7-17 November 2004, National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, the Netherlands

Museums and Heritage Agencies in Multicultural Societies

by Prof. Amareswar Galla

Museums and Heritage Agencies in Multicultural Societies
by Prof. Amareswar Gall (International Institute for Asian Studies,
University of Leiden & Sustainable Heritage Development Program, Research
School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University,
Canberra, Australia)

In the past two decades museums, heritage agencies and World Heritage Areas
across Europe and the rest of the world have undergone fundamental changes.
They are increasingly becoming visitor-centered, relevant to the
stakeholders and located in issues of sense of place and identity in the
face of the accelerated pace of cultural, digital and economic
globalisation. In Europe and other western countries, these agencies are
more and more challenged to address their relevance and role in
multicultural and transitional societies. The challenge is to develop a
post-colonial heritage discourse that is inclusive in philosophy and locally
grounded in context. This is largely dependent on the way we address
museums, heritage and community building and provide a focus for
facilitating productive relationships for collaboration, cultural exchange
and enrichment of the 'culture in development' practice.

The outcomes of locating culture in development can be more sustainable and
vibrant communities, more cohesive community networks, greater community
confidence and direction founded in a sense of self and place, and an
increased community capacity for holistically addressing its own needs. In
many circumstances re-establishment of cultural pride and sense of place is
seen as the key to addressing social well-being. It requires an inclusive
framework that recognises the cultural and heritage aspirations of different
sections of the community, including groups that may otherwise be
marginalized culturally, socially and economically. It is within this
context that this master class/visiting scholars program will address
locating culture in sustainable development with the main focus on museums,
art museums, libraries, archives, national parks, World Heritage Areas and
other heritage agencies in sustainable development.

Programme:

Sunday 7 November 2004: Orientation
Arrival of participants in Leiden. Welcome reception and dinner.

Monday 8 November 2004: Research and project sharing
Interactive discussions and facilitated dialogue will inform this one-day
forum. Participants will share and discuss their individual research and
project concerns. They will receive feedback from their colleagues and
moderators.
Tuesday 9 November 2004: Transformations - Case study based analysis
Participants will work on a critical examination of two case studies of
museum and heritage projects in Leiden with facilitated interaction from the
research and communications personnel of the institutions.

Wednesday 10 November 2004: Museums in the Life of a City
Participants will examine the role and planning of projects at the World
Museum in Rotterdam and the way the museum addresses its location in a
multicultural city environment.

Thursday  11 November 2004: Museums and Community Engagement
Participants will examine the different research and interpretation
approaches taken by the Tropen Museum in Amsterdam and contrast it with a
community based initiative in Amsterdam.

Friday  12 November 2004: Cultural policies and inclusive national
frameworks
Participants will examine the national policies of the Netherlands as a case
study and critique the cultural policy approaches to address multicultural
concerns at a national level. The interface between cultural policies and
refugee and minority discourses will be analyzed.

Saturday, 13 November 2004: Review and evaluation
This one day de-briefing from the one week intensive will be a reflexive one
focussing on the individual and collective learning outcomes.

Monday 15 - Wednesday 17 November 2004: Dancing With Diversity
Participants will attend the conference of the Dutch Museums Association
entitled Dancing With Diversity in Amsterdam. They will participate in and
evaluate different sessions. The conveners of the conference will discuss
the evaluation framework during the week of the masterclass.

Follow up
It is envisaged that the participants will write up a critical research
piece of work of up to 5,000 words after returning to their home
institutions or universities. These will be refereed and published by the
conveners of the masterclass as a special research volume.


Practical information:
PhD students and post doctoral researchers interested in participating in
this masterclass are invited to register with the masterclass' coordinator.

Readings will be circulated to the selected participants ahead of the
masterclass.

An interactive message board will be established to facilitate interaction
between the participants and their professors before and after the
masterclass.


Further information and registration:
International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)
Josine Stremmelaar, MA
P.O.Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
T 071 527 2227
F 071 527 4162
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www.iias.nl