SPECIAL REPORT WWI commemorations

HERITAGE IN DANGER The Hague Convention

BEST PRACTICES Acquisition policy

T H E I N T E R N A T I O N A L C O U N C I L O F M U S E U M S M A G A Z I N E V O L 6 7 N O 1 - 2 A P R I L 2 0 1 4

ICOM news

2 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

© A

UST

RA

LIA

N W

AR

MEM

OR

IAL

World War meant for the ordinary people, and that all participants in the conflict were victims, no matter which side of the front they were on. Many other museums followed this model with similar new concepts that allow visitors to come to the conclusion: never again.

The world has changed rapidly in the past few decades and museums need to present the past in a more globalised context than ever before. People seek to understand the international, global impact of historical events in order to better comprehend how the world works today. In this context, we can look forward to visiting, reflecting on and analysing the many WWI exhibitions taking place during 2014 and the years that follow. If visitors leave these exhibits with the impression that “this is part of my history, this is part of our common history,” then we can consider them successful.

This issue of ICOM News presents several examples of WWI-related exhibitions and activities taking place around the world. The coverage is far from exhaustive, however, and we regret that it can only be a selection of the impressive work being carried out by so many museums all over the world to commemorate this event.

Prof. Dr Hans-Martin Hinz ICOM President

he year 1914 marked the end of “the long 19th century,” which had begun with the French Revolution. The First World War and its political

outcomes marked the beginning of the short, and at least in its first half, tragic 20th century, which came to a close in 1989/1990 with the end of the Cold War. The Great War changed the world dramatically and the event is therefore remembered worldwide. All kinds of museums – not just military or history ones – offer a broad perspective on the four-year war.

For many decades museums tended to present wars from the perspective of military strategy or technical developments, and from the point of view of a country, an alliance, and the winners or losers in the conflict.

This type of presentation has since evolved. It is already 20 years since the Historial de la Grande Guerre (Museum of the Great War), a museum dedicated to World War I, was inaugurated in the northern French city of Peronne. With this new addition to the museum world, French, British and German historians and museum professionals developed a new concept to present war. The presentation of conflict from the perspective of civilians and soldiers helped visitors to understand what the First

4Museum NewsEvents, openings and more

6In FocusMuseum collections make connections

8Best PracticesAcquisition policy

10Special Report: WWI CommemorationsFostering a shared memoryA museum perspectiveMarking the centenary around the worldWhere fact and fiction meetRemembrance through art and poetry

26Heritage in DangerThe Hague Convention: 60 years on

28ICOM CommunityThe importance of copyrightInternational Museum Day 2014

30PublicationsNew museum-related literature

ICOM PRESIDENT Hans-Martin Hinz

DIRECTOR GENERAL A.I. Hanna Pennock

EDITOR IN CHIEF Aedín Mac Devitt

COPY EDITOR Ena Lupine

DESIGN AND LAYOUT Agnès Quemper

TRANSLATION Cillero & de Motta

ADVERTISING France Édition

PRINTING Graphiprod 93290 Tremblay en France

©ICOM ISSN 1020-6418COVER IMAGE JOHN NASH, OPPY WOOD, 1917, EVENING © IWM

ICOM Maison de l’UNESCO 1, rue Miollis 75732 Paris Cedex 15 France Tel +33 1 47 34 05 00 Fax + 33 1 43 06 78 62 secretariat@icom.museum http://icom.museum

ICOM News is a magazine published by the International Council of Museums in English, French and Spanish, with the financial assistance of the French Ministry of Culture. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not commit ICOM in any way and are the responsibility of their authors.

Next issueIn Focus: Museum collections make connectionsSpecial Report: Museum financingBest Practices: Travelling exhibitions

If you wish to contribute to the next issue of ICOM News, please contact Aedín Mac Devitt at publications@icom.museum for details.

EDITORIAL

T©

THO

MA

S B

RO

NS

4 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

EventsFrom 24 to 30 March, 2014, hundreds of museums and galleries from all around Europe celebrated the first Museum Week. Using the #MuseumWeek hashtag, many of Europe’s leading museums connected with twitter-users all over the world on subjects that ranged from artwork and culture to history and science through tweets of under 140 characters. The event provided participants with unique access to museums, galleries and the professionals behind them by offering a real-time, behind-the-scenes look at the different organisations that took part in the project. Each day of the week was devoted to a different theme, including #AskTheCurator, #MuseumSelfies, #GetCreative, #QuestionMW and #MuseumMemories.

The Global Cultural Districts Network (GCDN), a federation of global centres of art and culture launched in 2013, will re-convene from 17-19 June at this year's New Cities Summit in the Dallas Arts District, Texas.

The GCDN will curate a keynote, plenary and action-oriented breakout session during the summit, analysing how art and culture are central pillars in urban transformation, and how cultural districts can be a thriving, integral element of urban life. The overarching theme of the summit is Re-imagining Cities: Transforming the 21st Century Metropolis. The event

will bring together 800 international urban leaders and thinkers from across sectors and continents.

Heritage In DangerOn 10 March, the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean expressed its deep concern about the theft of artworks in Guatemala and Cuba. In Guatemala, six paintings by 18th century painter Tomas de Merlo and several religious items were stolen from the Catholic church of El Calvario in the city of Antigua. In Havana, Cuba, a large number of paintings were stolen from the warehouse of the National Fine Arts Museum. UNESCO circulated a list of 70 stolen works so that immediate action could be taken to warn museum curators, galleries and auction houses. InnovationThe Cultural-Heritage Experiences through Socio-personal Interactions and Storytelling (CHESS) project aims to make museum experiences more attractive and appealing for museum visitors. The CHESS App, a programme that uses mobile, augmented reality and geo-localisation technologies, offers visitors a personal, interactive storytelling experience focused on the exhibits that are most suitable to their interests. Developed by seven partners from France, Germany, Greece and the UK and supported by the European Commission, the CHESS App was successfully tested at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece and the Cité de l'Espace park in Toulouse, France. It is expected to be launched on the market in two years.

OpeningsThe first African centre to safeguard the continent’s

4 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

The Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux

cultural heritage will be built in Algiers, Algeria, as the result of an agreement between UNESCO and Algeria. The agreement was signed at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris by Algerian Culture Minister Khalida Toumi and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. The centre will be placed under the supervision of the Algerian Culture Ministry and will implement measures and define policies to safeguard Africa's intangible cultural heritage with the support of UNESCO and in collaboration with other African countries. Developing inventories for researching, identifying, recording, publishing and disseminating Africa's rich cultural heritage will be among the centre’s most important goals.

The Dubai Metro Museum project will turn Dubai metro stations into

museums, displaying artworks and exhibits on civilisations, inventions and creativity. The project will be carried out in four metro stations in a first phase, each exhibiting a different theme: Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy, inventions, contemporary art and visual art. The metro’s driverless trains will also be decorated as part of the project. With more than 137 million users last year and an average of 500,000 passengers a day, the Dubai Metro Museum project will improve the emirate’s transportation experience and foster art, culture and creativity. The project is expected to be completed in spring 2015, just in time for the beginning of Art Dubai 2015.

On 1 April 2014, the Spanish National Archeological Museum (MAN) in Madrid reopened its doors after a six-year refurbishment project. The 65 million

euro project included comprehensive renovation of the building, new equipment and facilities and a new exhibition design (pictured above). The MAN building, which is fully accessible, is now equipped with a new main entrance, glazed roofs over the patios and the use of an attic space for its library and internal activities. The exhibition space has been enlarged from 7,000 m2 to almost 10,000 m2, allowing visitors to discover the museum collection with more than 13,000 archaeological, historic and artistic objects from prehistoric times to the 21st century. It also contains pieces from Greece, the Ancient Middle East, Egypt and Nubia.

MUSEUM NEWS

he Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux is a new historical and social museum, which opened to the public in 2011. The museum houses a unique collection of 50,000 items and documents from the period 1914-1918. Laid out over 3,000m², its innovative design traces the major changes and upheavals brought about by the First World War. Throughout the four years of the Great War centenary, the museum will present a rich and diverse cultural programme offering activities of interest for everyone, including dance performances, music, film, etc.

During this first year of commemoration, the museum will present two major exhibitions, certified by the Centenary Programme in France:

Join Now! The Entry of the British Empire into the War: from 28 June to 29 December 2014

While Britain's decisive role in the war from 1916 onwards is well-known among the general public, their involvement in the first Battle of the Marne in September 1914, which took place in the Pays de Meaux region where the museum is located, reminds us that the nation was involved in the war right from the beginning of the conflict. Join Now! The Entry of the British Empire into the War will focus on Britain’s military activity during the summer of 1914, including their troop mobilisation to the continent and initial battles in Belgium and Northern France. It will also provide a view into the events of the Battle of the Marne, as well as the Battles of Ypres and Yser which took place between the autumn and winter of 1914. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of events such as conferences, educational and family workshops, concerts, dramatised guided tours and a film debate.

Charley’s War: A British Representation of the Great War: from 8 November to 30 December, 2014

Charley's War, a comic book by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun, depicts the First World War through the eyes of Charley Bourne, a British soldier who finds himself confronted by the hell of trench warfare. The comic book appeared in the 1980s in the magazine Battle Picture Weekly, which later merged with the comic Eagle. It was then rediscovered by Lawrence Lerner, the founder of Delirium Editions, which published the first French version of Charley's War. The Musée de la Grande Guerre has also highlighted some of the original drawings of the comic within its own permanent collections.

Find all the museum's latest news at: www.museedelagrandeguerre.eu

T

NominationsNorthwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) has appointed Pamela Erskine-Loftus as the first director of its new Media Gallery, which will showcase the past, present and future of media and communications with a global and Middle Eastern emphasis.

Erskine-Loftus (pictured) has more than 15 years of experience in establishing new museums in the Gulf and the US, and she is now working closely with a task force to conceptualise the themes and content for the new NU-Q Media Gallery, which she aims to develop into an interactive and digital entity reflecting the values and purposes of the institution. n

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 5

Winspear Opera House, venue of June's New Cities Summit

© T

IM H

UR

SLE

Y

© D

ENN

IS D

E SM

ET

CO

UR

TESY

OF

NU

-Q

© L

OLA

HER

NA

ND

O

Heritage and Archeology rooms at the MAN

6 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014 N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 7

A rtequin Viña del Mar is an educa-tional ar t museum that uses interactive and fun methodology

to engage children in learning about art history. Founded five years ago, the museum is located in the region of Valparaíso, Chile. It offers guided tours and workshops to help young visitors under-stand and connect with its collection, which is composed of painting and sculpture reproductions that provide an overview of western art history.

