scholarly journals Repatriation in Practice: A Critical Analysis of the Repatriation of Human Remains in New Zealand Museums

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Coralie O’Hara
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
History Museum ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Museum Staff ◽  
Museum Practice

<p>The repatriation of human remains from museum collections is becoming increasingly common in museums around the world and particularly in New Zealand. Even the most amicable repatriation cases are complex, requiring a substantial commitment of time, energy and resources from museum staff involved in the negotiation process, to successfully overcome any issues that arise. Although it is known that the repatriation process can be challenging, the literature on the subject in museum studies and related fields focuses on the beneficial outcomes of successful negotiations, rather than explaining what difficulties can be encountered and how they can be solved. This research asks how problems in the repatriation process can be overcome to create mutually rewarding relationships between museums and others involved in the repatriation of human remains. This problem was addressed through a case study of the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme at Te Papa and three examples of their work: the Natural History Museum in Rouen, France; the British Museum in London; and the Rangitāne o Wairau iwi in New Zealand. Documentary evidence relating to these three repatriation examples was reviewed and the insights of museum staff have been captured through interviews with professionals from Karanga Aotearoa, Auckland Museum and Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne. Together these methods provided data that presented a more detailed and rounded picture of the current New Zealand situation regarding the repatriation of human remains. The dissertation concludes by assessing the difficulties in the practical repatriation process and how they have been overcome in New Zealand museums. I argue that repatriation practice, as an important area of museum practice in its own right, requires a flexible approach based on the principle of open-minded engagement with the perspectives of others involved in repatriation negotiations. This approach, focusing on relationships rather than transactions, is a marked departure from more traditional museum practice.</p>

scholarly journals Repatriation in Practice: A Critical Analysis of the Repatriation of Human Remains in New Zealand Museums

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Coralie O’Hara
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
History Museum ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Museum Staff ◽  
Museum Practice

<p>The repatriation of human remains from museum collections is becoming increasingly common in museums around the world and particularly in New Zealand. Even the most amicable repatriation cases are complex, requiring a substantial commitment of time, energy and resources from museum staff involved in the negotiation process, to successfully overcome any issues that arise. Although it is known that the repatriation process can be challenging, the literature on the subject in museum studies and related fields focuses on the beneficial outcomes of successful negotiations, rather than explaining what difficulties can be encountered and how they can be solved. This research asks how problems in the repatriation process can be overcome to create mutually rewarding relationships between museums and others involved in the repatriation of human remains. This problem was addressed through a case study of the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme at Te Papa and three examples of their work: the Natural History Museum in Rouen, France; the British Museum in London; and the Rangitāne o Wairau iwi in New Zealand. Documentary evidence relating to these three repatriation examples was reviewed and the insights of museum staff have been captured through interviews with professionals from Karanga Aotearoa, Auckland Museum and Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne. Together these methods provided data that presented a more detailed and rounded picture of the current New Zealand situation regarding the repatriation of human remains. The dissertation concludes by assessing the difficulties in the practical repatriation process and how they have been overcome in New Zealand museums. I argue that repatriation practice, as an important area of museum practice in its own right, requires a flexible approach based on the principle of open-minded engagement with the perspectives of others involved in repatriation negotiations. This approach, focusing on relationships rather than transactions, is a marked departure from more traditional museum practice.</p>

The International Symposium “From Anatomic Collections to Objects of Worship: Conservation and Exhibition of Human Remains in Museums,” Paris (France), February 22–23, 2008

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manlio Frigo
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Natural History ◽  
International Symposium ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
International Debate ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The City ◽  
Public Collection

The Musée du Quay Branly held an international symposium, “From Anatomic Collections to Objects of Worship: Conservation and Exhibition of Human Remains in Museums,” in Paris on February 22–23, 2008, at the museum's Théatre Claude Levy Strauss. The main purpose of the 2-day conference—opened by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication's Christine Albanel—was to stimulate an international debate on a multidisciplinary basis concerning the roles and responsibilities of museums in the exhibition and repatriation of human remains. The subject turned out to be topical, originating from the case of thetoi moko, the Maori tattooed head belonging to the collection of the Natural History Museum in Rouen, France, since 1875. The restitution of thetoi mokoto the Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand, deliberated by the city of Rouen, was recently banned by the Administrative Tribunal of Rouen, on request of the Ministry of Culture at the end of 2007. The head actually belonged to a municipal museum, which was in fact part of the Musées de France, and therefore it was considered part of a public collection. Accordingly, the 2002 French statute providing for the inalienability of state properties was applicable.

