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Reuse of Cultural Material: A challenging topic
1. Workshop2
Reuse of Cultural Material:A challengingtopic
In our workshop,some veryfundamentalquestionswere raisedwithintermittentlyheateddebates.
The methodologywastocollect1-3 questionsfromeachworkshopparticipantwhocouldbe voted
for inthe nextstepand to collectivelydiscussthe 3-5mostvotedand thusurgentquestionsduring
the workshop.
Aftera brief inputfromthe three workshopinstructorsabouttheirexperiencesandthe museum
practice in AucklandMuseumwe begandiscussingthe followingissues:
- Cultural respectvs.Advancementof Science?
- Howto involve communitiesmeaningful?
- Who decideswhatistoosensibletobe shown/made available online?
- What difference doesitmake toprovide accessonlineto2D imagesand 3d models?
We startedwiththe much-disputedquestionsaroundrepatriation,yetnoone inthe workshopsaw
culturallysensibleapproachesasbeingcontradictorytowardsthe advancementof science.Asa
goodpractice,NellesandAl-Badri mentionedthe DanishgeneticistEske Willerslev,whosought
permissionaboutDNA sequencingaswell asaboutpublicationof the resultsfrominthiscase Native
NorthAmericansaswell asfrom Aboriginal leaders.
Nonethelessthe institutional Angstaboutanemptymuseumwasarticulated,butalsoitbecame
apparentthat ina lot of cases itis notabout givingbackall objectsratheraboutseriouslyworking
togetherandthe handingoverof decisionmakingtothe so-calledsource communities(butof
course thisalsoneedsto include the decisionaboutwhichobjectneedstogoback eventually).Asa
real life example,the AucklandMuseumisnotemptyatall,on the contrary.So what mightbe
neededistopassthe batonof interpretationalsovereigntyaswell asthe decisional powertothe
source communitiesandthere are examples,where thisworksoutwell already.
At AucklandMuseum,forexample,theyare undertakingaprojecttitledthe PacificCollectionAccess
Projectto enrichthe recordsof 5,000 PacificIslandobjectsfrom13 Islandnations.The Museum
reachesoutto these communitiesandinvitesthemtoshare theircultural knowledge aboutthese
objects,whichthengetupdatedintheirownlanguage.Inessencethe projectisabout“givingthe
voice backto the objects”andmakingthemmore accessible online foraglobal audience. Imagesof
these objectsare available onlinebutwhere the objectsare outof copyright,acultural permissions
statementisassignedtothese imagesandpermissionissoughtfromthese communitygroupsfor
everyreuse request.
Subsequently,we discussedthe question:butwhodecideswhoisthe rightgroupto engage within
casesin whichitis notclear (andwhichseemtobe a verypersistentargumentmade bymuseums,
2. because naturallyinthe majorityof casesitisnot 100% clear).The workshopinstructorspointedout
that thisiscertainlynoton the museumstodecide aswell.Positivelyspeakingthiscouldrelease
some pressure off the museumexperts,too.If discussionandconflictemerge towardsthe exact
belongingof the objects,thenitshouldalsobe foughtinside the source communities,nations,
regions,etc. intheirway.Everythingelseisagainpatronisingbehaviour. NellesandAl-Badri stated
here "Don't give awaythe art, give awaythe poweryouholdoverit."
In the end,we discussedthe questionwhetherthe thirddimensionmattersornot.The two-
dimensional depictionfromearlycave drawingstill abstractorhyper- photorealisticpaintingscanbe
characterisedassubjective andinterpretative of reality.
Photographyendeavourstoaccomplishtotal objectivityinthe genre of repro-photography.And
repro-photographyachievedtominimise subjectivitytoa large extent,andyetonlythe 3D scan
capturesthe objectsto be reproducedwithcompletecalculatedprecisionandzerosubjectivity.
Therefore we cansay: twoscans of the same thingwill lookthe same.Thisphenomenoncertainly
will have substantialimplicationsonlegal andcopyrightissuesaswell.
To conclude aftersome discussionthe workshopinstructorsstatedthatmuseumswouldn'tbe
empty,butthe museumworldneedstostoppatronizingandlet goof material objectsof other
culturesandalsoallowalternative knowledgesystemstobe an active/integral partof museumsin
orderto be relevantandcontemporary.Itwill happenanyways,withorwithoutmuseumsthrough
the rise of visibilityandactivismon- andofflineof indigenousknowledge andreclamationacts.
These were the otherquestionswe wouldhave discussedif therewasmore time,yetposting
questionsisagoodthingto start with:
- Howto change the orderof knowledge?
- Howto realise conservationof objectsinthiscontext
- discussingthe rhetoricsusedaroundthe Nefertiti Hack(i.e.piracy,illegal,loot)againstthe
backgroundof possessionof the museum
- Is the massof displayingonlineyetanothercolonial gesture?
- Howcan we displaythe undisplayable?
- Shouldwe repatriate objectsandtocommunitiesandjustkeep3dmodelsasmuseums?
