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Heritage Matters
Remembering Dr. George F MacDonald (1938-2020)
Dr. Amareswar Galla (Amar), the then Chairperson of Asia Pacific Executive Board of International Council of Museums interviewed Dr George F MacDonald, the Chief Executive Officer of Museum Victoria, Australia’s largest public museums organisation, on 2 November 2000. The following are abridged reflections of Dr. MacDonald at the opening of the Melbourne Museum, the flagship of Museum Victoria. Transcribed text was approved by Dr MacDonald. Two decades on the museological wisdom in these reflections remains just as valid.
Amar: What does the opening of the Museum Victoria mean to museum development and re-development in Australia and within the museum world in general? What does it mean to George MacDonald CEO who oversaw the foundation of a major national museum in the world, i.e. the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, Ottawa, and now another major museum development on the other side of the world?
George: The thing that did strike me is that dates and events are very important, and they galvanise thinking and create thresholds and so on. I think the opening of Victoria Museum of this magnitude at this point in time as we enter a new millennium certainly struck me as being an opportunity to make a statement – To try and balance things a little differently than had been previously done. The more I thought about it the more I realised that what I was doing in Ottawa was to respond to a generation of visitors, which covered 80 percent of the people who were coming to the museum, raised in the television age from their very earliest memory. That generation were looking at the world through a television screen which is very different than looking at the world as you move around a village or a town or within your own experience frame of reference. Suddenly you were in this bionic electronic world that was being shown to you through a window that was global, and people accelerated their sophistication very rapidly. Now it has been about 50 years that television has been current in North America and in that 50 years people have become very sophisticated in a whole series of things such as how things work and the long sequences of history consistently recapitulated in television series. I thought that’s it, we are doing a project for a whole new generation of people and we won’t re-do it for some time. Read the full interview here.
Read Here: In Memoriam George F MacDonald, 1938-2020
Read Here: The Museum is the Medium ’Remembering Dr. George F MacDonald'(1938–2020)
Heritage Matters Webinar 6 | Subaltern Narratives & Dalit Creative Engagement | 4th July 2020 | 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Date: 4th July 2020, Saturday
Time: 1930-2100 Indian Standard Time (7:30-9:00PM)
Webinar Recording: Audio | Video
India is one of the first countries in the world to Constitutionally guarantee the equal rights of all its citizens. It is also the first one to incorporate the Fundamental Rights of all its citizens and include a cultural diversity framework in its Constitution. The translation of such a powerful legal instrument into practice on the ground has been challenging. Considerable progress has been made. Now the Pandemic lockdown provides a critical reflexive space for understanding the progress made and the role of creativity as an agency of empowerment and participation for historically disadvantaged communities. The global triangulation of Crises – COVID 2019, Climate and Environmental Deterioration, and surging protests for racial justice across the world – challenge us to rethink current approaches to cultural justice and travel through the portal to vision and walk better possibilities. International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership at AnantU is part of a Global Research Network in debating our post Pandemic preferred futures across race, ethnicity, class, gender, caste, age, sexual orientation and so on. (https://ondiversity.com/) In addressing the portal through which we must emerge to a better and more equitable world, we discuss in this Webinar the role of arts and the First Voice of rights holder communities.
Panellists: Shri Praveen Kumar, IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare; previously Secretary Tourism & Commissioner Fisheries, Government of Andhra Pradesh. Dr D. Vizai Bhaskar, Playwright & Poet; Dalit Cultural Rights Advocate; & former Director, Creativity and Culture Commission, Andhra Pradesh. Professor Dr Challapalli Swaroopa Rani, Professor, Centre for Mahayana Buddhist Studies, Acharya Nagarjuna University; Social activist; & Writer.
Host: Professor Dr Amareswar Galla, Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad; & Salzburg Global Fellow.
Heritage Matters – 5 | What Museums Post Pandemic? | 20 June 2020 | 7:30-9:00 PM IST
Date: 20 June 2020, Saturday, On the Eve of the June Solstice
Time: 1930-2100 Indian Standard Time (7:30-9:00 PM)
Recording Link: Audio | Video
The past two months of COVID19 incumbency have revealed the vulnerability of the museum sector in the world. The reports by ICOM, UNESCO and NEMO profile the severity of challenges faced by museums globally. They assist us with a heightened awareness of what the aspirational museum could be post-pandemic. This increased pool of knowledge makes it glaringly obvious that we must confront the insularity that is akin to being oblivious to our constituencies; become relevant to the people in their cultural and linguistic diversity, and address gross inequities of participation in the museum sector that pervade every corner of the world. While in the affluent localities of the world, museums are rolling out measured approaches to re-openings and enabling digital sprawling, there are many museums in almost every country that are closed, hopefully not forever. How can the institution of the museum become more relevant, inclusive, and grounded in the social, economic, and environmental realities of their respective contexts continues to be the biggest challenge? (https://onmuseums.com/) How can the post-pandemic museum become the quintessential civic space? How can it be understood both museological
and from a right based discourse embedded with accountabilities to race, ethnicity, colour, indignity, gender, class, age, sexual orientation and so on? How best can we minimise profiteering through illicit traffic in the cultural property under the shadow of COVID 19? How best can we ensure that the hard-won rights-based approaches to inclusion, equality, diversity, return, restitution, repatriation, and cultural democracy are not forgotten? How do we, once again, raise the awareness of international financial institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and ADB about the criticality of culture and museums in sustainable development? Hence the Webinar poses What Museums Post Pandemic?