scholarly journals "Walking the Talk"? An Ethnography of Biculturalism at Te Papa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tanja Schubert-McArthur
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
Meaningful Experiences

<p>This thesis examines the implications of a bicultural framework for the everyday interactions of Māori and non-Māori staff at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (TP thereafter). The research addresses gaps in the New Zealand literature on biculturalism, which has not hitherto explored the internal dynamics of cultural organisations in depth,as well as issues in the international literature of anthropology, museum studies and related fields to do with museums, indigenous people and cultural identity. The central research question is: how does biculturalism work in practice at TP? The approach is qualitative using mixed-methods, based on twelve months intensive fieldwork behind the scenes at New Zealand’s national museum. Drawing on 68 interviews and participant observations with 18 different teams across the organisation, the thesis explores how biculturalism is enacted, negotiated, practised and envisioned on different stages within the complex social institution that is the museum.  Rather than seeing TP as a single bicultural entity, my analysis suggests that TP is a convoluted amalgam of several stages encompassing ‘contact zones’ where Māori and non-Māori engage to varying degrees. I propose that TP’s marae is the centre stage for Māori activities and rituals that serve a number of functions: to position people through mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, display power, facilitate intercultural dialogue, empower Māori, and transform non-Māori through meaningful experiences. Throughout the thesis, I argue that biculturalism is neither an innocent aspiration nor a means to an end, but an ongoing struggle and negotiation process.  The importance of ethnography to the anthropological enterprise and museum studies research is reaffirmed through this study; not only does this ethnographic study provide insights into museum practices, but also the complex processes of ‘grappling with biculturalism’, interactions between diverse museum staff as well as positioning of indigenous peoples in settler societies.</p>

scholarly journals Worlds Apart: Indigenous Re-engagement with Museum-held Heritage: A New Zealand - United Kingdom Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michelle Horwood
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Museum Practice ◽  
The Impact

<p>For several decades a decolonised museology has been manifest within Western museum practice through, among other things, enhanced indigenous engagement with museums. Even so, indigenous communities still fail to access their cultural heritage housed in museums at distance, when they have no institutional affiliation which can facilitate contact and communication, and because they are often disadvantaged in terms of resources. Furthermore, the museums’ lack of online collection databases, coupled with other practical constraints centred on resources and priorities, inhibits their ability to work with indigenous communities.  In post-colonial settler nations the democratisation of museum practice for indigenous collections has been one outcome of the political presence of indigenous peoples and the assertion of indigenous autonomy, as well as the proximity of indigenous communities and museums. Innovative practice has therefore differed from elsewhere as a result of the need for negotiated relationships with indigenous communities and recognition of indigenous authority. This has been the case in New Zealand where Māori epistemological frameworks are acknowledged and there is effective Māori participation within museums. This research addresses this issue of access to indigenous collections when they are held in other countries, and a corresponding gap in the literature, by exploring ways in which Māori communities can negotiate ongoing relationships with museums that hold collections of their ancestral heritage, when they are geographically remote from these collections.  Using an analytical framework drawn from assemblage theory, the research has focussed on a detailed, situated New Zealand-United Kingdom case study, and is the first contextualised study over time of a heritage assemblage, comprising a collector and his collection, an indigenous community and a museum. A kaupapa Māori research methodology has enabled the acknowledgement and incorporation of Māori values into the research strategy which is an interdisciplinary approach centred on museum studies, but drawing also on related fields, indigenous knowledge systems and my own professional experience as a curator in a regional museum. The research has also employed methods such as archival research, interviews and hui/focus groups.  Through the disassembly of this research assemblage I was able to document the impact of different value systems and epistemologies on access to heritage objects and clarify their meanings for specific communities. A number of entities emerged from this disassembly which were temporally and spatially contingent, and manifest as power, agency and values. Analysis of these entities has revealed their potential for beginning the task of decolonising the museum when power and authority are negotiated within this network and our difficult histories are acknowledged and communicated. Analysis of the data gathered has also reinforced the idea that taonga objectify social relationships in which they are transformed from passive ‘things’ to active actor-entities and as such are capable of enacting relationships prompting contemporary responses from human actors.  The research findings show the emergence of an indigenous engagement praxis in which actor-networks are ongoing and reassembling, a process which is visible in contemporary indigenous people’s re-engagement with their museum-held heritage at distance. This praxis combines a range of developments in contemporary museum practice for community engagement which have proved effective in New Zealand and other settler colonies and has potential application elsewhere for community members, academics and museological practitioners when forging relationships based around indigenous cultural heritage collections when distance is a factor.</p>

scholarly journals Protecting Your Assets: an Evaluation of Museum Emergency Planning Practices in New Zealand Museums

