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Posts from the ‘Historic Preservation’ Category

Jan 3

The Temple of Heaven | 天壇 (12/8)

This briefer note is the second on our recent trip to China. The context for this travel will come (I hope) a few posts down the road. For now, perhaps you can just go with it. For the first post in the series, see The IU Gateway Office and Tsinghua University Art Museum (12/8).

After our group’s visit to the Tsinghua University Art Museum we ended the day with a visit to the Temple of Heaven (天壇). Wikipedia’s account (or whatever you can access) is probably sufficient for those who are curious about what the Temple of Heaven is about. In a nutshell, it is an impressive temple complex dating back to the early 1400s and was a key site for imperial sacrificial rituals. It is comprised numerous surviving buildings and beautiful grounds. For our interest as museum-types, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (number 881, to be exact). While it clearly attracts a significant number of visitors, visiting it (late in the day, in winter?) was certainly different from visiting the Forbidden City, where one typically becomes one tiny fish in a single vast, densely packed school of fish swimming straight through the complex from one end to another.

As earlier in the day, the companions were Jon Kay, Carrie Hertz, and Jason Jackson. At the Temple of Heaven we arrived too late in the day to enter any buildings, but we were able to stroll the grounds and see some of the buildings from the outside. Like so many monumental sites in China, one rarely has enough time to see the whole destination properly. Visiting when we did though, we really enjoyed the quiet contemplative nature of the experience. Many of those at the site were, like us, having a park visit experience as much or more than they were having a historical buildings experience. Of course, our state of reverie did not keep us from attending to the buildings, which were great. (A bit more text follows the images.)

Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Lunch in between visiting the Tsinghua University Art Museum and the Temple of Heaven. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson.
A farmer painting-style image on a street sign in the Beijing neighborhood near the Temple of Heaven. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Jon Kay at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
(L-R) Jason Jackson and Carrie Hertz contemplate scratching and not scratching at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Carrie Hertz.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Carrie Hertz at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Carrie Hertz.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Carrie Hertz.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Carrie Hertz.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jason Baird Jackson
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.
Scene at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. December 8, 2017. Photograph by Jon Kay.

Carrie and I, on an earlier trip’s visit to the Forbidden City, had noticed the English language signs pleading for no scratching. At the time, this had not made full sense to us, although we of course understood the impulse to protect these ancient monuments. At the Temple of Heaven, we were able wander without rushing or bumping into other people and thereby got a close look at the problem these signs work to prevent. You can see both the signs and some scratches in the images here.

We figured it out with some smart phone help, but one of the reasons that we were late in the day getting to the Temple of Heaven is that our taxi driver delivered us to the Temple of Heaven Holiday Inn (not yet a UNESCO World Heritage site), which it turns out is not exactly right by the Temple of Heaven itself. This meant that what we lost in terms of time spent at the site, we gained in terms of a walk through a not particularly touristy but elder-rich Beijing neighborhood. Posted here are some pictures for our families, friends, and other interested folks.

Thanks as always to my great travel companions. For deciding on the Temple of Heaven, thanks go especially to Carrie.

Sep 6

Don’t Miss the Great Mathers Museum Building Debate

brutalism

Built in the early 1980s, the Mathers Museum of World Cultures building is an example of Brutalist architecture, a modernist style reviled by some and revered by others. Two Indiana University historians with a research expertise in architecture fall squarely into one camp or the other. Eric Sandweiss, the current chair of the Department of History, and Michael Dodson, the current chair of the Dhar India Studies Program and a faculty member in the Department of History, have agreed to participate in a spirited debate on the relative beauty (or lack thereof) of the Mathers Museum building. In doing so, they will provide general insights into contemporary architecture and the contrasting and competing ways that beauty has been embraced, complicated, or rejected as a criterion for the evaluation and understanding of the built environment. The debate will be free and open to the public, and is sponsored by Themester 2016: Beauty, an initiative of the IU College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the President.

See also the Themester and Museum events pages for this big event.

Oct 6

Paul E. Buchanan Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum (Recognizes Great Not-Books and Not-Articles)

Award Committee Chair Nora Pat Small recently noted for me the Paul E. Buchanan Award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF). What is so cool about this award is that it recognizes outstanding work in vernacular architecture studies that takes one of many forms that are NOT books or articles. Check out the award information page and the list of past winners. Then send your nomination materials to Professor Small at Eastern Illinois University.