Panellists: Lazare Eloundou, Director, Culture and Emergencies at UNESCO, Paris; Former Deputy Director, World Heritage Centre; & Former UNESCO Representative in Mali. Professor Dr George Abungu, Emeritus DG, National Museums of Kenya; Founding Professor of Heritage Studies, The University of Mauritius; Salzburg Global Fellow; & currently Special Adviser to the DG of ICCROM. Dr Alka Pande, Author and Art Historian; Curator, Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; & Project Director, Bihar Museum Biennale, Patna.
Host: Professor Dr Amareswar Galla, Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad; Salzburg Global Fellow; and Founding Chair, International Research Network & Founding Editor Inclusive Museum Research Journal Collection (2008-2020).
Please read the ICOM, UNESCO and NEMO Reports along with the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation and the ICOM Cultural Diversity Charter. You can access them here. Please send any questions that you have to inclusiveleadership@anu.edu.in
Heritage Matters – 5 | What Museums Post Pandemic? | 20 June 2020 | 7:30-9:00 PM IST
Date: 20 June 2020, Saturday, On the Eve of the June Solstice
Time: 1930-2100 Indian Standard Time (7:30-9:00 PM)
Recording Link: Audio | Video
The past two months of COVID19 incumbency have revealed the vulnerability of the museum sector in the world. The reports by ICOM, UNESCO and NEMO profile the severity of challenges faced by museums globally. They assist us with a heightened awareness of what the aspirational museum could be post-pandemic. This increased pool of knowledge makes it glaringly obvious that we must confront the insularity that is akin to being oblivious to our constituencies; become relevant to the people in their cultural and linguistic diversity, and address gross inequities of participation in the museum sector that pervade every corner of the world. While in the affluent localities of the world, museums are rolling out measured approaches to re-openings and enabling digital sprawling, there are many museums in almost every country that are closed, hopefully not forever. How can the institution of the museum become more relevant, inclusive, and grounded in the social, economic, and environmental realities of their respective contexts continues to be the biggest challenge? (https://onmuseums.com/) How can the post-pandemic museum become the quintessential civic space? How can it be understood both museological
and from a right based discourse embedded with accountabilities to race, ethnicity, colour, indignity, gender, class, age, sexual orientation and so on? How best can we minimise profiteering through illicit traffic in the cultural property under the shadow of COVID 19? How best can we ensure that the hard-won rights-based approaches to inclusion, equality, diversity, return, restitution, repatriation, and cultural democracy are not forgotten? How do we, once again, raise the awareness of international financial institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and ADB about the criticality of culture and museums in sustainable development? Hence the Webinar poses What Museums Post Pandemic?
Panellists: Lazare Eloundou, Director, Culture and Emergencies at UNESCO, Paris; Former Deputy Director, World Heritage Centre; & Former UNESCO Representative in Mali. Professor Dr George Abungu, Emeritus DG, National Museums of Kenya; Founding Professor of Heritage Studies, The University of Mauritius; Salzburg Global Fellow; & currently Special Adviser to the DG of ICCROM. Dr Alka Pande, Author and Art Historian; Curator, Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; & Project Director, Bihar Museum Biennale, Patna.
Host: Professor Dr Amareswar Galla, Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad; Salzburg Global Fellow; and Founding Chair, International Research Network & Founding Editor Inclusive Museum Research Journal Collection (2008-2020).
Please read the ICOM, UNESCO and NEMO Reports along with the UNESCO 2015 Recommendation and the ICOM Cultural Diversity Charter. You can access them here. Please send any questions that you have to inclusiveleadership@anu.edu.in
Heritage Matters – Webinar 4 | Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability: What Policy Solutions for the Climate Emergency? | 4 June 2020 | 7:30-9:00 PM IST
Access to Webinar Recording: Video
The onslaught of COVID 19 and the emergencies of climate change have one thing in common – there are no borders. It is across Global North and Global South. No country is spared. Hot spots are in localities with most environmental degradation, especially urban centres. Not surprisingly, lockdown have dramatically reduced air pollution and even started healing the Ozone Layer. Post Pandemic we need to envisage a brave new world that is cognisant of the cultural dimension of Climate Change. Heritage Matters Webinar 4 on the Eve of the World Environment Day aims to raise awareness, discussion and debate in the digital domain. A common concern for sustainability is from a holistic perspective, where environmental, cultural, economic, and social interests intersect. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic and cultural boundaries. During and Post Pandemic, we need strategic engagement to build global strategies for action framed by our shared concerns and tensions – Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability: What Policy Solutions for the Climate Emergency?