Artequin Viña del Mar’s aim is to enhance cultural knowledge among its young visitors through activities that inspire them, so that they may discover and create visual art. Its main mission is to educate, which is why it goes beyond simple aesthetic analysis of the artworks on display, incorporating the themes of social development and inclusion in its collections, exhibitions and programmes.

Cultural lessonsAn especially crucial lesson for Latin American children is the abundance of social and cultural diversity on our continent and the importance of respecting these differences. The Artequin Viña del Mar insti-tution considers cultural diversity to be a common heritage that must be understood and protected for the benefit of the entire region. With this aim in mind, the museum hosts temporary educational exhibitions that encourage reflection and respect of cultural diversity through the visual arts.

In 2013 the museum was awarded for its project Who are we? Cultural diversity in Latin America, in the Tercer Premio Iberoamericano de Educación y Museos (Third Ibero-American Prize for Education and Museums) in the "Support for Education Projects and Museums" category. The main objective of the project is to foster respect for Latin American cultural diversity among the children who visit the Artequin Viña del Mar museum,

fomenting social transformation through knowledge and understanding. The ultimate aim is to promote cultural understanding and social harmony, developing a culture of peace and tolerance among Latin American youth.

New projectsThe museum is currently in the planning stages of this project, which is set to be launched next June. The exhibition will include guided to u r s a n d f a m i l y workshops aimed at encouraging dialogue, stimulating reflection and educating visitors on these themes. The tours and workshops will combine observa-tion and analysis of the artwork through interactive and fun audiovisual material to introduce children to the subject, as well as hands-on activities carried out individually or in groups.

Guides specialised in this methodology will lead all the activities, but the exhibit will also include information cards so that visitors will be able to discover the exhibi-tion without a guide. Each educational card

will introduce the contributing artists in a fun way and will invite visitors to carry out a practical activity related to cultural diversity that engages both children and their families. Artequin hopes to attract both children and adults to the exhibition through an educa-tional audiovisual production, which will be shown at the museum. The museum team has an extensive background in developing educational audiovisual productions thanks

to their experience in producing and editing this type of production over the past five years.

T h roughou t t he exhibition, Ar tequin wil l conduct v isi tor surveys and record visitor numbers in order to assess the success

of the project, with the goal of increasing visitor numbers by 5%.

With our various projects, we hope to foster mutual respect by helping the Latin American public to understand their differ-ences, both in the past and the present. We also wish to provide a new perspective on our collections in order to create new connections with our visitors. n

Cultural understanding through artBuilding an educational programme that fosters respect for diversity in Latin America

IN FOCUS MUSEUM COLLECTIONS MAKE CONNECTIONS

A crucial lesson for Latin American children is the abundance of social and cultural diversity on our continent and the impor-tance of respecting these

differences

had some formal artistic training in Paris, when he was kidnapped by the Berber bandit Raisuli in 1904 and held ransom for USD 70,000. American president Theodore Roosevelt sent US battleships and the marines into the Tangier harbour to secure his release, wrongly assuming that he was an American citizen. A romantic version of this story was made into the 1975 film The Wind and the Lion. Thus, this 19th century painting, like many others in the collection, engages different audiences including contemporary movie-goers, art connoisseurs and historians.

Describing his efforts to enhance the museum’s programming and collections in a recent correspondence, TALIM Director Jerry Loftus wrote: “I have created cross-overs from our collections and stories and images from the research library that feed museum exhibits and blog articles. Those in turn spark interest among researchers to delve further into our archives. We have amazing maps and works of art, so we find themes and bring them together on

our wal ls, prov iding tex ts to expla in the historical context.”

Through its collections and programmes, TALIM aims to connect with an array of different visitors, helping them gain insight i n to the h i s to r i c a l , political and cultural

relationship between the US and Morocco. In a 2013 interview, Associate Director Ytimad Bouziane said of this challenge: “I want TALIM to be a light, a beacon of knowledge for the entire region. I want it not only for the intellectuals but also for everyone, and it should portray the real American culture, not the superficial one.” n

T he Tangier American Legation Museum (TALIM*) represents more than bricks and mortar, beauty

and craftsmanship. Its multi-media, multi-disciplinary collections focus on the history of the relationship between the United States and Morocco. Its collections visually reinforce the historical relationship between these two nations and reflect the history of Tangier, while its library holds important political, social and historical documents from both countries.

In 1777, Morocco was the first foreign country to recognise the US when it declared independence. The Legation building that houses the museum was a gift from Moroccan Sultan Moulay Suleiman in 1821. Located in the old medina of Tangier, Morocco, it is the first diplomatic mission acquired by the US, the oldest continually occupied American diplomatic property and the only US National Historic Landmark located outside the country.

The building housed US diplomats for 140 years. By 1976, however, the legation had fallen into disrepair and a group of

former diplomats, Peace Corps volunteers, US ambassadors to Morocco, historians and academics formed the Tangier American Legation Society to restore it. The Tangier American Museum opened its doors on 4 July, 1976 and now serves as a museum, historic house, research library, art gallery, classroom and conference centre.

The collection of paintings, drawings, graphics, maps, rare books and other artefacts focuses on artists who worked in or depicted Morocco and historical documents of Tangier. Over the years, many artists who lived in Tangier, including James and Marguerite McBey (Scotland and US, respectively), Claudio Bravo (Chile) and Elena Prentice (US) have added to Donald Angus’ (US) initial gift of over 300 paintings, carpets, furniture and Moroccan memora-bilia to TALIM’s permanent collection.

Connecting through artThe permanent collection is used in many ways. Free tours are tailored to audiences of tourists, school children, residents, historians and special interest groups. Local women who participate in TALIM’s free literacy classes also benefit from it, as objects from the collection can be integrated into their lesson p lans. The reference library, which contains approximately 8,000 volumes of literature, history and statistics about the region, is another major asset to the community.

Every work of art contains an interesting story, but among the hundreds of paint-ings in the collection, one by Ion Perdicaris reflects dramatic international connec-tions. Arab Groom and Horse might be just another massive, competent genre painting were it not for the history of the artist. Perdicaris came to Tangier in 1872, having

TALIM aims to connect with an array of visitors,

helping them gain insight into the historical, politi-cal and cultural relation-ship between the US and

Morocco

The art of collecting and connectingThe Tangier American Legation Museum seeks out international connections through art

by Carol Malt, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor at the University of West Florida, museum consultant, author and former museum director

*The museum recently changed its name to the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIM) because of its association with the American Institute for Maghreb Studies (AIMS). The acronym TALIM also means ‘education’ in Arabic.

©TA

LIMArab Groom and Horse by Ion Perdicaris, 1880.

Oil on canvas, 71” x 47”

by Macarena Ruiz Balart, Executive Director of the Artequin Viña del Mar museum, Chile

©A

RTE

QU

IN V

IÑA

DEL

MA

R M

USE

UM

AR

CH

IVES

Children take part in a guided visit at the Artequin Viña del Mar museum

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 98 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

BEST PRACTICES EVENTS MANAGEMENT

Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum Lorem ipsum

BEST PRACTICES

Adding new objects to your collec-tions is one of the most important and enjoyable activities in any

museum. It provides the opportunity to broaden the collection and increase the museum’s potential, to take the subject matter in a different direction, or simply to fill in the gaps and make the collection as comprehensive as possible. Whatever the reason, a new acquisition can expand the collection’s appeal to visitors and can present new opportunities for research, learning and display.

Know what you want to acquireIt is important to have a written policy on what you will (and will not) acquire. Many museums have store rooms full of objects that were acquired in the past without due thought or process. This policy may also be called a collecting remit or collections development plan and it should lay out the aim and purpose of the museum, what types of objects it holds and what it may acquire in the future.

A written policy makes it clear to staff, visitors and potential donors what you will accept and what you are looking for. It ensures that any new acquisition will be a good fit with the existing collection and will significantly add to its cultural value. It guarantees that the museum has

the resources to care for the object and that it will be able to use it in exhibitions, programmes or research.

What should be included in your acquisition policy?

• The museum’s purpose or mission statement

• Description of the collections• Types of objects to be collected• Procedure for acquiring objects• Rights and duties of care

Make sure your policy states that you are an ethical institution and will not acquire any item that was illegally obtained. Include a statement saying that the organisation complies with all legal and ethical codes of practice, such as the ICOM Code of Ethics, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and the UNESCO 1970 Convention1.Publishing your acquisi t ion policy on your website sends the message that you are transparent about your activities and are operating to high standards. National Museums Scotland has taken this step by publishing their Collections Development Strategy2, which covers the museum’s aims and

goals, its principles of collecting and its legal, ethical and procedural framework. Leeds Museums & Galleries have also made their Collections Development Policy3 available to the public. This document describes the museum’s collections and its aims for new acquisitions, outlining its procedures and affirming that all of its acquisitions are in accordance with estab-lished legal and ethical codes.

Have a written procedureMany museums have a step-by-step guide for acquisitions which lays out key consid-erations for each stage of the process. A written process should be agreed upon and understood by everyone. This ensures that no vital element is overlooked, speci-fying the roles and responsibilities of all of the museum staff and whether or not the item must be approved by a committee. All decisions should be signed and dated.

What should an acquisition procedure contain?

• Confirmation that the current owner has legal ownership

• Verification of the provenance history of the object, guaranteeing that there is no risk of theft, spoliation or illegal excavation or export

Freda Matassa, FRSA, is Director of Matassa Toffolo Ltd, a company providing advice, guidance and hands-on practical help on all aspects of collections management. Former Head of Collections Management at Tate Galleries and co-founder of the European Registrars Conference, she is a member of several international committees for collection mobility and standards. An international teacher and lecturer, her latest book, Organizing Exhibitions: A Handbook, was published this month.

Creating your Acquisition Policy

• Evaluation of the current condition of the object

• Assessment of the impact the acquisition will have on the existing collection

• Consideration of how the object will be used• Estimation of the costs involved – price of

the object, transport, conservation, etc.• Terms and conditions

Be precise about exactly what you are acquiring. For example, is it a unique item or part of a series? Does it include a stand or a plinth? Is associated equipment such as mobile technology included in the acquisition? New acquisitions should be assigned a number and entered into a database or accession register. Many accession regis-ters date back to the establishment of the museum and may be the only existing record of items that have entered the collection.

Document everythingThe acquisitioning process may be your only chance to obtain all the necessary

information about an object, so make sure to take full advantage of it. Ask the current owner for details such as object history, documenta-tion, invoices, copies of articles and any other relevant information, including stories about the object. Examine the item and produce a report on its condition with recommendations for handling, storage and display.Catalogue information can be as detailed as you would like. In addition to covering basic information such as the title, creation date, artist or maker, dimensions and materials, it can also include the item’s provenance history, condition, type of acquisition, exhibition history, copyright, insurance value, old labels, as well as information about the reverse side of the item. Do not forget to take a photograph.A signed agreement with the donor or vendor is essential. It should list terms and conditions and guarantee that this person or organisa-tion is the sole legal owner of the object. Try to obtain total rights for the use of the item and if it is a work of art or design, to obtain copyright so that you can reproduce the item.Developing an acquisition policy is essential

to maintaining a well-functioning museum and one that holds itself to high ethical s t a n d a r d s . E a c h institution must find a policy that works well for them, according to their size, focus and goa ls. These general guidelines and examples can help provide a model fo r pu t t i ng these important acquisition procedures in place. n

© F

ERN

AN

DO

VEL

ASC

O ©

SIR

APH

OL

- FO

TOLI

A.C

OM

CFA_Ad.indd 1 4/2/2014 11:05:09 PM

Voracious curiosity about emotions and eclectic design capacity: Asteria, a new way to communicate about the museum in the museum.

For 20 years, Asteria has been transforming ideas into scenographies of interactive and multimedia exhibitions in Italy and France. Asteria makes use of the linguistic syncretism of new media in all stages of scenic conception, touching visitors with emotions that lead to understanding.

Asteria Multimedia, the museum as you have never seen it before!

1Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, 19702National Museums Scotland Collect ions Development Strategy, www.nms.ac.uk/p d f / N M S C o l l e c t i o n s Development Strategy 2012.pdf3Leeds Museums & Galleries Collect ions Development Policy www.leeds.gov.uk /museumsandgalleries/Releasedocuments

10 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

Fostering a shared memoryMuseums can offer a new perspective on the legacy of the First World War during this year’s centenary by Etienne François, Professor of History at the Freie Universität, Berlin and the Université Paris-I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), and Vice-President of the Scientific Committee of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 11

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

When I was a child, there was a phrase adults often used to refer to something which, in their eyes, belonged to a bygone era when everything had had a place and appeared to be part of a stable and well-established structure. "It was before 1914" they would

say, usually adding "back in the good old days.”Nothing could better describe the break with temporality and civilisation that the First World War represented for millions of people both within Europe and beyond, comparable in this respect to the other great universal break with temporality and civilisation that had taken place little over a century before, the French Revolution.

What made this war more significant was – and this can never be repeated enough – that it was a world war. It was precisely that from the very beginning, because not only did it bring nations into conflict with each other, but empires as well: the British Empire and the French Empire, with their vast possessions under various territo-rial designations (dominions, protectorates, colonies) extending to every other continent, not to mention Germany with its embryonic colonial empire,Belgium with the Congo, and the continental empires – primarily Russia and the Ottoman Empire – with their possessions outside Europe in Africa and Asia. This term became all the more valid when the conflict expanded, and China, Italy (also a colonial power), Japan, Portugal, the United States and several Latin American countries entered the war.

Perspectives on the 20th centurySince the end of the last century this caesura has typically, and primarily, been presented as a disaster, even specifically as "the great seminal catastrophe of the 20th century," an expression coined in 1979 by US diplomat and historian George F. Kennan, and subsequently debased through overuse. It was a disaster that ushered in the "century of extremes" as defined by British historian Eric Hobsbawm, a century of iron, fire and blood from Sarajevo to Sarajevo and which was also marked by the "Second Thirty Years War" (in the words of Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle), the era of totalitarianism and genocide, the decline of Europe and the Cold War, the end of which was sealed by the implosion of the Soviet bloc and the collapse of the great utopias of the future.

This negative perspective of the 20th century, which is seen above all as a century of destruction, of mass murder and catas-trophes in which each was of equal horror, is one that has become even more deeply accepted today. War in our globalised world is no longer seen as a last resort in cases of conflict and is greatly discredited. The European Union is even convinced to have banned

the fatality of war and to have entered a “post-heroic” age. The war of 1914-1918, in a way, has never seemed so distant.

Yet, paradoxical as it may seem, war has never been so close. Not only because the distance of time allows us to see it from a more impassive perspective, but also because the fact of living in a profoundly different environment characterised by both the de-legitimisation of war, as well as by increased movement and exchanges across the globe, has made us more attentive to both the global dimensions of this conflict and the multiple legacies it leaves behind, legacies which continue to make their mark on the present. If this war, with its 17 million military and civilian casual-ties, was a disaster on a scale previously unknown, it was also the laboratory where the future history of Europe and the world – and

consequently our modernity – was forged. It affected not only military aspects, with a new role given to aviation, the invention of tanks and the industrialisation of war, but also civilian aspects, with the spread of the welfare state. Its effect extended to politics with the rise of totalitarian ideologies and revolutionary movements, and the progress of democracy

and collapse of continental empires, such as Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires, as well as the beginnings of American hegemony. It even touched the cultural sector with the rise of cinema and mass culture, Dadaism, Surrealism and Cubism, 12-tone composition and serialism in music, among others. When it comes to measuring the extent of the disruption caused by the war and the continuity between the post-war era and today, nothing is more telling than comparing the pre-1914 map of Europe with the map of post-war Europe, and also with the Europe of today.

Tracing the warBeyond the reshaping of the political map of Europe and much of the world, there are countless visible traces of this war, from the areas devastated by the conflict, notably on the Western front, to the war memorials erected in almost every city and town with their endless lists of victims. Even more numerous than the immediately visible traces are the tangible and intangible vestiges found in collective memory as well as in individual and family memories: stories and recollections transmitted from generation to generation; trauma and wounds of survivors; relics stored by each family directly affected by the war; photographs and films documenting the reality of the conflict; narratives written both during the war and afterwards; works of propaganda, history books and school books containing as many different and opposing interpretations of the conflict; and works of fiction and artistic creations.

The First World War was immediately perceived by contempo-raries to be an extraordinary event in the broadest sense of the term,

WWI was the laboratory where the future history of

Europe and the world – and consequently our modernity

– was forged

© IW

M

Oppy Wood by John Nash, 1917

12 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

12 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014 N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 13

whose memory deserved to be preserved as fully as possible for it to be better transmitted to posterity, owing not only to its global dimension, but also to its totally new character and the immense sacrifice it entailed. Comparable in this respect to other major conflicts that had previously torn Europe and the world apart (the Thirty Years War, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars), the First World War was also a war that will be remembered for its mobilisation of all the available resources at the time, particularly the most modern.

Testimonies to the war include the great many memorials built along the various fronts; the museums that were opened even before the conflict ended on battle sites and in the capitals of different countries; and the names given to streets and squares in every country to keep alive the memory of battles, generals and regiments. Large monuments were erected to the glory of soldiers and their leaders, such as the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, or the imposing Tannenberg memorial built between 1924 and 1927 in Germany where Field Marshal Hindenburg was later buried. Commemorative ceremonies and anniversaries were established in virtually every country, with their own rituals, flags and the active participation of civilian, military and religious authorities, veterans and the general public.

The last survivor of the approximately 60 million people who took part in what is still called in many countries the "Great War," was Florence Green of the UK, a member of the Women's Royal Air Force who died in 2012. However, despite the passing of first-hand witnesses, the memory of the First World War is still alive in many countries. In France, the UK and Poland, 11 November is a national

A museum perspective

by Kenneth L. Smith-Christmas, former Director of Exhibits and Collections at the National Museum of the US Army, and board member of the ICOM International Committee of Museums and Collections of Arms and Military History (ICOMAM)

Renewed interest in the First World War, and its centenary, introduces new exhibitions and upgrades old ones

M ilitary museums, or ‘war’ museums, have their origins in the medieval and renaissance armouries that occasion-ally were opened to the public, and they have been

educating visitors about military history, through the use of artefact collections and interpretation, since the 19th century. During the cataclysmic nightmare that, at the time, was referred to as The Great War, La Grande Guerre, or Der Weltkrieg, several estab-lished museums, like the musée de l’Armée in Paris, chronicled its progress, while others, like the Imperial War Museum in London,

were founded to commemorate the war and explore its impact on society. At the end of the war, some museums that were wholly dedicated to the subject, like the Liberty Memorial Museum in the United States, opened with great fanfare, but public interest in most of them began to wane by the 1930s. When World War II ended, the world focused instead on that horrific event, and the history of the Second World War eclipsed whatever interest there was in what then became known as the First World War or World War I. Indeed, the semi-centenary of World War I passed without as much as a

holiday; in Serbia, 9 May is marked as Victory Day; and for Australia, New Zealand and the Baltic countries, the anniversary of the war coincides with the birth of their nations. In many cases, this resonant memory is also a disputed memory. This is the case between Italians and the German-speaking community of the Alto Adige (the former South Tyrol), between Walloons and Flemings in Belgium, between French Canadians and English-speaking Canadians, between Turks and Armenians, between Turks and Greeks, and between Hungarians and the countries under Hungarian rule until 1918. This war in particular, and its ensuing treaties, gave rise to new outbreaks of conflict that continue to this day, especially in the Middle East with the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and instability in Iraq and Syria.

As can be seen, this type of memory is the antithesis of a common memory. Above all it is divided and national, with differ-ences in intensity and tone between one country and the next, reflected by the different kinds of remembrance events still seen today from country to country. It incorporates and updates the "great narratives" still marked by their origins and which still imbue the war with national importance. Some have a greater international dimension than others, but this dimension is often due to a continu-ation of alliances established during the conflict, as can be seen in most museums dedicated to the First World War or those that dedicate a space to it. Transnational representations of the war, such as that at the Historial de la grande guerre (Museum of the Great War) in Peronne, France which gives equal importance to former adversaries’ perceptions, experiences and memory of the war, remain the exception.

Opportunities for museumsFor all museums, the centenary of the beginning of the First World War represents both a challenge and a unique opportunity. It is a challenge, insofar as it is an occasion for museums to renew their collections and representations, to modernise them by taking into account not only the new European and global context but also new historiographical trends and the needs of visitors (especially younger ones). It is an opportunity that enables them, through both the commemorative context and the focus on commemoration by governments (on local, regional, national and international levels), to acquire new objects, to offer a new perspective and a critical look at their own history and more generally at the presence and methods of the past, and to promote a transnational representation of the war, thereby fostering a better understanding of what it was and paving the way towards reconciliation.

One hundred years after the outbreak of the First World War, the time has come to turn a divided memory into a shared one. n

1914-1916 room at the Historial de la grande guerre museum, Peronne, France

©F.

