Photo Circle: A Short History of the Nepal Picture Library

2017 ◽  
pp. 56-69
Author(s):  
Alisha Sett
Keyword(s):  
Public History ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Short History ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Photo ◽  
History Of ◽  
Visual Resource ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Made In

This is a short history of the Nepal Picture Library (NPL), Nepal’s first large-scale digital photo archive encompassing over 50,000 photographs collected in less than a decade. It is a rare institution; a catalogued visual resource open to the public with scores of intimate family collections, the historic and the mundane captured over decades by photojournalists, and portraits made in photo studios across the country. The essay provides insight into the strength, scope and potential of this community-created archive. Founded and managed by Photo Circle, a platform for photography in Kathmandu, NPL has published books, done several exhibitions in museums and public spaces across Nepal, and exhibited their collections internationally. Tracing the origins and the impact of NPL through a series of interviews, the essays reveals not only the transformative power of their methods of public engagement but also the deep concern for visual culture fostered in their volunteers particularly among photographers serving as amateur archivists. Keywords: archive, Kathmandu, Nepal, oral history, public history

scholarly journals RAPID DATA COLLECTION FOR THE AUDIT OF MONUMENTS & MEMORIALS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2021 ◽  
Vol XLVI-M-1-2021 ◽  
pp. 313-320
Author(s):  
C. Jackson ◽  
M. Nkhasi-Lesaoana ◽  
L. Mofutsanyana
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
National Audit ◽  
The Public ◽  
Funding Mechanism ◽  
History Of ◽  
Monuments And Memorials ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Roll Out

Abstract. The tradition of memorialising people and events through physical constructions such as statues and monuments like in many countries, has shaped the public space of a modern South Africa. Considering the colonial and apartheid history of South Africa, these physical markers, often uncontextualized, continue to maintain positions of prominence within the modern streetscape.Since the turn of the democratic era in South Africa, a pressing need has existed to assess the impact of the markers on the heritage landscape of the country. An endeavour made more difficult by a lack of a comprehensive inventory of these resources across the country.The National Audit of Monuments and Memorials (NAMM) was designed to address this gap through a full national survey of monuments and memorials, conducted under the auspices of a job creation stimulus package designed to create short term employment in the wake of the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. Undertaking this project under this funding mechanism required that all phases of the project be undertaken within a six-month period.The compressed timeframes associated with this project required an approach that could support a level of fluidity to address the challenges of undertaking a project of this nature, whilst ensuring that the data collected by field surveyors can be monitored and included in the inventory of the national estate in an effective manner.The aim of this paper is to discuss and showcase the tools and workflows used to roll out and manage the large-scale national audit of monuments and memorials across South Africa.

Palaeofluvial geomorphology in southern Africa: a review

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan S.J. Dollar
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Drainage Pattern ◽  
Fluvial Systems ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Causative Factors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Process Studies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Made In

This article presents an overview of palaeofluvial geomorphology research in southern Africa. For the purposes of this article this includes South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana. Although interest in fluvial systems has a long history in southern Africa, the scientific study of rivers was initiated by the discovery of the first alluvial diamond along the banks of the Orange River in 1867. Since then, significant progress has been made in unravelling the fluvial history of southern Africa from the early Archaean Ventersdorp Contact Reef River to modern channel process studies. The development of an understanding of palaeofluvial systems has occurred along two main lines. The first was alluvial diamond exploration work undertaken by the large mining houses. The second line was of a more ‘academic’ interest and included determining the impact of superimposition, tectonics, base level and climate changes. The review suggests that southern Africa fluvial systems have shown large-scale changes in drainage pattern, discharge and sediment yield and that these can be related to a complex set of causative factors including the geological template, the Jurassic rifting of Gondwana, tectonic episodes and climate change.