Panellists: Mrs Naaz Rizvi, Director, National Museum of Natural History of India, Ministry of Environment, Forestry & Climate Change, New Delhi; Dr Miniya Chatterji, CEO, Sustain Labs Paris; Author & Columnist; Adjunct Professor SciencesPo Paris; & Director, Anant Centre for Sustainability, Anant National University; Professor Dr Rohit Jigyasu, Project Manager in Urban Heritage, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Management, ICCROM, Rome; Vice President of ICOMOS International, Paris; & former UNESCO Chairholder, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto; and Douglas Worts, International Coalition for Climate Justice; Culture & Sustainability Specialist, World Views Consulting, Toronto; & Sustainability Committee, American Association for State and Local History, USA.
Host: Professor Dr Amareswar Galla, Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad; Salzburg Global Fellow; and Founder, On Sustainability International Research Network & Founding Editor Onsustainability Research Journal Collection (2006-2015).
Date: 4 June 2020, Thursday, On the Eve of the World Environment Day
Time: 1930-2100 Indian Standard Time (7:30-9:00PM)
Registration Link:
Heritage Matters Webinar 3 | Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion | 18 May 2020 | 7:30 – 9:00 PM IST
Access to Webinar Recording: Video.
The burning question across the world is – What Museums Post Pandemic? Most museums in the world are closed during the onslaught of COVID 19. No country was spared. The well-endowed institutions maximised on their digital affordances streaming their collections and exhibitions. This did not grab the attention of audiences for too long. Gross inequalities of access and use in the digital domain are once again exposed. What is the future role of museums? How best can they address equality as an aspiration, equity as an outcome and diversity in all its manifestations and cultural borders? How can the institution of the Museum become more inclusive?
Host: Professor Dr Amareswar Galla, Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad, Former Vice President, ICOM, Paris & Salzburg Global Fellow.
New UNESCO report – Freedom & Creativity: Defending art, defending diversity
Source : UNESCO
UNESCO sheds light on the current advances and challenges in the legal protection of artistic freedom, the protection of the social and economic rights of artists and cultural professionals, and the monitoring of artistic freedom. Released on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2020, this special edition of the Global Report series builds on the recommendations put forth in the chapter “Promoting the freedom to imagine and create” in UNESCO’s 2018 Global Report to assess whether progress has been made, to determine what efforts are still required and what new challenges have emerged. Read Full Story Here.
Heritage Matters Webinar 2: Civic Spaces in Times of Crisis | 02 May 2020 | 1400-1530 IST
Access to webinar recording: Audio | Video
In the current COVID 19 atmosphere civic spaces are being limited, transformed and their futures imagined. What will be the future recreational spectrum of the arts, culture, museum, heritage and environmental domains? Will urbanism – from local neighbourhoods to city centres – be reconceptualised? Could we decolonise hegemonic discourses using the cultural, economic, social and environmental disruption caused by the current crisis? How do we create enabling and empowering participatory democracy in the formations of new civic spaces as we move forward across the range of cultural borders of race, ethnicity, class, gender, caste, faith, age, sexuality, economic status, regionalism and so on?
Panellists: Brinda Somaya, Principal Architect, Somaya & Kalappa Consultants, Mumbai; A.D White Professor-at-large, Cornell University. USA; Chairperson, Board of Governors, School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada. Harsh Thapar, Architect & Sustainability Expert, Vice President, HKS Architects. Prathima Muniyappa, Design Researcher, Space Enabled Group, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge USA. Fulbright Fellow 2016-17, Masters in Design Studies, Critical Conservation, Harvard University. Young India fellow 2013-14. Graduated from NID, Ahmedabad.
Host: Professor Amareswar Galla, Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad & Salzburg Global Fellow.
Register Here:
Date: 02 May 2020, Saturday
Time: 1400-1530 IST (2:00-3:30 PM)
UNESCO to the US: We need everybody
Dir. Gen. of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay tells Amanpour about what her organization is doing for education and culture during the COVID-19 crisis, and the need for the US at the table. Source: CNN
More than 130 Ministers call for support to culture sector in COVID-19 crisis response
Source- UNESCO
Over 130 Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Culture joined the online meeting convened by UNESCO to discuss actions to bolster the cultural sector, which is facing unprecedented upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministers spoke of the direct effects of the current crisis on tourism, museums, cultural production and artists, as well as the measures that they have taken to mitigate the impact of the crisis. They reaffirmed their commitment to intergovernmental dialogue and international solidarity in order to strengthen and unite their efforts.
Opening the debate, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, reminded participants that “We need culture, so we need to help it to sustain this shock. We must assess the impact of the crisis, launch a joint reflection and coordinated initiatives. UNESCO fully intends to play its role in this process, in line with its mandate.”
Ministers highlighted the social and economic benefits of the culture sector in their countries, and agreed on the urgent need to invest in the sector during, and following, the crisis. The mobility restrictions and containment measures that governments have been forced to adopt due to the pandemic have drastically curbed access to culture in the short term and – if action is not taken – could weaken the entire cultural ecosystem for generations to come.
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