process of sharing ideas and information – as government officials, sector professionals, academics and the public – across the barriers of profession, geography, institutional travel allowances and telephone bills. We have already put out three newsletters since May, hosted a panel at the Southern African Historical Society conference on problems and possibilities in South African archives, enabled a number of productive connections between academics, heritage professionals, genealogists, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government, and nominated four people to the new National Archives Advisory Council.
The new website launched with this newsletter, coupled with Facebook and twitter, gives you an opportunity to benefit from this initiative, tell us what you think we should do or not do, and engage in your own brand of participatory democracy. Contact us with your news and ideas! Update your institutional information! Visit us on www.archivalplatform.org.
Best wishes
Dr. Harriet Deacon
Director, Archival Platform
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
What is the Archival Platform?
The Archival Platform is a new strategic research, networking and advocacy initiative. We aim to promote collaboration and information sharing within the broad archive sector (including archives, museums, and heritage, tangible and intangible) – enabling effective dialogue between government, academics, practitioners, and the public. Key areas of focus for the Platform in the medium term will include the economics of heritage, digitisation and use of digital tools in archives and heritage management, and heritage education.
Our networking efforts will reach out beyond South Africa, to elsewhere in Africa and other continents to expand this debate. Entries for this newsletter come from lists like SAHO, SANGONET, ICOMOS, Australia ICOMOS, UNESCO, ICOM-SA, ICOM, AFRICOM, H-NET, ICCROM, OCPA, UNESCO FORUM, the GETTY Conservation Bulletin and your contributions. Feel free to pass the newsletter on, and let me know if you don’t want to be on the list.
The Archival Platform is funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the University of Cape Town.
NEWS
Extension to AAC nominations deadline
DAC has formally announced an extension for the submission of nominations to the Archives Advisory Council until 28 August 2009. For more information and comment see our website.
Funding in the sector
Many organisations struggle to maintain funding streams in the current economic climate. The National Heritage Council held a well-attended meeting on funding in the heritage sector in early July, with funders and community heritage organisations across the country represented. We don’t have a formal report of the meeting to share yet, but the delegates raised the question of lottery funding in the sector. Read David Barnard’s blog on lottery funding for NGOs.
Repatriation of 171-year-old head to Ghana
The head of King Badu Bonsu II was discovered last year in a jar of formaldehyde gathering dust in the anatomical collection of the Leiden University Medical Centre. The Dutch government, embarrassed by its discovery, agreed to Ghanaian demands that the relic be returned. On Thursday [July 23], members of the king’s Ahanta tribe, dressed in dark robes and wearing red sashes, took part in the handover ceremony, honouring his spirit by toasting with Dutch gin and then sprinkling the drink over the floor at the Dutch Foreign Ministry. But descendants of the chief said they were not consoled. “I am hurt, angry. My grandfather has been killed,” said Joseph Jones Amoah, the great, great grandson of the chief.
Source: The Telegraph, July 24, 2009
CHDA launches website
The Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA) is an international NGO that deals with the preservation, management and promotion of cultural heritage in Africa.
Channel Africa, the Voice of the African Renaissance and the CHDA collaborated in the production of one episode of Our Heritage. To listen to the full programme, log on to www.channelafrica.org. Tune in by clicking on “Programmes”, clicking on “Our Heritage” and on the “Listen” button. www.heritageinafrica.org/
South African Society of Archivists appoints new committee
The National Committee held its first meeting, together with members of the Steering Committee, on June 24, 2009 at the National Archives in Pretoria. A further meeting of the National Committee was held on July 29, 2009. At its first meeting, the National Committee appointed the following office-bearers from among the elected and co-opted members:
Chairperson: Prof Patrick Ngulube (Unisa)
Vice-chairperson: Ms Letitia Myburgh (Standard Bank)
Secretary: Mr Lebohang Mokoena (National Archives and Records Service of South Africa)
Treasurer: Ms Pétria Marais (Independent)
Print editor: Ms Marlene Burger (Unisa)
Web editor: Ms Lesley Hart (UCT)
Events manager: Mr Mpho Ngoepe (Auditor-General South Africa)
To join the South African Society of Archivists, please contact the secretary, Lebohang Mokoena, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
National Arts Council appoints CEO
The National Arts Council of South Africa announced the appointment of Ms Annabell Lebethe as the new Chief Executive Officer on July 14, 2009. Ms Lebethe was previously Director of Creative Industries at the Gauteng Provincial Government. In this role, Lebethe was instrumental in overseeing the development of sector strategies – craft, music and performing arts – within the Gauteng Department of Sport Arts, Culture and Recreation.