scholarly journals Slavery and Public History at the Big House

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-68
Author(s):  
Jessica Moody ◽  
Stephen Small
Keyword(s):  
Public History ◽  
Original Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
House Museums ◽  
Transatlantic Comparison ◽  
Country Houses ◽  
History Of ◽  
Big House ◽  
History Narratives ◽  
Made In

Abstract This article considers the public history of slavery at plantation museums in the US South and at country houses in Britain. Drawing on original research, the authors critique recent and current efforts to bring connections between these “Big Houses” and the history of slavery to the fore through different methods of interpretation. These elite residences are argued to have largely obscured such connections historically through distancing, distortion, and denial. However, some notable efforts have been made in recent years to diversify public history narratives and more fully represent histories of enslavement. Comparing these American and British house museums, this article contextualizes public history work at these sites and proposes possible lessons from this research, presenting some points to be taken forward which emerge from this transatlantic comparison.

scholarly journals Is the Anthropause a useful symbol and metaphor for raising environmental awareness and promoting reform?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Nathan Young ◽  
Andrew N Kadykalo ◽  
Christine Beaudoin ◽  
Diana M Hackenburg ◽  
Steven J Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Public History ◽  
Research Interest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Symbol ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ecological Event ◽  
The Impact

Summary Lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily restricted human activity and removed people from many places of work and recreation. The resulting ‘Anthropause’ generated much media and research interest and has become an important storyline in the public history of the pandemic. As an ecological event, the Anthropause is fleeting and unlikely to alter the long-term human impact on the planet. But the Anthropause is also a cultural symbol whose effects may be more enduring. Will the Anthropause inspire people and governments to mobilize for meaningful reform, or does it present a misleading and too-comforting portrayal of resilient nature and wildlife that could ultimately discourage action? While it is too early to gauge the impact of the Anthropause on human behaviour and politics, we use existing research on environmental symbols and metaphors to identify factors that may influence long-term behavioural and political responses to this globally significant period of time.

New Wars and Their Visual Representation: Dead Bodies without Graves/Mourne

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Tuncay Şur ◽  
Betül Yarar
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Photographic Images ◽  
War Photography ◽  
New Wars ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

This paper seeks to understand why there has been an increase in photographic images exposing military violence or displaying bodies killed by military forces and how they can freely circulate in the public without being censored or kept hidden. In other words, it aims to analyze this particular issue as a symptom of the emergence of new wars and a new regime of their visual representation. Within this framework, it attempts to relate two kinds of literature that are namely the history of war and war photography with the bridge of theoretical discussions on the real, its photographic representation, power, and violence.  Rather than systematic empirical analysis, the paper is based on a theoretical attempt which is reflected on some socio-political observations in the Middle East where there has been ongoing wars or new wars. The core discussion of the paper is supported by a brief analysis of some illustrative photographic images that are served through the social media under the circumstances of war for instance in Turkey between Turkish military troops and the Kurdish militants. The paper concludes that in line with the process of dissolution/transformation of the old nation-state formations and globalization, the mechanism and mode of power have also transformed to the extent that it resulted in the emergence of new wars. This is one dynamic that we need to recognize in relation to the above-mentioned question, the other is the impact of social media in not only delivering but also receiving war photographies. Today these changes have led the emergence of new machinery of power in which the old modern visual/photographic techniques of representing wars without human beings, torture, and violence through censorship began to be employed alongside medieval power techniques of a visual exhibition of tortures and violence.

The Landscape of War and the Transformations of the Public Sphere

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-67
Author(s):  
Dijana Alic
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Time Space ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
Edward Soja