LAG

AR

DE

This tableau, in the National Museum of the Marine Corps, features U.S. Marines and their Ford Model T light delivery truck at the battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918. It is one of the many exciting new exhibits on the First World War found in military museums aroung the world.

©C

OU

RTE

SY O

F O

WEN

CO

NN

ER, N

ATIO

NA

L M

USE

UM

OF

THE

MA

RIN

E C

OR

PS

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

whisper, with only a smattering of books and magazine articles to mark its passage, while the 50th anniversary of World War II saw commemorations, publications, re-enactments, and hundreds of special museum exhibits worldwide.

However, interest in the history of World War I has increased exponentially since the 1990s, and this renewed interest has led to the upgrading and revision of exhibits in venerable long-standing museums, the building of exciting new exhibits in newer museums, and the inauguration of special commemorations in museums across the globe. Most of these museum exhibits are in Europe and North America, but others reach around the world. While it is impossible to mention all of these institutions and to discuss all their exhibitions and programmes in detail here, many new and thought-provoking offerings can be highlighted. Since the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London was founded during the war specifically to collect artefacts from the battlefronts and educate the British people about the war, it may be a good place to start.

European museum eventsThe exhibits at the IWM have always been a must-see for anyone who has an interest in World War I. Right now, the museum is under-going a massive renovation, but will open again in July 2014 as a salute to the centenary of the First World War. In terms of artefacts, the best of the best will again be on display there, and the galleries will include such rare objects as the Mark V tank. While in London, the exhibits at the National Army Museum also require a visit. Displays there include life-like uniformed figures in realistic settings, and there is a constant turnover of special exhibitions.

Farther north, the Royal Armouries in Leeds should not be missed. Not only do they have sobering and informative exhibits on the First World War, but the museum also features programmes by trained interpreters in the galleries. Even farther north, the Scottish War Museum in Edinburgh Castle pays homage to the memory of the thousands of casualties from Scotland in very reverent terms. It even displays a relic bottle from the Iolaire, a troopship bringing the survivors of the Great War back to their homes on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, which in the early hours of New Years' day 1919 when within sight of the main town, struck a rock and sank, drowning most of the returning veterans. It is one of the most heart-rending stories of the ’14-’18 War. The Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum in Glasgow has an especially moving exhibit on the Great War, featuring audio recordings of combat veterans. Across the Irish Sea, the permanent exhibition Soldiers and Chiefs at the National Museum of Ireland’s Collins Barracks site uses a very clever juxtaposition of the history of Ireland’s contributions to the British Army in World War I and the rise of the Irish Nationalist movement.

14 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

The German invasion of Belgium in the summer of 1914 brought the British Empire into the war, and it is fitting that the Royal Army and Military History Museum in Brussels devotes a large part of its energy to the memory of the war. The museum’s galleries under-went a major renovation a few years ago, and much of their vast collection of WWI material is on view for the visitors. Elsewhere in the country, there are numerous small museums located near or on the battlefields that offer a look into the conflict, mostly through the use of relic artefacts. Across the border in France, the recently updated First World War museum in the town of Peronne, on the Somme battlefield, uses an interesting exhibition technique to connect the museum visitor with the lives of the soldiers from all countries that served on the Western Front. In Paris, the imposing musée de l’Armée has permanent galleries devoted to the war, and they include such memorable artefacts as one of the famous taxicabs that were instrumental in the French victory at the first battle of the Marne in 1914.

In Germany, the Military History Museum in Dresden re-opened a few years ago and has since become the country’s National Military Museum. The new museum concept focuses on the causes and consequences of war and violence, presenting 800 years of military history in Germany, including coverage of World War I. In the south of the country, the Wehrgeschichtliches Museum in Rastatt has been known for its World War I collection since it opened in 1956. Its current exhibits are replete with artefacts, but also have realistic tableaux of uniformed figures in trench settings. Also in the area

is the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt, which has several new exhibitions that are wholly devoted to the 100th anniversary of World War I. In Berlin, the German Historical Museum is offering a complete overview of the war, with exhibitions, publications, lectures and panel discussions (see p. 18).

Vienna’s long-standing National Military Museum highlights the diversity of the soldiers and sailors that served in the Austro-Hungarian forces, as well as displaying the artefacts related to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo —the event that sparked the war.

Austria’s main adversary in the war boasts one of the first museums dedicated to World War I, and the Italian War Museum in Rovereto has been one of the most recognised institutions on the subject since opening in 1921. Currently, the museum is featuring several new exhibitions on various aspects of the war, in addition to its standing galleries.

Serbia’s cultural institutions including the National Library and National Museum are also launching a number of exhibitions and activities to highlight the country’s key role in WWI and the exten-sive loss of life it suffered (see p. 20).

Farther east, and not too far from the famous battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish Military Museum in Istanbul has detailed exhibits on

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 15

Museums will be at the forefront of presenting the full and balanced story of

World War I

that battle and the other campaigns in the Middle East during World War I. It, too, is a highly rated tourist attraction, and has been awarded with exemplary reviews by travellers to Turkey.

Beyond EuropeAlthough South Africa’s National Museum of Military History (part of the Ditsong Museum Complex in Johannesburg) was founded in 1947 to commemorate South Africa’s contribution to the British Commonwealth Forces in World War II, the museum's collection includes a recreated trench scene, and other artefacts from World War I. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra is recognised not only for its evocative and realistic exhibits, but also for the inclusion of the provenance on nearly every object on display in its galleries (see p. 17). Although it is not easy to get there, New Zealand’s National Army Museum on its north island certainly is worth a visit, and it currently has an exhibition on the formation of the Australian-New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during World War I, in addition to its standing WWI exhibits. Also in New Zealand, the Whanganui Regional Museum will focus on the war stories of local soldiers (see p. 19).

Moving eastwards across the seas, the National Museum of the US Marine Corps, in Virginia, has award-winning exhibits featuring

state-of-the-art cast figures in World War I contextual settings, as does the US Army’s National Infantry Museum in Georgia. Both of these museums opened just a few years ago. However, the focal point of World War I museums in the United States are the completely rejuvenated Liberty Memorial Museum in Kansas City, Missouri and the First Division “Cantigny” Museum near Chicago. The Cantigny Museum had set the standard for American military museums when it opened its walk-through trench experience in the 1990s. Finally, across the border in Canada, the new Canadian War Museum in Ottawa draws on its incredible collection of artefacts to support new and thought-provoking exhibits on the subject (see p 16).

The First World War’s impact on today’s society is finally being realised and understood by people worldwide, thanks to many new works of historical fiction that are set in that period, such as books, films, and television series, like the immensely popular Downton Abbey. However, museums will be at the forefront of presenting the full and balanced story. While hundreds, if not thousands, of history museums—large and small— will be paying homage to the war through temporary exhibits over the next four years, it will be the world’s military or ‘war’ museums that will be able to offer in-depth coverage of the subject. n

16 ICOMNEWS | N°3 2013 16 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

“You in Canada […] cannot realise at all what war is like. You must see it and live it. You must see the barren deserts war has made of once fertile country […] the dead on the field,

freakishly mutilated. […] Until you’ve lived this, you cannot know,” wrote Canadian artist Frederick Varley, a witness to the carnage on the Western Front in 1918.

Varley is one of 49 artists whose work is featured in the Canadian War Museum’s exhibition Witness – Canadian Art of the First World War (10 April to 21 September, 2014). It examines how Canadians captured their First World War experiences in art, both at home and overseas, whether as official war artists or as soldiers in the field.

This innovative exhibition presents over 50 diverse artworks. From massive canvases completed in studios in the UK and Canada during and immediately after the war, to intimate sketches and drawings made in trenches and prisoner-of-war camps, these works expand our visual understanding of the personal and national impact of this major event in Canadian history. Most of the soldier art has never been displayed publicly.

In doing research for the exhibition, some striking examples of soldier art were uncovered which demonstrate how both official war artists and soldier artists made many of the same choices as they grappled with the challenge of depicting the war. Some sketched

Witness at the Canadian War Museum

Marking the centenary around the world

by Amber Lloydlangston, Ph.D, University of Ottawa, and Curator at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa

precisely what they saw to create an accurate record. Others played with scale and perspective to communicate a particular message. Many painted the landscapes of battle, peopled with soldiers and ravaged by trenches and shell holes. Yet few made the dead their subject. Protective of grieving families and others at home who had not witnessed the human devastation caused by combat, they instead incorporated dead trees and destroyed buildings to symbolise the enormous human cost.

Witness is presented concurrently with Transformations – A. Y. Jackson and Otto Dix, which explores how the First World War shaped the artistic careers of two famous soldier-artists, the first Canadian and the second German.

These are the first presentations in a series of exhibitions and events developed by the Canadian War Museum to mark the centenary of the First World War. Over the next five years, Canada’s National Museum of Military History will highlight, through a variety of different perspectives and programmes, the ways in which this war shaped Canada and Canadians. nFor more information: www.warmuseum.ca

Museums the world over are planning exhibitions, symposiums and other events to commemorate the centenary of World War I. While it is impossible to give an exhaustive survey of the broad spectrum of commemorations planned around this theme, this section highlights a selection of notable ones in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Serbia and the UK. explores the emotional response to war in private and public lives.

In addition to hosting travelling exhibitions from the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and the Australian War Memorial’s Remember Me: the Lost Diggers of Vignacourt photographic exhibi-tion for its regional audiences, Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, the largest regional museum in Australia, is developing an exhibition called Ballarat at War. The exhibit will explore the enduring commemoration of the loss of so many from a typical regional Australian city.

A major travelling exhibition will also be led by the Australian War Memorial in collaboration with the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the National Museum of Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive and the Queensland Museum. The exhibi-tion will visit regional hubs around the nation during 2016-18, and feature large technology objects, multimedia experiences, commu-nity programmes and commemorative events in telling the story of the home and fighting fronts.

In 2015 the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney will open a new Royal Australian Navy Pavilion to enrich interpretation of its floating collection of naval vessels. A major travelling exhibition, The Test of War—the RAN in World War I—, will draw on objects from local and international museums to explore the enigmatic stories of Australia’s two submarines in World War One—the AE1 and the AE2—both lost in action mysteriously in New Guinea and the Dardanelles respectively.

Heading South, History SA’s blog platform called ‘With every good wish’ compiles primary source materials about South Australians in the war. It is also developing, in collaboration with Flinders University, an exhibition on enemy subjects interned during the war and a symposium on South Australia on the eve of war.