www.nac.org.za/Pdf/Media%20Release%20CEO%20appointment%20F.pdf
The Ruins of Loropéni listed as first World Heritage site in Burkina Faso
The 11 130m2 property, with its imposing stone walls, is the best preserved of 10 fortresses in the Lobi area and is part of a larger group of 100 stone enclosures that bear testimony to the power of the trans-Saharan gold trade. Situated near the borders of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, the ruins have recently been shown to be at least 1 000 years old. The settlement was occupied by the Lohron or Koulango people, who controlled the extraction and transformation of gold in the region when it reached its apogee from the 14th to the 17th century. Much mystery surrounds this site, large parts of which have yet to be excavated. The settlement seems to have been abandoned during some periods during its long history. The property, which was finally deserted in the early 19th century, is expected to yield much more information.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1225
John Marshall Ju/‘hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection added to Unesco’s Memory of the World Register
The John Marshall Ju/‘hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection has been recognised for its exceptional value as part of world documentary heritage and has been added to Unesco’s Memory of the World Register. The John Marshall Ju/‘hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection 1950-2000, held at the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Studies Film Archives, provides a unique example of sustained audiovisual documentation of one cultural group, the Ju/‘hoansi of the Kalahari Desert in north-eastern Namibia, over half a century.
Details about the collection at: www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fa/marshall.pdf
Marshall’s edited films, study guides, etc. are distributed by Documentary Educational Resources: www.der.org/films/kung-series.html
Unesco’s press release contains additional information about the Memory of the World Register, as well as the full list of inscriptions for 2009:
Read more…
BREAKING NEWS
The Archives Advisory Council: a chequered past, with hope for the future?
In a special guest blog prompted by the recent extension of the nomination deadline, Verne Harris reviews the history of the Archives Advisory Council, outlines weaknesses in the past and underlines the importance of making strong nominations to the Council before 28 August.
Digital Innovation South Africa recently hosted a 2.5 day workshop in Durban with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the nuts and bolts required for the successful management of digital resources.
Presentations are available from the DISA website: www.disa.ukzn.ac.za
GUEST BLOG
Who are we training? And for what purpose?
Deirdre Prins-Solani, Executive Director, CHDA
The ability of the baobab tree to grow, thrive and survive is surely a combination of a number of environmental, social, cultural and unknown factors. The rains, the sun, the nutrition in the soil, the quality of air, the protection of them because of their cultural purpose, the uses of the tree from food to bowl…
When one imagines the eco system which creates and sustains such life through centuries of change which has been mediated either by humankind and natural phenomena, the value of these lessons can certainly be applied to the nature and notion of “training” within the heritage sector on the African continent.
Over the last few days, the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA) and its French counterpart, EPA, has hosted a group of leaders in the Heritage sector, in Mombasa, from the African World Heritage Fund, World Heritage Centre, ICCROM, Directors of Immovable Heritage on the continent and the two African Training Institutions, CHDA and EPA. Our deliberations have been intense as we plan for a new program to follow the ending of the Africa 2009 Program for the Conservation of Immovable Heritage.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Comment through the Archival Platform
If you have something to say, why not send Harriet an e-mail (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) or post a comment or forum message on our website www.archivalplatform.org. You could also write a guest blog for us!
Comment on camera use in the Cape Archives
There has been debate among genealogists and other archive users about the use of digital cameras in archives. Genealogists set up this site to responses from users of the Cape Archives and they have already attracted 49 comments and 576 votes. Do you think personal camera use should be allowed?
Contribute to questionnaire on arts advocacy
What are the key success factors, challenges, strengths and weaknesses of national arts advocacy campaigns? The International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies seeks your help in its research on the advocacy campaigns of the world’s national arts support agencies.
Contribute to the Department of Arts and Culture Database
The Department of Arts and Culture calls upon all interested parties within the sector to register their individual, group or organisation’s profile on the Arts, Culture and Heritage Database. The database will be used by the department for the following: public participation in the development, implementation and monitoring of national legislation, international treaties and conventions within the arts, culture and heritage fraternity, consultation with experts for the development of position/policy papers, and promotion of the sector nationally and internationally.