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emily Murray
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Emergency Planning ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Emergency Plan ◽  
The World ◽  
Museum Practice

<p>Museums around the world are often affected by major catastrophes, and yet planning for these disasters is an often neglected aspect of museum practice. New Zealand is not immune from these events, as can be seen in the recent series of serious earthquakes in Christchurch in 2010 and 2011. This dissertation considers how prepared the New Zealand museum sector is to handle unexpected events that negatively affect its buildings, staff, operations and treasured collections. The central research question was: What is the overall state of emergency planning in the New Zealand museum sector? There was a significant gap in the literature, especially in the local context, as there has been only one other comparable study conducted in Britain, and nothing locally. This dissertation makes a valuable contribution to the field of museum studies by drawing on theory from relevant areas such as crises management literature and by conducting original empirical research on a topic which has received little attention hitherto. The research employed a number of methods, including a review of background secondary sources, a survey and interviews. After contextualising the study with a number of local examples, Ian online survey was then developed an which enabled precise understanding of the nature of current museum practices and policies around emergency planning. Following this I conducted several interviews with museum professionals from a variety of institutional backgrounds which explored their thoughts and feelings behind the existing practices within the industry. The findings of the research were significant and somewhat alarming: almost 40% of the museum and galleries in New Zealand do not have any emergency plan at all, and only 11% have what they considered ‘complete’ plans. The research revealed a clear picture of the current width and depth of planning, as well as practices around updating the plans and training related to them. Within the industry there is awareness that planning for emergencies is important, but museum staff typically lack the knowledge and guidance needed to conduct effective emergency planning. As a result of the analysis, several practical suggestions are presented aimed at improving emergency planning practices in New Zealand museums. However this study has implications for museum studies and for current museum practice everywhere, as many of the recommendations for resolving the current obstacles and problems are applicable anywhere in the world, suggesting that New Zealand museums could become leaders in this important area.</p>

scholarly journals "Walking the Talk"? An Ethnography of Biculturalism at Te Papa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tanja Schubert-McArthur
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
Meaningful Experiences

<p>This thesis examines the implications of a bicultural framework for the everyday interactions of Māori and non-Māori staff at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (TP thereafter). The research addresses gaps in the New Zealand literature on biculturalism, which has not hitherto explored the internal dynamics of cultural organisations in depth,as well as issues in the international literature of anthropology, museum studies and related fields to do with museums, indigenous people and cultural identity. The central research question is: how does biculturalism work in practice at TP? The approach is qualitative using mixed-methods, based on twelve months intensive fieldwork behind the scenes at New Zealand’s national museum. Drawing on 68 interviews and participant observations with 18 different teams across the organisation, the thesis explores how biculturalism is enacted, negotiated, practised and envisioned on different stages within the complex social institution that is the museum.  Rather than seeing TP as a single bicultural entity, my analysis suggests that TP is a convoluted amalgam of several stages encompassing ‘contact zones’ where Māori and non-Māori engage to varying degrees. I propose that TP’s marae is the centre stage for Māori activities and rituals that serve a number of functions: to position people through mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, display power, facilitate intercultural dialogue, empower Māori, and transform non-Māori through meaningful experiences. Throughout the thesis, I argue that biculturalism is neither an innocent aspiration nor a means to an end, but an ongoing struggle and negotiation process.  The importance of ethnography to the anthropological enterprise and museum studies research is reaffirmed through this study; not only does this ethnographic study provide insights into museum practices, but also the complex processes of ‘grappling with biculturalism’, interactions between diverse museum staff as well as positioning of indigenous peoples in settler societies.</p>

scholarly journals The Durga Puja pop-up exhibition at the National Museum of Finland. Designing and hosting an exhibition as university educationmuseum collaboration

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Anna Wessman ◽  
Xenia Zeiler ◽  
Suzie Thomas ◽  
Pilvi Vainonen
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Museum Staff ◽  
The University