Meanwhile, the Western Australia Museum in Albany is leading the development of a new interpretive centre overlooking the spectacular King George Sound where the first convoy of Anzac troops departed in November 1914.

And finally, across the sea, the Tasmanian Museum and Gallery is developing It will be splendid when we are all together again, about Tasmanians in the war and the impact of grieving and loss, whilst the Queen Victoria Art Gallery and Museum, Launceston, will use its collection to tell the story of the impact of the war on people from northern Tasmania. n

T hree themes underpin the response of museums in Australia to the Centenary of the First World War: commemoration, collaboration and community engagement. In Australia,

communities are seeking to connect with their forebears of 100 years ago to understand their response to the conflict and the war’s role in shaping the destiny of our nations.

Several national institutions holding personal service military unit records are creating online resources to share this information with the public. For instance, the National Archives of Australia's Anzac Connections and Discovering Anzacs resources will provide search tools linking archive and collection databases to create rich biographical resources.

Significant projects to identify and commemorate Indigenous service personnel are also underway at the Australian War Memorial (in collaboration with the Australian National University) and at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

In Melbourne, Museum Victoria will provide online access to collections featured in commemorative programmes and exhibi-tions. In Sydney, the Powerhouse Museum will provide images of First World War uniforms and fashion from public and private collections through the online Australian Dress Register, while a microsite by Sydney Living Museums will tell stories of individuals that are linked to the historic buildings in its collection, including expressions of patriotism, pacifism and war-weariness.

In terms of exhibitions, the largest will be presented at the Australian War Memorial’s refurbished First World War galleries. It will tell the story of Australians in each of the theatres of war and the significance of Australia’s contribution to the Allied victory. It will incorporate a more cohesive timeline in its layout than the gallery it replaces, and explore why Australia responded to the war as it did in 1914, the consequences of so many casualties, and the renewed focus on remembering its significance today.

The museum’s temporary exhibition, Anzac Voices, uses its private record archives to tell remarkable stories of individuals in the war. It is also working with the Australian National University to present an international symposium on Gallipoli 1915: a century on.

Museum Victoria’s World War One: the Impact and the Aftermath focuses on the social and personal impacts of the war, while the National Museum of Australia’s suite of public programmes onsite and online to support its exhibition What did you do in the War?

by Tim Sullivan, Assistant Director, Branch Head National Collection, Australian War Memorial, Canberra

First World War Commemorations in Australia

The Sunken Road by Frederick Varley, 1919

© B

EAV

ERB

RO

OK

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 17

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 1918 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

W hat has remained of the First World War, the centenary of which Europe and the world are

commemorating this year? How can the events of this “great seminal catastrophe” of the 20th century be conveyed from a present-day perspective? The presentation of the war years in a museum is a particular challenge – especially in Germany, where the remembrance of the First World War has been largely overshadowed by that of the Second World War.

The Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) in Berlin is participating in the public commemora-tion of the beginning of the war 100 years ago with a major exhibition, publications, numerous book presentations, scholarly lectures and panel discussions.

The special exhibition, 1914-1918: The First World War, which will run from 29 May to 30 November, 2014, is the only presentation in Germany to offer an overview of the war. It takes us back to the events of the conflict and the defining experiences and occur-rences that accompanied it. Under layers of remembrance – and forgetfulness – the exhibition aims to uncover the mindset of contemporaries from a wide-ranging European and global perspective: that of the monarchs, politicians and military officers, but above all that of the millions of soldiers and civilians.

Visitors to the exhibition can gain insight into the complex background and course of the war in many different places. Following a chronological-geographical order, the exhibition takes us to the Marne, to Brussels, Tannenberg, Galicia, German East Africa, Ypres, Gallipoli, Gorlice

Remembering the First World War at the Deutsches Historisches Museumby Agnes Fuchsloch, Media and Public Relations, Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin

and Tarnów, Verdun, to the Somme, the Isonzo, to Petrograd, Berlin and Amiens. All these places were important stations and locations in the war. They point to overarching developments: the modernisation of war technology with its consequences for the people, the world-wide war economy, the global expansion of the fighting, and the totalisation of the war which implicated the logic of the “home front.”

The German-language publication 1914-1918: Der Erste Weltkrieg in 100 Objekten aus dem Deutschen Historischen Museum, which accompanies the exhibi-tion, focuses on 100 objects from the museum’s collections. Texts on the individual exponents tell of the destruction of Europe, the horror of the battlefields and the hardships on the home front. The past events, but also the fates of individuals, are reflected in these objects.

In an accompanying programme historians and academics will present their latest findings, and panel discussions will

examine the meaning of the First World War for the culture of remembrance in the present day and for the future of Europe. In cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office, the German Historical Museum is also organising a series of events during which experts will offer their appraisals of the role of diplomacy in 1914.

In addition to a multimedia tour for adults offered in German, English, French and Russian as well as an extensive choice of other tours through the exhibition, there will be history and film workshops, a multimedia tour and brochures for the younger genera-tion as well as a film series in the museum cinema (Zeughauskino). The museum’s Educat ion and Commun ica t ions Department will also take part in the workshop, Europe 14/14, organised by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) and other partner institutions, an event that will bring together more than 400 young people from all over Europe to examine the First World War and its consequences from 1914 until the present day. n

You only have to visit the New Zealand government 's WW100 website (http://ww100.govt.nz/activities-and-projects) to get an idea of the range and number of

exhibitions, events, activities, research, digitisation and restoration projects that New Zealanders are planning to commemorate the centenary of World War I over the next five years. Museums are very much part of this process.

New Zealand has more than 500 museums, and most are involved in WW100 at a national or local level. Museums in New Zealand, even the large national museums and galleries, tend to serve local interests and communities, and this localised profile extracts a local response to events of national or global significance.

The reasons for this are clear. The impact of World War I on New Zealand was major, and continues to be so. About 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas, from a population of only one million at the time. About 18,000 died and over 40,000 were wounded. Around one in five servicemen did not return home. This affected family life, population growth, manpower for major industries and how people thought about their place in the world for generations afterwards. It especially affected the small towns and rural districts that were the backbone of New Zealand life. Just about every New Zealand set t lement, large and small, still has a

World War I memorial at its heart.

Local expectations drove the Whanganui

Regional Museum’s development of a major WW100 exhibition project, which will tell the Whanganui s to r y o f the

war. Bi l l y Connell’s War – Whanganui in World War I

Commemorating WWI on a local level in New Zealandby Libby Sharpe, Curator of Cultural History, Whanganui Regional Museum, New Zealand

will use a collection of World War I photograph albums in an exhibi-tion that will serve as a vehicle for telling the story of how the war impacted Whanganui residents. The photographs were taken by Christopher William (Billy) Connell, a Whanganui man who enlisted in 1914 and left with the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, the first large transport of New Zealand servicemen to be sent to the war. He was in camp in Egypt before serving in Gallipoli, and was involved in the Chunuk Bair offensive in August 1915, for which he earned a military medal. He became ill soon afterwards and while on leave in 1916, he had a motorcycle accident in the UK which left him disabled. After returning home to Whanganui, he received his military medal from the Governor in 1917. In November 1918 he fell ill with influenza and died. Billy Connell’s story resembles that of many other men in World War I. The photographs he took while in service – often illegally – illustrate the life of an ordinary soldier.

The exhibition will run in conjunction with a series of educational and public programmes and events, linking with other activities organised as part of the Whanganui WWI Centenary Programme. In addition, photographs from the Connell albums will be uploaded to the museum’s website and will in turn provide links to other local commemoration activities and events. n

British prisoners of war on the Western Front

© S

IFTU

NG

Many of Billy Connell's photographs show the lighter side of being a solider in World War I, as in this image of soldiers looking out of their tent in camp

© W

HA

NG

AN

UI R

EGIO

NA

L M

USE

UM

SPECIAL REPORT TRAINING MUSEUM PROFESSIONALSSPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

T he Imperial War Museum in London, UK, was founded in 1917 with the aim of creating a national museum to record the events of the First World War. The museum is unique in

that its intention was to collect and display records of civilian and military experiences exclusively during World War I.

To mark the centenary, from 19 July, 2014, IWM London will open ground-breaking new First World War Galleries, along with a newly configured atrium showcasing IWM’s iconic large objects. The new galleries will draw on IWM’s First World War collections, which are among the richest and most comprehensive in the world. Weapons and uniforms, diaries, letters and souvenirs, will be placed alongside photographs, art and film – many of which have never been seen before – as well as a brand-new recreated trench.

IWM London’s transformed atrium will also be opened, exhibiting large object displays. The atrium will showcase nine iconic objects including a Harrier, Spitfire and a V2 rocket from above as well as a T34 tank and a Reuters LandRover, which was damaged by a rocket attack in Gaza.

IWM will also present the largest exhibition and first major retro-spective of British First World War art for almost 100 years. Truth and Memory (running until 8 March, 2015) will use artworks drawn mainly from IWM’s national collection. This exhibition will assess the immediate impact and enduring legacy of British art from the First World War.

The Imperial War Museums group are also leading a vibrant, four-year programme of cultural activities across the world for events marking the First World War Centenary. To date, the Centenary Partnership includes over 2,485 participating not-for-profit cultural and educational organisations from 45 countries across the world. n Details about the programme can be found at www.1914.org

New galleries for the Imperial War Museumby the Imperial War Museum, London, UK

The new atrium at IWM London

© IW

M ©

FO

STER

+PA

RTN

ERS

by Sladjana Bojković, Museum Advisor at the Historical Museum of Serbia, Belgrade

Serbia commemorates World War I

D uring this year of national commemorations of the First World War, a visit to le musée de l'Armée (the Army Museum) in Paris, France is a must.

A key institution in military history, the musée de l’Armée will offer a permanent tour at its Invalides site. The First World War is fully narrated through the 1,500m² exhibition space devoted to the period. Throughout the tour, visitors can discover everyday objects from soldiers that evoke their individual destinies and common adventures. French and foreign uniforms –some of which belonged to relevant military figures – arms, pictures, films and graphic works help visitors to better understand this major event in history. Together with their explanatory texts, these objects highlight the historical moments that drove European countries to four years of war and led the world into the Second World War.

Visitors can also visit the Dôme des Invalides, which hosts Maréchal Foch’s tomb and a plaque in honour of the last poilu (the name given to French soldiers during WWI), Lazare Ponticelli. Other commemorative plaques can also be seen on the upper galleries around the court of honour. Finally, visitors can finish their tour at the Charles de Gaulle

Memorial, the first part of which deals with the First World War period. The exhibition Vu du front, représenter la Grande Guerre (View from

the front, representing the Great War) will be one of the largest events at the end of this year. It will focus on how contemporary individuals and artists represented the front from the beginning to the end of the war. The exhibition is organised in conjunction with the Bibliothèque de documentation internationale contemporaine (BDIC).