On 6 april 1992, the european union (eu) recognised bosnia and hercegovina as a new independent state, no longer a part of the socialist federal republic of Yugoslavia. The event marked the start of the siege of sarajevo, which lasted nearly four years, until late february 1996. It became the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, outlasting the leningrad enclosure by a year. During its 1425 days, more than 11,500 people were killed. The attacks left a trail of destruction across the city, which began to transform it in ways not experienced before. This paper explores how the physical transformation of sarajevo affected the ways in which meaning and significance were assigned to its built fabric. I argue that the changes imposed by war and the daily destruction of the city challenged long-established relationships between the built fabric and those who inhabited the city, introducing new modes of thinking and interpreting the city. Loosely placing the discussion within the framework of ‘Thirdspace', established by urban theorist and cultural geographer edward soja, i discuss the relationship that emerged between the historicality, sociality and spatiality of war-torn sarajevo. Whether responding to the impacts of physical destruction or dramatic social change, the nexus of time, space and being shows that the concept of spatiality is essential to comprehending the world and to adjusting to and resisting the impact of extraordinary circumstances. Recognising the continuation of daily life as essential to survival sheds light on processes of renewal and change in a war-affected landscape. These shattered urban spaces also show the ways in which people make a sense of place in relation to specific socio-historical environments and political contexts.

Reflections on the Public Interpretation of Regional Environmental History In Western Pennsylvania

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-69
Author(s):  
Chris J. Magoc
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Public History ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Interpretation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural Resource Extraction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Environmental Histories ◽  
Western Pennsylvania

This essay attempts to counter the scarcity of efforts to address issues of natural resource extraction and environmental exploitation in public history forums. Focused on western Pennsylvania, it argues that the history of industrial development and its deleterious environmental impacts demands a regional vision that not only frames these stories within the ideological and economic context of the past, but also challenges residents and visitors to consider this history in light of the related environmental concerns of our own time. The essay explores some of the difficult issues faced by public historians and practitioners as they seek to produce public environmental histories that do not elude opportunities to link past and present in meaningful ways.

scholarly journals Congresses of the Moscow Rural Society: a system for the development of agrarian reforms. 19th – early 20th centuries.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-127
Author(s):  
Valentina A. Nokhrina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
Successful Solution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Economic Zones ◽  
Central Scientific

In the proposed article, on the basis of the materials of the Moscow Society of Agriculture identified in the fund of the Central Scientific Agricultural Library. With the involvement of the developments of researchers on the history of agrarian thought in Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, forms of communication between the scientific and professional communities are determined for the modernization of the agricultural sector of agriculture after the peasant reform of 1861 of the year. The publication highlights the main forms of communication: the publishing activity of the Society, the organization of exhibitions and congresses. To assess the large-scale activities of the Moscow Society of Agriculture for 110 years, a brief overview of its practical work is presented, and the role in the agrarian rationalization of agriculture in Russian historiography is revealed. Members of the Moscow Society have made a significant contribution to the study of the state of agriculture, ways of evolution and methods of increasing its productivity. On the example of materials from three All-Russian congresses on agronomic assistance to the population, the organizational aspects of resolving issues of agricultural management in the regions of Russia. The role and significance of the public initiative is especially valuable today, when the problems of innovative renewal and modernization of the agricultural sector are becoming a national task. For its successful solution, the documents of the congresses can be useful, since they make it possible to trace the genesis of the processes of agricultural development in various thematic areas and economic zones in historical terms and to avoid possible mistakes in decision-making.

scholarly journals Élelmiszertörténet: az 1900-1950-es évek

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 324-333
Author(s):  
Annamária Polgár ◽  
Erzsébet Mák
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Vacuum Packaging ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Agriculture And Food

For centuries, men were self-reliant and consumed typically the food produced on one’s own territory. With advancing Industrial Revolution, development started also in the agriculture and food production set on a large scale, with cheap mass products and companies could serve larger populations. Metropolitan life has adapted to cater to the growing crowds, with smaller stores slowly becoming supermarkets where everything could be found in the same place. Innovation efforts have also brought about the freezer, vacuum packaging or microwave, all of which made available to the public. Foods changed to be enriched with vitamins and minerals for a better nutrient supply, and packaging techniques followed this evolution. This study aims to look over the history of alimentation and the change of food production from the 1900s to the 1950s324including both World Wars respectively.

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