On March 27 and March 28 maa - Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Cambridge gathered a group of experts to discuss contemporary engagement with historic collections.
Collections from the colonial period, kept in the repositories of world cultures museums are often presented as belonging to the past; they may be seen as controversial, because of their colonial associations, or as suffering from a lack of connection with the contemporary world.
In the light of recent exhibitions and ongoing re-display and museum renovation projects, the workshop considered how historic collections can be most effectively re-animated for, and together with, audiences of the 21st century.
Programme outline
13.30 - 13.45 Welcome: Nicholas Thomas (MAA, Cambridge)
13.45 - 14.45 Keynote: Emmanuel Kasarherou (Musée du Quai Branly, Paris) Kanak - an exhibition and its legacies
15.15 - 16.45 Panel discussion: Collections Anja Koren (Ljubljana), Julia Ferloni (Marseille), Ulrich Menter (Stuttgart), Folarin Shyllon (Ibadan)
17.00 - 17.30 Exhibition tour: 'Another India' (with curator, Dr Mark Elliott) Venue: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
09.30 - 10.30 Keynote: Minhazz Majumdar (independent curator, New Delhi), Today is tomorrow's yesterday: rewinding museum collections
11.00 - 12.30 Panel discussion: Curating Remy Jadinon (Tervuren), Michael Barrett (Stockholm), Claudia Augustat (Vienna)
12.30 - 13.00 Artist's talk: Alafuro Sikoki-Coleman (Studio Sikoki)
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch Break
14.00 - 15.00 Keynote: Gaye Sculthorpe (British Museum) Objects of affection: the Yurlmun exhibition at Albany, Western Australia
15.30 - 17.00 Panel discussion: Difficult histories Wonu Veys (Leiden), Louise Sebro and Mille Gabriel (Copenhagen), Prince Gregory Iduorobo Akenzua (Court of Benin), Tony Phillips (Independent Artist)
17.30 - 18.30 The Von Hügel Lecture Professor Kavita Singh (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) Museums, heritage, culture: into the conflict zone * Venue: Mill Lane Lecture Theatre 3 *
for network members only: Technical meeting