By showing the approaches of the different participants, be it French, German, Italian, English or Russian, the exhibition will invite visitors to follow the evolution of the various points of view through paintings, notes, drawings, pictures, films and objects. As a follow-up to this exhibition, a symposium will be held by the BDIC, as well as conferences, film screenings and concerts. In the summer, a special exhibition will be specifically devoted to the history of the Hôtel des Invalides during the Great War, while a section called Journal of the Great War, will be available online each month on the museum’s website. n

All about the Great War at the musée de l'Arméeby musée de l’Armée (the Army Museum), Paris, France

Le taxi de la Marne in the third Republic spaces in the musée de l’Armée

A s the first truly global conflict, a war in which more British, French and Italian soldiers died than in the Second World War, and during which Serbia paid for her great victory by

losing almost one third of her total population, the First World War will be commemorated widely in Serbia during the entire year of 2014. Among the wide range of activities planned, a great number of museums and cultural institutions, both in Belgrade and beyond, will mark events from the Great War, which was considered in some ways to be the twilight of human civilisation.

Commemoratory activities were inaugurated on 14 February by the Archives of Serbia, which organised the exhibition World War I in the Documents of the Archives of Serbia. The exhibition presents selected documents connected with Austria-Hungarian policy

towards Serbia and the Balkans at the beginning of the 20th century; Serbia’s military preparations in early 1914 and events in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 24–27 June, 1914; the Sarajevo assassination and the July crisis; and the beginning of the war and the Great Powers’ relationship with Serbia. Of particular interest is the note sent by the Serbian envoy in Sarajevo about the assassination, the reports of Serbian diplomatic officers on international reactions to this, the original July Ultimatum delivered to Serbia by Austria-Hungary and the Serbian response, as well as the original cable with which Austria-Hungary declared war on 28 July. On that day, the Central Archive Exhibition will be simultaneously launched in Belgrade, Banja Luka, Andrićgrad and Trebinje.

The National Library of Serbia will also contribute to the

©PA

RIS

- MU

SÉE

DE

L'AR

MÉE

, DIS

T. R

MN

-GR

AN

D P

ALA

IS / P

ASC

AL

SEG

RET

TE

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 21

centenary through its Great War Digital Library project (as part of the Europeana Collection*), aimed at giving public access to hundreds of thousands of publications printed during World War I, available so far only in public libraries, the contents of which will help us create our own view of the collective and individual experiences of the participating members of the two opposing alliances.

The exhibition, Light in the Darkness of World War I, organised by the National Museum in Belgrade, will display works of the highest quality from the museum’s collection of 20th century Yugoslav paint-ings. Selecting the paintings made during the war and by painters whose creativity was in one way or another marked by these events at the beginning of the 20th century, the authors wanted to point out how destruction, poverty and everything that war brings affected

the artists who had transferred their emotions onto canvas. The country’s main museum exhibition, Serbia in 1914, will be

organised by the Historical Museum of Serbia and supported by the National Military Museum and other institutions that have relevant materials within their collections. Although the focus will be on Serbian military victories during the first year of the war, including the Battle of Tzer, which was the first allied victory in the war, the exhibition will also offer insights into other aspects of the war. n

*A digital collection of material from the national library collections of 10 libraries and other partners in eight countries that found themselves on different sides of the historic conflict

20 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

bdic.fr musee-armee.fr

British troops parade in front of Bethlem Hospital, a building that now houses the IWM London

Tru Vue®, the Tru Vue logo, and UltraVue® Laminated Glass are registered trademarks of Tru Vue, Inc, McCook, IL USA. © 2013 Copyright Tru Vue, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tru Vue proudly introduces a new option for your laminated glass needs. UltraVue® Laminated Glass provides 99% UV protection and anti-reflective optical viewing on water white glass all with the safety and security of a laminate. It offers a reliable and high-quality alternative that meets all your aesthetic and conservation needs. Created with the trust, dependability and high-performance you expect from Tru Vue.

anti-reflective

I

I

UV protection

I

crystal clear safety & security

Introducing UltraVue® Laminated Glass

For more information or to request samples, visit www.tru-vue.com/ICOM

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

Where fact and fiction meetReinwardt Academy students will set out on a WWI-based experiential learning journey during next October’s study trip to Belgium and the UKby Ruben Smit M.A., Lecturer in Interpretation and Informal Learning at the Reinwardt Academy, the Netherlands

L earning in the widest sense of the word involves your brain and body, deals with cognition and emotion,

is concrete and abstract, multi-layered and multi-sensory, more often experience-based then not, and needs both active participating and reflective modes of learning1. Museums h a v e b e e n m o r e experience-focused for the last two decades or so, and many museums now offer emotional story lines in often well-designed settings. However, some are more successful than others. Cognitive scientist Guy Claxton has studied how people make sense of the world and came up with a learning toolbox2 where he discerns four strategic depositions that people use while learning:

1. Intellectual: use of language, reasoning, analysis, and communication skills;2. Immersive: exploration, investigation, exper-imentation, and use of space and resources;3. Intuitive: where creativity is explored and the germination of ideas spring off; and

4. Imaginative: use of fantasy, visualisation, and storytelling to create and explore hypothetical worlds.

T h e f i r s t t w o learning strategies are embedded in what

you might call classical intellectual learning. However, the last two elements of Claxton’s learning toolbox are fully in the realm of emotional, passionate and responsive learning. Here learners are dealing with outbursts of creativity or using their intuition

and fantasy to explore and understand hypothetical worlds. This all helps them to get a grip on the real world, past and present. It begs the question whether institutions that offer a rich intellectual framework as well as an emotionally provocative approach provide for better learning opportunities?

The study programmeWith this in mind, the Reinwardt Academy is planning a study trip to London, UK and Belgium for third year students on the B.A. programme in Cultural Heritage Studies next October. During this trip the impact of the First World War will be examined in a series of different venues and settings.

The first stop will be at the deeply contex-tualised In Flanders’ Fields Museum in Ypres, Belgium. This museum was recently fully refurbished. The current exhibition makes use of the extensive (and still growing) database of biographies of real people who were involved in the various battles in and around Ypres. During the visit a chip in a specially designed ‘poppy’ bracelet will generate - at various stations in the exhibition - personal stories from these people. This approach allows for direct connection and emotional attachment.

In London we will visit the new First World War Galleries at the Imperial War Museum. The museum’s website evokes a story-based exhibition with objects varying from the Mark V tank to personal love letters. The exhibition’s immersive design promises to "bring to life what daily life was like for the troops."

Lastly, we will attend the much-acclaimed War Horse theatre production at New London Theatre. This puppeteer spectacle is based on a fictional children’s book about Joey, a horse, who on the eve of the war is trained by a farmer’s boy, then confiscated by an officer

Offering both an intel-lectual framework and an emotionally provocative approach may provide

better learning opportunities

© B

RIN

KH

OFF

MÖ

GEN

BU

RG

War Horse production at the New London Theatre

22 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

SPECIAL REPORT WWI COMMEMORATIONS

“ I know that I shall meet my fateSomewhere among the clouds above;Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love…”These lines from the poem, An Irish Airman

Forsees his Death, by acclaimed Irish poet Willlam Butler Yeats, capture the ambivalent and complex nature of Ireland’s relationship with World War I.

Some 150,000 Irish soldiers enlisted to fight for the British army in 1914. Their reasons varied: for some it was out of financial necessity but for others it was the hope that fighting for a common enemy might advance efforts to restore home rule to Ireland. Simultaneously, the nationalist movement in Ireland gained momentum when Britain went to war. The Easter Rising in 1916, an armed rebellion staged during Easter week, and the subsequent executions of its

Remembrance through art and poetryThe National Gallery of Ireland paid homage to the artists and poets marked by WWI during a commemorative study dayby Aedín Mac Devitt , Publishing Manager at ICOM and Editor in Chief of ICOM News

orchestrators steered public feeling on the side of the rebels. As a result, the Irish soldiers fighting in WWI were often shunned by nationalists as traitors and accused by the British of being radicals, and it was not until 2006 that the Irish state held an official commemoration for the Irish killed in the First World War on the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

In this context and as part of its own programme to celebrate 150 years of the gallery’s existence, the study day on 1 March at the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) highlighted a range of talented artists and poets, both Irish and International, that captured people and events involved in the war.

The day began with a presentation by historian Keith Jeffrey on the reaction of international artists to WWI, examining how art reflects conflict, what artists can tell us about responses to the war, and the long-term evidence of impact.

Jeffrey evoked responses to the war by patriotic artists, popular artists, official war artists, and the Cubists, Futurists and Dadaists. He referred to Fernand Léger’s and Jean Metzinger’s respective Cubist interpretations L’Homme à la pipe and Le soldat à la partie d’échecs, neither of which reflect the chaos of war, and contrasted these with Futurist works such as Umberto Boccioni’s Charge of the Lancers, which demonstrated strange new patterns emerging from the conflict and Mark Gettler’s painting Merry-Go-Round 1916, interpreted as a savage indictment of war.

Dr Brendan Rooney, Curator of Irish Art the NGI then spoke of the contribution of artists Sir William Orpen and Sir John Lavery to WWI art. Neither had carried out active service, and the burden of inadequacy they felt as a result showed common threads in their work. Orpen’s and Lavery’s role as observers was contrasted with the participatory role of German artists such as George Grosz, Max Beckman, Otto Dix and Kathe Kollwitz, whose work was presented by Museum Director Sean Rainbird. As modernists, most of these artists were defamed as degenerate and many went into exile. Their lives became inextricably linked with both world wars.

A female responseAlthough female artists had limited opportunities to get to the front line, women’s art work based on WWI often portrayed women as active participants rather than bystanders.

The Imperial War Museum’s British Scheme was launched in 1916 with the aim of commissioning images to be reproduced initially for propaganda purposes and ultimately to develop a collection to establish a memorial. Kathleen Palmer, Head of Art at the IWM explained that out of 51 artists, only four women were commissioned: of these, three had their work rejected and one did not take up the commission. However, the IWM also commissioned nine women artists through its Women’s Work Sub-Committee.

Among these, Anna Airy was commissioned to paint an image of a male workplace, resulting in her painting A Shell Forge, which shows British industry in all its grime, with the gender of the figures indetermi-nate. In contrast, Victoria Monkhouse portrayed women in different uniforms, and in doing so, chose to emphasise the femininity of women.

Although these women artists became overshadowed by the avant garde movement, they paved the way for female artists in the future,

with a much greater number portraying World War II.Several contemporary artists presented their work, approaching

the subject of conflict in a modern-day context. Artist Brian Maguire’s powerful exhibition entitled An Oasis of Horror in a Desert of Boredom is a collaboration between several artists to portray women in the city of Juarez, Mexico, who had been raped and murdered and whose perpetrators were never held accountable. The works were an attempt to bring to international attention the injustices and frequency of the violence that occurs in Ciudad Juarez.

The study day concluded with a recital of some popular war songs and readings of war poetry from celebrated Irish poets such as William Butler Yeats, Francis Ledwidge, Seamus Heaney and German poets such as Alfred Lichtenstein.

John Horne, Professor of Modern European History at Trinity College, Dublin, spoke of the nature of WWI as one of stagnation and stasis, with losses of which no one ever dreamed. Participants in WWI had time to contemplate the level of conflict they were engaged in, which explains the great legacy of art and poetry from the period. n

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 2524 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

of the British Cavalry and sent to war. After a fatal charge the animal changes hands and is forced to work for the German Imperial Artillery but finally escapes and ends up caught in barbed wire in no-man’s land.

Here popular culture and education are merged. With a simple and effective set this production is truly convincing and emotion-ally stirring thanks to the work of the highly dedicated puppeteers/actors. On top of that, a full educational resource pack is

offered through the official website. As a learning experience we will therefore

encounter a combination of various media, each with different points of view and their own unique way of delivering a story. How will our 20+ year-old students deal with the various factual storylines, and how will they react to the fictional theatre production? How important are contexts and when are fictional stories just as (or even more) convincing than real ones? Where and when will curiosity be provoked

and how will that influence their learning and understanding? The outcomes will form the base for a challenging and reflective discussion with our students on their own learning experience. n

© N

ATIO

NA

L G

ALL

ERY

OF

IREL

AN

D

Professor Keith Jeffery, Professor of British History, Queen’s University Belfast; Kathleen Palmer, Head of Art, Imperial War Museum London; Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan; and Sean Rainbird, Director, National Gallery of Ireland

1For George Hein’s ideas on constructive learning: http://www.george-hein.com/downloads MuseumEdBlackwellHein.pdf or David Kolb’s ideas on a positive learning cycle: http://infed.org/mobi/david-a-kolb-on-experiential-learning/ (Both accessed on 25 February, 2014)2Claxton, Guy. Wise up – Learning to live the Learning Live. (Network Educational Press LTD, 2001)

IMAGESFOR YOUR

PROJECTS,

EXHIBITIONS OR

MEDIA SUPPORT

More information at

www.prestations.ecpad.fr

GBPub 100 ans ang_Mise en page 1 11/04/14 09:15 Page1

A map of some commemorations planned for the WWI centenary around the world can be accessed at: http://icom.museum/media/icom-news-magazine/icom-news-2014-no1/

This map is not exhaustive. Please contact publications@icom.museum if you would like to add other WWI commemorations to this map.

26 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

HERITAGE IN DANGER CULTURAL HERITAGE IN TIMES OF CONFLICT

The Hague Convention: 60 years on

World War II (1939-45) was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and one of the last conventional

wars of our times. It also marks a turning point in the protection of cultural heritage in times of conflict, following the widespread destruction in Coventry (UK), Dresden (Germany) and many other places of cultural, artistic, religious and historical importance. In response to the pillage and bombing of cultural property during World War II, the 1954 Hague Convention for the

Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1954 Protocol were drafted. Through this Convention, the inter-national community established principles for protecting cultural sites, monuments, collections and other immovable and movable cultural property in peace, armed conflict and during military occupation.

The 1954 Convention states that it is forbidden to misuse cultural property in warfare, and provides pragmatic changes to military practice that protect heritage.

This initial step was followed, in 1999, by a Second Protocol to the 1954 Convention that introduced important new notions. With regard to penal aspects it provides for specific sanctions and defines the conditions in which individual criminal responsibility applies. It also recom-mends that cultural property of the highest importance for humanity be placed under “enhanced protection” and points out that the Second Protocol not only applies to international, but also to intra-national

sanctioned and condemned under the stipulations of Article 8 in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for having deliberately destroyed cultural property during the siege of Dubrovnik.

From international to internal conflictsThis necessary evolution in the means of protecting cultural heritage is justified by the fact that recent conflicts putting heritage at severe risk of destruction in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Mali, or Central African Republic demonstrate a gradual but drastic change in warfare since WWII. The traditional international war has been replaced by inter-ethnic, inter-cultural and sometimes inter-religious war. The primary target in an international war is the opposing army, government infrastructure or territory. In an inter-ethnic conflict the aim is the identity of the opponent, and in this case, cultural heritage becomes a primary target. Now, when cultural heritage is directly targeted, its protection becomes the legal obliga-tion of armed forces under International Humanitarian Law.

Thanks to a book and a largely publi-cised movie, the general public recently discovered the heroic efforts of the now world famous “monuments men” who protected cultural objects during the

Second World War. Modern day heroes of this sort still exist in different countries a round the wor ld. For example, citizens formed a human chain around the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2011 to protect i ts treasures from potential

looters and in Mali, the precious Timbuktu manuscripts were secretly exfiltrated to prevent their destruction from occupants in 2012.

Such spontaneous actions reinforce the preventive measures taken by profes-sionals involved in the protection of cultural heritage. For example, ICOM and its Disaster Relief Task Force are active in monitoring emergency situations, and the Blue Shield undertakes assessment missions after a disaster. The Blue Shield

conflicts, such as civil war or asymmetrical warfare, meaning that the resources, tactics, or weapons of belligerents differ significantly.

Other UNESCO conventions protecting cultural heritage followed the creation of the 1954 Hague Convention, including the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, which protects movable cultural objects from being illegally exported or imported. However, developing relevant legislation is only the first step towards saving the world’s art and culture. As international conventions are not retroactive, encouraging states to ratify implement and respect existing legal instruments is imperative. 126 states are parties to the UNESCO 1954 Hague Convention and 103 are parties to its Protocol, while 67 states have ratified the 1999 Second Protocol.

Legal consequences of cultural destructionIn 2002, just three years after the Second Protocol of the Hague Convention, the Rome Statute, and with it the International Criminal Court (ICC), became effective and further contributed to protecting heritage in conflict. Article 8 of the Rome Statute qualifies a war crime as “intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable pu rposes, h is to r i c monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objec-tives.” With 122 State Parties, this international criminal court is capable of prosecuting crimes against cultural property.

A recent example of that capacity was ICC Chief Prosecutor Ms Fatou Bensouda’s visit to Mali to investigate the damage and destruction of Sufi graves and cultural sites by radical Jihadists during the occupation of the northern part of the country. This investigation was a hopeful precedent in heritage protection, but it is not the first of its kind. Two individuals have already been

by Karl von Habsburg, Chair of the Association of the National Committee of the Blue Shield (ANCBS) and France Desmarais, Director of Programmes and Partnerships at ICOM and Permanent Secretary of ICOM’s Disaster Relief Task Force

The development of international standards to protect heritage in times of conflict

is based on the 1954 Hague Convention, and is considered the cultural equivalent of the Red Cross. It was founded by the four main heritage non-governmental organisations: the International Council on Archives (ICA), the International Counci l of Museums ( ICOM), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

Institutional solutionsOne of the roles of the Blue Shield is to help states implement their responsi-bilities under the Hague Convention. This is accomplished through the training of law enforcement officers and the military in collaboration with international organisations such as UNESCO and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The organisation and its network of professionals also compile data for the implementation of Cultural No-Strike Lists for armed conflicts, a military planning system shared with relevant armed forces to avoid the inadvertent bombing or striking of important cultural objects and sites. These No-Strike Lists proved effective in Libya in 2011, with evaluation missions demon-strating that it was generally adhered to, as treasures and sites along the Mediterranean coast from Punic, Roman, Islamic and other eras were spared after air strikes.

It was the gruelling battle of Solferino in 1859 with its 40,000 casualties that prompted Henri Dunant to set up the Red Cross Organisation. In a similar way, the looting and destruction of World War II, and in more recent times the looting and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, became defining moments for cultural property protection. These visually striking and widely publicised events raised awareness on the necessity of protecting invaluable cultural heritage and thus on the need for effective application of the 1954 Convention. On the 60th anniversary of the Hague Convention, much has been achieved, especially over the past 15 years. Yet much remains to be done to strengthen this valuable legal instrument in order to protect the remnants of our common history. n

One of the consequences of the pillage and bombing of cultural property during WWII was the drafting of the 1954 Hague Conven-tion for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict

Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (IHERIAB) in Timbuktu, Mali

© A

LIO

UN

E B

A, N

ATIO

NA

L M

USE

UM

OF

MA

LI

N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 27

28 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014 N°1-2 2014 | ICOMNEWS 29

F irst, I have to make a confes-sion. I deal with a lot of major policy issues in my own country

and also on the world stage through my role as Chair of ICOM’s Technical Com-mittee on Legal Affairs. In this role, my most dreaded file is copyright as there are no winners in this complicated are-na. I started actively dealing with copy-right issues in the mid-1980s and it just will not go away. I seem to be stuck with it.

On the international stage, there is a lack of standards regarding copyright policy and applications to/by museums. Some nations have very balanced copy-right laws and others are, well, works in progress to put it diplomatically.

What is copyright? There is a growing demand for public access to our collections and this de-mand is coming from all over the world. People want to see and research their heritage and collections. Museums want to put their collections online but this involves making an image of the object (i.e. a reproduction) and this trips the copyright switch to ‘on’. If the work is not in the public domain, it could be illegal. Museums are not above the law and must obtain copyright permission from the copyright owner, not necessarily the creator.

Then there is the issue of finding the copyright owner, or his/her heir, which is often impossible. Finally, individuals have become creative consumers or what American writer and futurist Alvin Toffler calls prosumers, and want to use images their own way, without any com-

ICOM COMMUNITY

The importance of copyrightby John G. McAvity, Chair of ICOM’s Technical Committee on Legal Affairs and Executive Director and CEO of the Canadian Museums Association

prehension or appreciation of copyright laws. We come across as the bad guys when saying no to these new creative users.