In autumn 2018, eight Museum Studies students from the University of Helsinki had the opportunity to put theory into practice and to gain hands-on experience making a real exhibition. The ‘Museum Content Planning’ course was a collaborative project between the National Museum of Finland and the university in which the students, together with the museum staff, built a pop-up exhibition about the Indian festival Durga Puja in only five weeks. The exhibition showed in the National Museum for two weeks, and the students were involved in most stages of the exhibition’s development. They also blogged about their learning experience. In this case study, we present our reflections on both the benefits and challenges of collaboratively creating an exhibition, which is simultaneously an accredited learning experience for university students.

scholarly journals Stakeholder Engagement Strategies for Designating New Zealand Marine Reserves: a Case Study of the Designation of the Auckland Islands (Motu Maha) Marine Reserve and Marine Reserves Designated Under the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Mize
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Marine Reserves ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Marine Management

<p>In recent years, marine reserves (areas of the sea where no fishing is allowed) have enjoyed increased popularity with scientists and agencies charged with management of ocean and coastal resources. Much scientific literature documents the ecological and biological rationale for marine reserves, but scholars note the most important consideration for successful establishment reserves is adequate involvement of the relevant stakeholders in their designation. Current guidance for proponents of marine reserves suggests that to be successful, reserves should be designated using "bottom-up" processes favouring cooperative management by resource-dependent stakeholders, as opposed to "top-down" approaches led by management agencies and international conservation organizations. However, there is a dearth of guidance as to how to identify relevant stakeholders, and what constitutes adequate engagement. New Zealand provides a unique opportunity for study of the two different approaches, with examples on both ends of the spectrum. The recent establishment of the Auckland Islands (Motu Maha) Marine Reserve under the designation framework provided by the Marine Reserves Act 1971 demonstrates a "top-down" approach; the designation of eight marine reserves as a component of the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005, legislation that marks the culmination of a lengthy community stakeholder negotiation process, demonstrates a corresponding "bottom-up" design. A comparison of the two approaches elicits issues relevant to managers in considering designation approaches to follow in comparable situations elsewhere. In this thesis, the author identifies and categorizes potential stakeholders by applying a framework modified from World Conservation Union ("IUCN") stakeholder assessment processes adopted for terrestrial reserves and guidance for establishing marine protected areas. The researcher describes the two designation processes using a case study methodology, relying on secondary research materials and primary data from targeted interviews. The analysis considers relative relevance of the groups using a stakeholder model developed in the corporate social responsibility movement of the management field. In closing, the author proposes a heuristic model for managers to use when analysing stakeholder dynamics in future marine reserve designations when considering whether to use a "top-down" or "bottom-up" approach.</p>

A new look at Maori carved burial chests

Antiquity ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 54 (210) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Aileen Fox
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Special Study ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Artistic Achievement ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Small Museums

Carved wooden chests to contain the bones of the dead are peculiar to New Zealand and constitute a fine artistic achievement of the Maori people; they are little known or appreciated outside their country of origin. They include some macabre and disturbing imagery, consisting of a variety of divine or heroic figures both male and female, which are decoratively patterned in either incised or relief style. Some 60 examples are known, mostly in the museum collections at Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin, with a few more in small museums in New Zealand and a few in museums overseas, including one in the British Museum (Museum of Mankind) (Cranstone, 1953, 58). They have not hitherto been the subject of a special study and an archaeological appraisal is overdue.

Zoological material for John Lawson's “Compleat History” of Carolina (1710–1711): specimens recorded in Hans Sloane's catalogues

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-345
Author(s):  
Marcus B. Simpson ◽  
Sallie W. Simpson ◽  
David W. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Natural History ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Natural History Museum ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Untimely Death ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
History Of ◽  
Museum Staff

As part of his plan for a “Compleat History” of the region, John Lawson, Surveyor-General of North Carolina, collected plants and animals in 1710 and 1711 from Virginia and North Carolina and shipped them to James Petiver in London. After Petiver's death in 1718, his collection was acquired by Hans Sloane and subsequently incorporated into the natural history collections in the British Museum. The Sloane herbarium, now at the Natural History Museum, London, contains more than 300 previously reported botanical specimens attributed to Lawson, but details of his zoological collecting have not heretofore been documented. Two of Sloane's manuscript catalogues of “Fossils” include at least 34 specimens that appear to have been among those sent by Lawson to Petiver. These Lawson specimens were probably discarded or destroyed by British Museum staff in the 1700s or early 1800s. The Sloane catalogues nevertheless provide evidence that Lawson had begun work on his ambitious plan for a natural history of Carolina. Lawson's untimely death in September 1711 brought an abrupt end to the project, and Petiver apparently never used the zoological material he received from Lawson.

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