E-mail address: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download registration form from: www.dac.gov.za
Inform Network U40 Africa
The U40-process offers young people under the age of 40 – postgraduates, doctoral students, young professionals and similarly qualified experts – the opportunity to participate in the international debate on cultural diversity and the implementation of the Unesco Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expression. A U40 Africa network has been created by representatives of African countries who attended the U40 World Forum in Paris in June. U40 Africa’s primary mission is to support the principles of the Unesco convention. All initiatives, membership and thoughts are welcome to enhance this network and enable it to take concrete actions.
Blog: http://u40africa.unblog.fr/
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
CONFERENCES and MEETINGS
Call for Papers: Conference on Challenges and Opportunities of Managing Archives and Records
Pretoria, 25-26 November 2009
The South African Society of Archivists in conjunction with the Department of Information Science at UNISA and the National Archives is going to host a national conference of archivists, records managers and heritage personnel on managing archives.
Submission of abstracts: 30 August 2009
Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 4 September 2009
Paper submission: 10 October 2009
Contact: Patrick Ngulube (PhD)
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
OHASA Conference: Hidden voices
Cape Town, 13-16 October 2009
The Oral History Association of South Africa in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture are organising a conference called Hidden Voices, Untold Stories and Veiled Memories: Oral History, Representation and Knowledge
The contact person in Ms Natalie Jaynes. Please see our website www.ohasa.org.za.
World Summit on Arts and Culture
September 22-25, 2009, Johannesburg
The summit theme, “Meeting of Cultures: Creating Meaning through the Arts”, has informed the programme and choice of keynote speakers. Further announcements will be made soon about the roundtable sessions, with topics including: “Can the arts market promote cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue?”; “Alternative arts financing: microfinance models”; and “The ‘Rainbow Nation’: what can South Africa teach the world about intercultural relationships?”
University Museums and Collections Ninth International Conference
September 10-13, 2009, University of California Berkeley
University Museums and Collections (UMAC) invited the University of California Berkeley to host this conference – “Putting University Collections to Work in Research and Teaching” – in recognition of the work of its multi-campus research project, “Microcosms: Objects of Knowledge”, co-directed by University of California Berkeley anthropology professor Rosemary Joyce, and University of California Santa Barbara art history professors Mark Meadow and Bruce Robertson. Their joint research into the history of modern object collecting and its critical role in the origins of university disciplines engaged each campus in compiling a database of research collection that demonstrates that the holdings of the university form a modern version of the 16th-century ideal of the “universal collection”.
http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/meetings/umac/index.shtml
10th International Joint World Cultural Tourism Conference
November 13-15, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand
The aim of this conference, hosted by the World Cultural Tourism Association, is to provide a forum for international educators, scholars, researchers, industry professionals, policy makers and graduate students through which to explore and discuss issues in the field of cultural tourism.
Africom’s Third International Conference and General Assembly
December 2-5, 2009, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
The conference’s central theme is “New Museums for Africa: Change and Continuity”.
E-mail: Pascall Taruvinga, programme manager for the conference, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
For more on Africom: www.africom.museum
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Call for submissions
International Conference on African Culture and Development (ICACD)
November 15-18, 2009, Accra, Ghana
The theme for ICACD 2009 is “Culture and the Millennium Development Goals”. Academics, artists, cultural and development workers, government agencies, policy makers and all people committed to working to see culture included on the development agenda are encouraged to submit their abstracts or ideas. Presentations at ICACD 2009 can be made in various forms, including lectures, formal paper presentations, workshops, collaborative panels and performances (music, song, theatre, dance, spoken word or film), as well as through visual and audio-visual representations and installations. ICACD 2009 will also be hosting focus events on “Culture, Governance and Traditional Leadership”, and “Art and Culture as Tools for Conflict Resolution”.
The closing date for submission of abstracts or ideas is Friday, August 20, 2009.
The full call for papers is at: www.icacdafrica.org/callforpapers.htm
E-mail: Peter Agyekum Berko at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Organization of World Heritage Cities World Congress
September 8-11, 2009, Quito, Ecuador
The 10th World Congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) is organised by the city of Quito in collaboration with the OWHC. It includes a scientific programme developed by the Getty Conservation Institute. The congress theme will be “Revitalisation of Historical Centres: How to Involve all Social Actors”.
Call for papers: Life Writing and Intimate Publics
The Seventh Biennial International Auto/Biography Association Conference
June 28-July 2, 2010, University of Sussex, UK
The conference topic is “Life Writing and Intimate Publics”. Life writing and life story construct “intimate publics” in autobiographies, biographies, diaries, oral histories, blogs, reality television, photography, letters, life histories, documentaries, graphic memoirs, quilts, exhibitions and mobile phone texts. They have also been crucial agents in constructing counter-publics. The questions to be explored include, “How do life writing and life history contribute to public and private archives and to public history/heritage?”
Speakers include Nancy K Miller, Sidonie Smith, Jenny Diski, Liz Stanley, Nadje Al-Ali, Alistair Thomson, Michael Holroyd and Alessandro Portelli.
Abstracts (300 words) for papers should be e-mailed to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or faxed to: +44 12 7387 7534
OPPORTUNITIES: FUNDING, JOBS and TRAINING
Two Deputy Director posts at DAC
There are two posts at the National Archives in Public Records Governance at Deputy Director Level, for which the closing date is 21 August 2009. See www.dac.gov.za
Researcher post at Voortrekker/Msunduzi Museum
Researcher required with a B degree in History, Anthropology, Heritage Studies or equivalent.
Closing date: 11 Sept. 2009
Contact: Mr B C Ndhlovu (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Spier Performance Art Workshop Series
September 8, 9 and 19, 2009, Durban
September 12, 13 and 20, 2009, Johannesburg
Spier Contemporary is organising a series of performance-art workshops, facilitated by choreographer and University of Cape Town Associate Professor Jay Pather, who is a member of the Spier Contemporary 2010 curatorial team. Workshops are open to no more than 20 participants and will take place in Cape Town (August 15, 16, 23), Durban (September 8, 9, 19) and Johannesburg (September 12, 13, 20). The application deadline for the Cape Town workshop (August 3) has passed, but the Johannesburg and Durban workshops’ application deadline is August 31, 2009.
www.spiercontemporary2010.co.za
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Workshop: Legal Issues Associated with Digital Archival Material
September 15, 2009, Cape Town
Following the presentation introducing copyright law and Creative Commons licenses by Andrew Rens on June 18, the Visual History Archive and Creative Commons South Africa will be hosting a workshop around the legal issues associated with the digitising of (and public access to) archival material. The workshop will be presented by Tobias Schonwetter and Andrew Rens. Schonwetter is the Creative Commons South Africa Legal Lead, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cape Town law faculty’s intellectual property research unit and a consultant for Chetty Law, a technology law firm in Johannesburg. Rens is the intellectual property fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation, founding Legal Lead for Creative Commons South Africa and a co-founder and former director of the African Commons Project.
The workshop will take place on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 on the fifth floor of the Kramer Law School, University of Cape Town Middle Campus, from 13h30 to about 17h00.
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) by the end of August to book your place.
Africa Media Online’s Heritage Digital Campus
August 17-21, 2009, Cape Town
Africa Media Online’s Heritage Digital Campus will be run in Cape Town from August 17-21 at the Cape Town Archives Repository and the Cape Town School of Photography.
www.africamediaonline.com/heritage%20digital%20campus%202009.pdf
Workshop: Vulnerability Assessment of Disasters and Climate Change in World Heritage Properties
December 6-12, 2009, Beijing, China
Applications are open for the Vulnerability Assessment of Disasters and Climate Change in World Heritage Properties workshop, to be held in Beijing, China from December 6-12.
Application deadline: August 31, 2009
www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2009_12ManagSitesCHN_en.shtml
Africa 2009: Impact Study: Tools for Heritage Management
October 26-November 21, 2009, Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire
Applications are now open for Africa 2009: Impact Study: Tools for Heritage Management, to be held in Grand- Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire, from October 26-November 21.
Application deadline: August 18, 2009
www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2009_10Africa2009CIV_en.shtml
Athar course: Documentation of Heritage Sites in the Arab Region
January 3-14, 2010, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Applications are open for the Athar 2009 course on “Documentation of Heritage Sites in the Arab Region”, to be held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, from January 3-14.
Application deadline: October 5, 2009
www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2010_01AtharUAE_en.shtml
14th International Course on Wood Conservation Technology
May 24-July 2, 2010, Oslo, Norway
Applications are open for the International Course on Wood Conservation Technology, to be held in Oslo, Norway, from May 24-July 2, 2010.
Application deadline: January 29, 2010
www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2010_05woodNor_en.shtml
Electronic Records Management: free training materials
The International Records Management Trust project has conducted seven case studies and carried out consultations with stakeholders in the fields of public administration and records and information management, primarily representing Eastern and Southern Africa. Drawing on these findings, the project developed five training modules on electronic records management and related resource materials, a set of good practice indicators and three route maps for moving from a paper-based to an electronic information environment in a safe and secure manner.
www.irmt.org/researchReports.html
These training materials should be read against local legislation and guidelines obtainable at: www.national.archives.gov.za
RESOURCES
Heritage, Museums and Memorialisation in Kenya
This three-year collaborative project, called “Managing Heritage, Building Peace: Museums, Memorialisation and the Uses of Memory in Kenya”, is working with Kenyan museums, scholars, students, NGOs, communities and other civil society groups to investigate the different ways in which Kenyans are engaging with heritage, memory and identity. The project is concerned with state-led national heritage management and community-driven heritage initiatives, which include community peace museums, community ecological governance of sacred forests and other activities around sites of memory.
http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/memorialisation/index.html” title=“www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/memorialisation/index.html”>www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/memorialisation/index.html
The Organisation for Social Science Research
The Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) is a regional membership-based and donor-supported research and capacity-building organisation whose mission is to promote dialogue and interaction between researchers and policy makers in Eastern and Southern Africa with a view to enhancing the impact of research on policy making and development planning. It is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The ACP Cultural Observatory
The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Cultural Observatory aims at providing support to the ACP countries in understanding of emerging trends and features of cultural industries. In the long run, it should contribute to the fostering of legal and institutional frameworks, support the progressive implementation of public policies, and reinforce knowledge and capacities of ACP decision makers and operators involved in the cultural domain.
www.acpcultures.eu/?page=observatoire_culturel_ACP2〈=uk
Update the institutional information on SA cultural organisations as listed at:
www.acpcultures.eu/pdf/pays_uk/SOUTH%20AFRICA.pdf
Journal: Africa e Mediterraneo
What is the meaning of cultural heritage in cultures other than European culture (the only one that has produced the universal concept of cultural heritage)? Which history do memorial sites, monuments, architecture, objects, festivals and rituals represent and produce? What does “heritage” mean outside Western countries? These are some of the questions discussed in the new issue.
More information (in Italian): www.africaemediterraneo.it/blog
E-mail the editor: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
New book: Inspiring Action: Museums and Social Change
In this groundbreaking new book, leading museum professionals contribute practical and inspiring essays on how their institutions are responding to the new social challenges of the 21st century. The topics include helping rehabilitate young offenders, reskilling long-term unemployed people and working alongside disadvantaged minorities. The case studies include one from Durban Art Gallery, South Africa.
Copies may be ordered online at www.museumsetc.com/?p=104
Paper: World heritage and buffer zones
The Unesco World Heritage Centre has just released a discussion paper on World heritage and buffer zones (World Heritage Paper 25). Buffer zones are an important tool for the conservation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. Under the World Heritage Operational Guidelines, the protection of the “surroundings” or “immediate setting” of properties is considered an essential component of the conservation strategy, both for cultural and natural heritage.
New book: Africa 2009: Protection juridique du patrimoine culturel immoblilier
This book, published as part of the Africa 2009 Programme, presents the legal frameworks for immovable cultural heritage protection in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
www.iccrom.org/eng/news_en/2009_en/various_en/07_22pubAfrica2009_en.shtml
New publication: Conserving Textiles
This compilation of articles honours Ágnes Timár-Balázsy, a renowned teacher of chemistry and the scientific background of textile conservation.
www.iccrom.org/eng/news_en/2009_en/various_en/06_30pubTimar_en.shtml
New book: Cultural Heritage and the Law
This book presents the legal frameworks for immovable cultural heritage protection in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
www.iccrom.org/eng/news_en/2009_en/various_en/06_30pubAfrica2009_en.shtml
Icomos International Conference Proceedings: “The Image of Heritage: Changing Perception, Permanent Responsibilities”
Now available free online. Audio files may take some time to download if you are using a dial-up connection.
The contents page is at:
http://atti.fly-events.com/THE_IMAGE_OF_HERITAGE/index.html
Abstracts of International Conservation Literature
AATA Online is a free online database containing more than 110 000 abstracts of literature, published from 1932 to the present, covering the conservation and management of material cultural heritage, including works of art, cultural objects, architectural heritage, archaeological sites and materials, as well as ethical and legal issues. Approximately 1 000 new abstracts of journal articles, conference proceedings, books, theses, audiovisual works and technical reports are added each quarter.
New book: The Digital Print – Identification and Preservation
By Martin C Jürgens. Getty Conservation Institute, 2009
www.getty.edu/bookstore/titles/digital.html
New book: Photographs of the Past – Process and Preservation
By Bertrand Lavédrine. Getty Conservation Institute, 2009
www.getty.edu/bookstore/titles/photopast.html
New book: Composing Apartheid – Music for and Against Apartheid
Composing Apartheid is the first book ever to chart the musical world of a notorious period in world history, apartheid South Africa. It explores how music was produced through, and was productive of, key features of apartheid’s social and political topography, as well as how music and musicians contested and even helped to conquer apartheid. The collection of essays is intentionally broad and the contributors include historians, sociologists and anthropologists, as well as ethnomusicologists, music theorists and historical musicologists.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907160673.html
Free online newsletter: Inherit e-news
The Heritage Council of Victoria, Australia, has issued its first e-mail version of Inherit, replacing its printed publication. The e-newsletter will be issued monthly, providing information and updates on heritage matters.
http://heritage.vic.gov.au/admin/file/content2/c7/AUG09.pdf
Australian publication of Significance 2.0 available online
The Collections Council of Australia is pleased to announce that the complete version of “Part 6 – Significance in action – applications” is now available online.
http://significance.collectionscouncil.com.au/print
Journal: Music and Arts in Action
The department of sociology and philosophy at the University of Exeter in the UK is publishing this peer-reviewed, open-access journal on the role of music and arts in social life. This journal emerges from international, cross-disciplinary work that takes a wider, holistic approach in researching the dynamic role of music and the arts in social life and cultural experience. The inaugural issue features a range of articles about “White Power” music, drama as social intervention, music therapy, visual arts and sustainability, and a theoretical look at the future of music sociology. The full text of all articles is available on the journal website. Editors will welcome manuscripts for peer review and consideration for publication in future issues.
IFACCA report: “Independence in Government Arts Funding”
Written by Christopher Madden, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies report presents a global perspective on independence in government arts support, exploring issues such as the “arm’s length principle” and the “arts council versus ministry” debate. The report does not promote any model, nor argue for any particular degree of independence. It explores arts policy models and frameworks through a neutral lens, surveying different approaches around the world and summarising expert opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of the main approaches.
Journal: Museum International
In Vol. 61 n° 1/2, 2009 Museum International publishes the proceedings of an important conference intended to take forward the debate on the issue of the return and restitution of cultural property. Held in Athens on March 17 and 18, 2008, at the initiative of the government of Greece, the conference brought together key actors to advance practice on this issue. The first chapter is devoted to the presentation and exchange of successful experiences in the return of cultural property. The next four chapters reflect current debates on the main legal, ethical, diplomatic and scientific components relating to this issue.
http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx?Code_Livre=4692
New book: Paper Wars: Access to Information in South Africa
Edited by Kate Allan, freedom of information co-ordinator at the South African History Archive (SAHA) from 2005 to 2007, Paper Wars reflects upon the work SAHA has done around testing the parameters of South Africa’s freedom of information legislation, the Promotion of Access to Information Act, and provides insight into some of the difficulties information activists and requesters have encountered as they have attempted to put South Africa’s constitutional right of access to information into practise.
Digital preservation
Maintaining digital archives as hardware and software changes is a challenge. This report, in Dutch, discusses how to address it. The NCDD website also contains links to some English material on this issue.
www.ncdd.nl/activiteiten-natverkenning.php
Zotero discussion list
Zotero is a free research management and citation tool that links up with numerous online sources, including newspapers, websites, journal databases and also our very own National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System, the online searchable finding aid for the South African national archives! Keith Breckenridge has set up a mailing list for Zotero users in South Africa.
To subscribe or unsubscribe:
http://lists.humsci.ukzn.ac.za/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/zotero
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