The internet and social media de-mand instant access at the click of a button. The resulting real costs to

museums are there-fore administrative, to track down the current owners of copyright and negotiate a fair payment. This may seem odd to some given that museums

work for the public good in the not-for-profit sector. However, copyright laws bring a whole new reality given that pri-vate owners have been accorded rights that must be respected. The rights ex-tend to the creators’ heirs for 50 or more

years depending on national laws.Copyright comes into play in most

activities offered by museums including exhibitions, digitisation of collections, re-search, education, websites, conserva-tion of works of art, and even gift shops. Further new forms of protection for in-tangible cultural heritage and traditional knowledge are under consideration.

WIPO meetingIn mid-December I was invited to rep-resent ICOM at a special meeting in Geneva hosted by the World Intel-lectual Property Organization. This is the United Nations body which sets broad-based standards for copyright, which nation states adopt, adjust or ignore, although most do adhere to the work of this highly respected body. This meeting of the Special Committee

on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) was focused on special exceptions for Libraries and Archives, a proposed new treaty for broadcasting, and a special treaty for the disabled. Together with Samia Slimani, head of the legal affairs department at ICOM Secretariat, and other museum experts, we presented a special workshop on museum is-sues.

Our job was to get museums onto the WIPO agenda. Like all negotiations at any UN body it is composed of na-tion states and permits a limited number of non-govern-mental organisations to be authorised non-voting attend-ees—thankfully ICOM is accredited.

For the past several years this body has been negoti-ating special considerations for Libraries and Archives—it is a slow-moving but careful process. Through the inter-national body for libraries, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), a great deal of progress has been made. The library community is strongly represented by both official IFLA representatives, as well as various na-tional bodies and dedicated volunteers with an interest in this issue.

The library community benefited greatly when WIPO agreed to do a special study on the issues affecting their sector. Although some of the issues identified would be implicit for museums as we share many of the same func-tions, there are important and fundamental differences. Many of the concerns of museums were not included in this study.

Since this was the first time ICOM attended this meet-ing, we faced a major uphill battle to get recognition for the special considerations for museums at this late date. We therefore took a diplomatic approach, and I am delighted to say we achieved a significant breakthrough for museums at our first meeting. Specifically the member states voted (not unanimously I must add) in favour of commissioning a major study of copyright issues affecting museums. This study will be done for WIPO by a respected international expert. In the coming months you may be consulted as part of this study and I encourage you to collaborate.

The question remains, however: what will we achieve in the long run as this is a long-term investment of our time at a slow-moving forum? At best, we will achieve a special international treaty on copyright exceptions for museums. At the minimum, we will achieve “model standards”, which nation states may adopt. Either of these outcomes should be of great importance for museums in the long term. We will also benefit partly or implicitly from the good work by the Library and Archives communities, which have been trail blazers.

I believe ICOM should follow the lead of IFLA and estab-lish a strong working Task Force of concerned individuals who would like to see improvements to copyright policy affecting museums. n If you are interested in joining this group, please contact me at jmcavity@museums.ca

Copyright comes into play in most activities offered by museums including exhibitions, digitisation,

and even gift shops

International Museum Day 2014

International Museum Day will once again take place this year on and around 18 May. This event, creat-ed by ICOM In 1977, aims to raise public awareness on the impor-tance of museums in the develop-ment of society and continues to gain in popularity. In 2013, 35,000 museums from 135 countries on five continents participated in the event.

The theme for IMD 2014 is Museum collections make

connections. This theme reminds us that mu-seums are living institutions that help create bonds between visitors, generations and cultures around the world. The mu-seum is also an institution that preserves and communicates the past: it is a link between generations, helping audiences comprehend their origins and history.

The theme has been broken down into the following four main ideas:• Designing a visit: museums can present the historic and scientific connections between its objects through visits that tell stories.• An intergenerational link: museums keep the relationship between a community and its history alive. They are spaces for dialogue between generations. • Displaying heritage in a modern way: museums have seized the communication and interpreting opportunities offered by new media and have broken away from the old-fashioned im-age they once had.• Collaboration between museum institutions or with other or-ganisations: sharing collections and experience among mu-seums is a good way to improve comprehension and empha-sise intercultural exchanges. Partnerships with other types of structures can also contribute to the museum’s mission.

A special IMD website (http://network.icom.museum/inter-national-museum-day) has been created to help participat-ing museums organize activities. The official poster and web banner are available in more than 30 languages, as well as a preparation kit with practical information. In addition, a map is available on the ICOM website, where activities for IMD around the world can be visualized, and the event has its own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/internationalmu-seumday) and Twitter hashtag #MuseumDay.

Finally, for the fourth consecutive year, ICOM is sponsoring the European Night of Museums, which is held every year on the Saturday closest to International Museum Day. In 2014, the events will coincide, as the European night of Museums will take place on the night of the 17th to the 18th of May.

©JO

HN

MC

AVIT

Y

Samia Slimani and John McAvity talking to delegates

Portuguese edition of Key Concepts of MuseologyDESVALLÉES, André and MAIRESSE, François (eds.). Conceitos-chave de museologia / Bruno Brulon Soares and Marília Xavier Cury (trans.). São Paulo, Brazil: Comitê Brasileiro do Conselho Internacional de Museus, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Secretaria de Estado da Cultura, 2013. 98 p. ISBN 978-85-8256-025-9.

Already available in eight languages, the Portuguese version of the Key Concepts of Museology was published on 27 February, 2014

by the Brazilian National Committee with the support of the São Paulo State Secretariat for Culture, the Sistema Estadual de Museus (SISEM-SP) and the São Paulo State Art Gallery. The publication was translated by Bruno Brulon Soares and Marília Xavier Cury, both members of ICOFOM (ICOM’s International Committee for Museology) with help from ICOM Portugal members and other Portuguese colleagues, including Marta Lourenço, Graça Filipe and Paula Menino Homem. Developed by ICOFOM, Key Concepts provides the definition and evolution of 21 museology terms and concepts. The digital edition of the Portuguese version is available on the ICOM website.http://icom.museum/professional-standards/key-concepts-of-museology/

Magazine of the Musée de la Civilisation in CanadaTHEMA. La revue des Musées de la civilisa-tion / Les musées de la civilisation. As part of its goal to highlight the importance of ongoing reflection on museum practices Les Musées de la civilisation (MCQ) have recently launched their new journal, THEMA, La revue des Musées de la civilisation. International, multilingual and currently available online, THEMA examines original and thought-provoking topics in an interdisciplinary way. As a forum for reflection on society and culture, the journal encourages collective inquiry and a diversity of viewpoints and experiences relative to museum practice. It features original articles inspired by the interests and concerns of Les Musées de la civilisation. The first issue of THEMA will bring together authors from Australia, Canada, Quebec, Sapin, Switzerland and UK, and focus on the theme: Knowledge sharing and exchange in times of cultural democracy.For more information : thema.mcq.org

Projet d’exposition : guide des bonnes pratiques (Exhibition Project: a Guide of Best Practices)

Published on the occasion of the last SimeSitem event in Paris, a trade fair and conference for museum professionals and service providers, the guide Projet d’exposition : guide des bonnes pratiques (Exhibition Project: a Guide of Best Practices) provides tips on how to enhance the organisation, conception and management of exhibition projects. The guide

deals with issues such as production chain, placement of orders and contracts. As exhibition projects become increasingly complex despite reduced budgets, the guide’s main purpose is to offer methodologies that facilitate the task of exhibition managers.

The guide contains a preface by Aurélie Filippetti, Minister of Culture and Communication (France), and is supported by ICOM France, the French Federation of Local Public Enterprises (EPL) and the French Association of scenographers. The guide can be downloaded free of charge on the EPL website: http://lesepl.fr/result_actu.php?ID=6757

PUBLICATIONS

Review by François Mairesse, Professor at the Université de Paris 3 - Sorbonne nouvelle and Chair of the ICOM International Committee for Museology (ICOMFOM)

tionship to the museum. These are tools that are as fundamental as documentary research or public surveys. One might add that the experience of working in a museum every day also radi-cally changes one’s perception of the institution – a dimension that a number of consultants and academics often miss.

The author argues that the journey is more important than the destination, but does his knowledge of the field as applied in this text really enable us to speak of another way of practising museology? In the third chapter Grew-cock discusses the different definitions of the discipline and museum studies and practice. Curiously, his approach to museums (which would have greatly benefited from being more international) focuses on a classic conception of them, failing to explore more marginal initiatives in the museum field (cybermu-seums, museums without collections, shop/museums, etc.).

This new relational approach to museum studies seeks to align the dis-cipline with the contemporary concerns of research and museums, with the latter seen as a place of relationships and inclusion. In this view, museums must focus on the sensory and the emotional as much as the cognitive, and on processes and performances more than accumulation, etc. Grewcock’s approach to museology is presented through a series of basic tools: going to a museum, taking pictures, telling stories, writing, making lists, making connections and the like, as if we might have forgotten these. In the end, with its description of a sort of museology in action (which bears similarities to Bruno Latour’s analyses on science), the book offers a makeshift and subjective vision of research. This risks irritating the reader, who might be disconcerted by the author’s deliberately unfinished argument, which raises at least as many questions and dissatisfactions as it provides answers... but perhaps this is not such a bad thing after all.

Doing Museology DifferentlyAutor: Duncan GrewcockEditorial: Routledge, 2014

he title of this intriguing work shows the author’s ambitious aim: Duncan Grewcock

seeks to go beyond the boundaries of Museum Studies (which is all too often limited to the practical aspects of museums) to develop museum research through relational, subjective and territorial analysis that incorpo-rates the researcher’s misgivings. A piece of research in the making, the final result is of less importance than the journey it involves.

Mark Dion’s exhibition Systema Metropolis, held at London’s Natural History Museum in 2007, is one of the central themes of Grewcock’s research. Borrowing the artist’s approach in order to explain his way of visiting and recreating the exhibition, the author uses a kind of ethnographic notebook, based on Dion’s preparatory field work in London’s suburbs. This presentation is preceded by a chapter which combines notes and photos to illustrate various museum visits (in London, Rome, Sydney, Wellington, Dubai, etc.) that Grewcock made during his research.

The “autoethnographic” approach that the author takes in the first two chapters may seem disjointed, but it does highlight a number of essential practices in museological research, such as frequent museum visits: physically experiencing them, walking around, photographing or drawing; analysis of their practices; and the importance of examining one’s rela-

T

Doing MuseologyDifferently... Really?

30 ICOMNEWS | N°1-2 2014

Museum Collections make Connections

Les liens créés par les collections des musées

Los vínculos creados por las colecciones de los museos

18 MAY MAIMAYO 20141 9 3 3 7 6 8 6 5 2 5 5 8

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY

JOURNÉE INTERNATIONALE DES MUSÉES

DÍA INTERNACIONAL DE LOS MUSEOS

http://imd.icom.museum