Oct 4

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Collaborative for Cultural Heritage Management and Policy

The Collaborative for Cultural Heritage Management and Policy (aka CHAMP) is a very active initiative at the at the University of Illinois. Led by anthropologist Helaine Silverman, it involves a huge number of Illinois faculty and organizes a wide range of conferences, talks, and projects. CHAMP has announced a busy series of lectures for October. Check out its website for more information on CHAMP’s activities. Here are the upcoming lectures.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16
3 p.m.
DAVENPORT HALL, room 109A
Food, heritage and intellectual property in Europe
Lecture by Dr. Erica Farmer (James Smithson Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17
4 p.m.
DAVENPORT HALL, room 109A
Negotiating the “increase and diffusion of knowledge”: Policy, practice, and values around cultural heritage at the Smithsonian Institution
Lecture by Dr. Erica Farmer (James Smithson Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Institution)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21
5 p.m.
GSLIS 126 (501 E. Daniel)
Why UNESCO Matters: The Destruction of Cultural Heritage around the World
A panel presentation:
Lynne Dearborn (Architecture): The destruction of vernacular architecture
Laila Moustafa (LIS): The loss of Islamic manuscripts
Helaine Silverman (Anthropology): Looting the archaeological record
Kari Zobler (Anthropology): The devastation of Syria’s cultural heritage
Co-sponsored with the UNESCO Center for Global Citizenship

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22
4 p.m.
Lucy Ellis Lounge, first floor in FLB
Vikings in America? Swedes in the American Ethno-Racial Hierarchies in the 19th Century
Lecture by Dr. Dag Blanck (English Department, Stockholm University)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 28
4:30
Lincoln Hall room 1064
The Colonial Occupation of Piura: The Historical Archaeology of the First Spanish Settlement in Peru
Lecture by Dr. Fernando Vela (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

Dec 31

Museums of Ethnography and Cultural History Celebrate Fiftieth Anniversaries and Welcome New Directors

I will say more detailed things about the Mathers Museum of World Cultures during 2013 in later posts. Here I just want to flag a few happy curiosities.

Today is the last day of 2013 and 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. This fact made it an extra wonderful year to begin service as the museum’s Director. The exhibition Treasures of the Mathers Museum was the centerpiece of our celebratory activities and a new strategic plan was the fruit of our reflections on the past and our goal setting for the future. We have made good progress on our goals for the second half century, but that is for a future post.

We were not alone among museums of ethnography, cultural history, and world cultures celebrating golden anniversaries in 2013. Joining us in such celebrations were the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Wake Forest Museum of Anthropology, and the Cherokee Heritage Center. (2013 saw other notable 50th anniversaries in the broader museum world, including the 50th anniversary of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee/Milwaukee Public Museum museum studies program.) Congratulations to all of the half century celebrants, especially to these museums in our corner of the field.

2013 was also a year for new directors among such museums. I am happy to be among them. My friend Candessa Tehee and I shared the experience of becoming directors during a 50th anniversary. Candessa is the new Executive Director of the Cherokee Heritage Center. Robert Preucel was named the new Director of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University and Patrick Lyons was named the new Director of the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona. The Cherokee Heritage Center was not the only Cherokee museum to get a new director, The Museum of the Cherokee Indian named James “Bo” Taylor as Executive Director. I am sure that I missed someone (please add them in the comments), but I want to wish all of these new directors well. It is an exciting time for our field and I look forward to seeing where we all collectively go during 2014.

Sep 27

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@Mukurtu Project Wins Major IMLS Grant

Congratulations to Kim Christen and everyone working on the Mukurtu project on news that the effort has received a major grant from the (U.S.) Institute for Museum and Library Services (announced here). This is a major development for a major project.

As noted on the Mukurtu project site, Mukurtu is “A free and open source community content management system that provides international standards-based tools adaptable to the local cultural protocols and intellectual property systems of Indigenous communities, libraries, archives, and museums.” It is “a flexible archival tool that allows users to protect, preserve and share digital cultural heritage through Mukurtu Core steps and unique Traditional Knowledge licenses.”

Jun 8

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Artisan Ancestors Podcast Appearance Focuses on Creative Commons

I recently did an interview with Jon Kay for his fine Artisan Ancestors podcast. The audio podcast series bridges the interests of folklore/folklife/cultural history scholars and those of avocational researchers and craftspeople interested in art and everyday life, past and present.  The particular topic for our conversation was the Creative Commons–what it is and what it is for, with some special consideration of its relevance to the concerns of the folklore-minded Artisan Ancestors audience. Jon is a great interviewer and his show is quickly gaining a following.  I am very thankful to have participated in it and hope that our discussion proves useful to someone.

The show (Episode 22) can be found on the Artisan Ancestors website here and on iTunes, where one can both download individual shows and subscribe to the podcast in an ongoing way.  Its free!

The interview is a prelude to a webinar that we will do next week. Details on that will come in a followup post.

Learn more about the Creative Commons on its website.

Mar 5

Arts, Inc.: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights

My review of Arts, Inc.: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights by former NEA Chairman (and AFS President) Bill Ivey was recently published in JFRR (Journal of Folklore Research Reviews). JFRR is an open access fork of the established toll access folklore journal Journal of Folklore Research. JFRR publishes reviews of diverse media in folklore studies and circulates the reviews via email.  They are also available in search-able form online at http://www.indiana.edu/~jofr/reviewsearch.php.

My review can be found online here:  http://www.indiana.edu/~jofr/review.php?id=715

Jul 11

Delaware Tribe Historic Preservation Office Seeks Archaeologist

The Delaware Tribe Historic Preservation Office is seeking to hire an archaeologist. The AAA job page has the ad, which can be found here.

My friend and former doctoral advisee, Dr. Brice Obermeter coordinates the tribe’s historical preservation work from Emporia State University, where he is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology.