CONFERENCEGUIDE

The Waterfront Hotel, KuchingSarawak, Malaysia (Borneo)

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CONTENTSI N T R O D U C T I O N

F O R E W O R D S

M A S T E R C L A S S E SMaster Class: Exhibition DevelopmentMaster Class: Scientific CommunicationMaster Class: Curating a Space for CommunitiesMaster Class: Gamification

W O R K S H O PThe Evolved Museums - Shifts in Collection Management & Care Practices

K E Y S P E A K E RThe Changing Role of the Museum and The Curator

PA N E L 1“The Big Picture” – Museums in Transition

PA N E L 2The Ethics of Collecting – New Approaches

PA N E L 3The Engaged Museum – Curating with the Community

C A S E S T U D Y 1A New Role for the Sarawak Museum Campus,It’s Vision for a World-Class Museum

C A S E S T U D Y 2The Old Sarawak Museum: From a Natural History to a Cosmopolitical Future

C A S E S T U D Y 3From Pan Borneo Road Trip to Borneo Laboratory –A Platform for Driving Borneo Aesthetics

G E N E R A L C O N TA C T S

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The landscape within which museums operate has changed dramatically. The world is becoming increasingly fractured and divided across nationalistic and ideological lines. Audiences have become more sophisticated and demanding. Technology, in particular, digital technologies, have revolutionised the delivery of knowledge and content to end users. In the meantime, issues of ethics and provenance have become more pertinent than ever before in museological practice.

The role and relevance of the museum and the curator in contemporary society is shifting in light of these changes. An international line-up of speakers from European and Asian museums will present perspectives, experiences and best practices on the ground, offering conference participants practical insights into how their museums can respond and adapt.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

NEW CURATORIAL PERSPECTIVES FORA CHANGED WORLD

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THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHIEF MINISTER OF SARAWAK—Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Abdul Rahman ZohariBin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

Assalamualaikum and Salam Sejahtera

Welcome to the Land of the Hornbills and to the 8th Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) General Conference right here in Kuching.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Sarawak Museum for organising the first conference of its kind here in Malaysia and Borneo. The Sarawak State government is always in support of events that benefits social and museological development, as well as engage with new curatorial perspective for a changed world. The theme to this years’ conference.

We are particularly interested in the exchange of ideas and knowledge that are vital to the development of a cultural economy. I believe this conference is a manifestation of our common pursuit of this idea. I am glad that Sarawak Museum are among the various institutions that are reciprocating the efforts of the State Government to showcase Sarawak’s rich cultural and historical heritage and broadening ways of engaging with it.

Museological development is not new. Although it has been around for quite some time, it is ever evolving and changing, taking in new ways of approaches and perspectives. Among the participants of this conference, there are many scientists, academics and others with specialized museum professional expertise and knowledge. This is the best time to learn from them. I sincerely hope all the participants will benefit tremendously from ASEMUS 2018.

Thank you.

F O R E W O R D

MINISTER OF TOURISM, ARTS, CULTURE, YOUTH AND SPORTS(INTERNATIONAL FOCUS)—YB Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah

On behalf of the Sarawak Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 8th Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) General Conference 2018 in Kuching. We are very honoured to host this years ASEMUS conference.

Culture and heritage are the cornerstones of our world, even in an age of technological advancements and rapid globalisation. Within our current modern landscape, it has become increasingly important to form new perspectives and methods to re-engage and re-contextualise our worldly heritage.

The Sarawak State Government has made significant investments in the arts and heritage and we continue to see the delivery of positive outcomes, including the construction of the new Sarawak Museum Campus which will open its doors to the public in 2020. As a Minister, I fully support this ASEMUS General Conference. I am confident that the exchange of knowledge during the conference will enhance each other’s professional development and concurrently strengthen our mutual goals by working together internationally.

We are excited to learn more about the arts, culture and heritage sectors through new lenses so we can work to further expand its existing contributions and its potential. I wish you all a wonderful conference and a pleasant stay in Kuching.

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DIRECTOR OFSARAWAK MUSEUM DEPARTMENT—Ipoi Datan

The Sarawak Museum is proud to organise and host this years’ Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS) General Conference in Kuching. Firstly, I would like to thank the Sarawak State Government for their support in realising continued efforts within the arts and heritage sector.

Research and museological development have been part of the museum’s foundation for more than a century. In the 1880s, the Sarawak Museum began collecting specimens of flora, fauna and cultural artefacts from all over Borneo for both display and research. This continued with each passing museum curator and director, from major archaeological discoveries in the 60s to the current construction of the new Sarawak Museum Campus. The theme for this years’ conference, ‘New Curatorial Perspectives for a Changed World’ is vital for our current era. To develop new ways of re-interpreting stories behind artefacts and re-engaging audiences to understand our changed world.

With that, I encourage all participants, whether you are an academic, museum professional or a student, to learn from one another and work together to further strengthen international museum relations.

I wish you all a constructive and valuable ASEMUS Conference experience.

F O R E W O R DThe 8th edition of the ASEMUS General Conference throws the spotlight onto the curator, and the important work he or she does in being the interface between object and visitor.

In the last decade, the museum world has changed tremendously in response to new economic and geopolitical realities, as well as to new directions in academia. The role of the curator has also shifted – today’s curators have to rethink existing approaches of curatorial representation and public engagement.

The subject of this general conference – NEW CURATORIAL PERSPECTIVES FOR A CHANGED WORLD – is thus timely, and will provide a window on how curators in Asia and Europe are responding to change.

That the general conference takes place in Southeast Asia is also timely, given that there is greater interest in museums and museology in the region, and there have been relatively fewer of such conferences of international standing available here.

I therefore thank and congratulate the Sarawak Museum Department (a member of the ASEMUS Executive Committee), the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak, the Sarawak Convention Bureau and the Asia-Europe Foundation, for hosting the general conference here in Kuching, Malaysia.

I wish all participants a fruitful and enjoyable conference!

CHAIRPERSON, ASEMUS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

DIRECTOR, ASIANS CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM SINGAPORE—Kennie Ting

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Wednesday, 14 Nov 201810.00 – 12.0014.00 – 16.00

EXHIBITIONDEVELOPMENT

SPEAKERS

Yasmin Khalid Nicholls is the Content and Interpretation Manager for the Sarawak Museum Campus Project. She started work for the project in 2014 and is responsible for the management and content development of over 6,000 sq. metres of exhibition space over four levels due for completion in 2020.

Prior to this, Yasmin worked as a freelance consultant for the Sarawak Museum Department completing numerous exhibitions including the refurbishment of the displays at the Limbang Regional Museum.

After completing an MA in Gallery Studies at Essex University, UK in 2004, Yasmin worked for the Imperial War Museum, London for five years on the Their Past Your Future project. This was learning programme that used historical sources, sites, museums, veterans and eyewitnesses of war to increase young people’s understanding and appreciation of history. During her time at the Imperial War Museum, she was also the lead researcher for four major exhibitions; Falklands War 25th Anniversary, War to Windrush, Through My Eyes online exhibition and What Lies Beneath online exhibition.

Yasmin Khalid Nicholls

Exhibition Content Manager, Sarawak Museum Campus

M A S T E R C L A S S

Laura Miotto (Italy/Singapore) is Associate Professor at NTU ADM and Design Director of GSM Project in Singapore. With 18 years of experience in the design field, both as a creative director and an architectural designer, Miotto has worked on permanent and temporary exhibitions, focusing on heritage interpretation and sensorial design strategies in the context of museums, thematic galleries, and public spaces.

Among her projects are the new Sarawak Museum in Kuching, Trees of Life: Knowledge in Materials at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and the Living Galleries at the National Museum of Singapore, that explore local ecologies and cultures in a phase of transformation.

In 2010 she received Singapore’s President Design Award for the exhibition Quest for Immortality: The World of Ancient Egypt. As an educator, she is currently co-director of the Master programme in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practices at the School of Art Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Laura Miotto

Design Director,GSM Projects Singapore

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Wednesday, 14 Nov 201810.00 – 12.00SCIENTIFIC

COMMUNICATION

SPEAKERS

Born and raised in Calcutta, a large and somewhat chaotic city which lies along the banks of the Ganges, I went on to complete my Mphil in Literature and Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and my Masters in Book & Digital Media at the University of Leiden. I lived in Amsterdam for over a decade working for academic publishing houses, and raising my son before moving to Kuching and joining Swinburne as a science communicator.

My chief role in Swinburne is storytelling, or telling the complex story of research for a broad audience. I produce and edit Swinburne’s Discover magazine, which showcases Swinburne Research and its research heroes. After all, in research it’s the people who matter. I also tutor the unit, Communication for Scientists, where we teach budding scientists the tools and skills to ethically communicate their work to a non-specialist audience by using stories, by using visuals and by being empathetic.

Tanu Patodia

Scientific Communication Associate, Swinburne University of Technology

M A S T E R C L A S S

Upon graduation [PhD at the UK National Oceanography Centre in Southampton], Moritz accepted a lectureship position at Swinburne Sarawak where he initially established the BSc (Biotechnology) program and later set up the Aquatic and Environmental Sciences (AquES) Research Group. The focus of his current research projects lies on tropical peat-draining rivers in Sarawak, Borneo; in particular the production, transport and burial of organic material from the rivers to the coast and the diversity and roles of microbes in these processes. Collaboration with international colleagues is of great importance to him and has allowed him and his students to publish in several leading international science journals such as Nature Communications.

Dr Moritz Mueller

Associate Professor, Swinburne University of Technology

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M A S T E R C L A S SWednesday, 14 Nov 201810.00 – 12.0014.00 – 17.00

CURATING A SPACEFOR COMMUNITIES

SPEAKER

Dr Sadiah Boonstra is Senior Manager of Programmes in the department for Audience Development & Engagement at National Gallery Singapore. She holds a PhD in History from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on intangible heritage formation in colonial and contemporary Indonesia and the Netherlands. Boonstra has experience in creating cultural spaces with communities and curated a number of international shows, amongst which ‘Banda. Heritage for Indonesia’ at Galeri Nasional, Jakarta (2017), ‘Shadow Puppet Theatre from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand’ at The British Museum, London (2016) and ‘Dutch Perspectives on Prince Diponegoro, 1800 until the present’ at Erasmus Huis Jakarta (2015).

Dr Sadiah Boonstra

Senior Manager (Programmes), National Gallery Singapore

Wednesday, 14 Nov 201814.00 – 17.00GAMIFICATION

SPEAKER

Jacey-Lynn Minoi is a Senior Lecturer in Statistical Pattern Recognition at the Faculty of Computer Science, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. She is the head of the Biometric Recognition cluster at the faculty and also head Gamification cluster that is based at the university’s newly built Gamification Lab-myCapsule Space. Gamification refers to methodologies with playful and gameful design elements for user engagement, behavioural change in various application domains, including teaching and learning. Her research in gamification is oriented towards creative use of technologies (robotic) and philosophies (co-creation, game design thinking, Lego ® Serious Play) for the development of creativity, problem solving, collaboration and computational thinking. The recent project of the Gamification group has been developed in collaboration with Coventry University’s Disruptive Media Learning Lab, U.K. under the Newton Fund. In April 2005, she joined the Department of Computing at Imperial College London, U.K., where she obtained her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science 2009. She was awarded in 2009, a Wellcome Trust Fellowship to work for 6 months at the Royal College of Surgeon Dublin, Ireland. Dr Minoi has spoken in various events in Malaysia, the U.K., Europe and internationally.

Dr Jacey-Lynn Minoi

Senior Lecturer in Statistical Data Analytics, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)

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W O R K S H O PWednesday, 14 Nov 201814.00 – 17.00THE EVOLVED

MUSEUMS – SHIFTS IN COLLECTION MANAGEMENT & CARE PRACTICES

SPEAKERS

Dr. Simone Stoltz is Lecturer in Information Management at the Reinwardt Academy in Amsterdam. Before her actual position she worked as Manager Collections at several museums including the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam Castle. She has been a museums advisor on e-Culture and digitisation for several years. Simone is passionate in educating a new generation of museum/heritage professionals in information, media presentation and collection care. At the Bachelor (at Reinwardt Academy) she provides in challenging projects and case studies, while for Master students she focusses on theoretically argued discussions. Simone is frequently asked for masterclasses, workshops and presentations at Universities and conferences in the Netherlands and abroad.

Dr Simone Stoltz

Lecturer in Information Management, Reinwardt Academy, Netherlands

Prof. Darko Babic is the Chairman of ICOM-ICTOP, an assistant professor at the University of Zagreb (Head of Department of Museology) with an avid focus on the advancement of museum/heritage professions. In addition, he is a museum advisor to the European Museum Forum and a member of the Supervisory Committee to the European Association for Heritage Interpretation. His research interests include topics related to museums and development, museum management and training/education of museum/heritage professionals.

Uma Parameswar is an arts professional with experience in both the private and public sector. She is a Board Member of ICOM-ICTOP. Her previous roles included Board Member, Society of the National Museum Institute, Government of India where she and her colleagues advocated museum management policies for the Government of India. Her research interests include public private partnerships for the arts with a focus on museum capacity building and is the author of research reports on Public Museums in India: A Review of the National Museum, and Towards Profitable Public Sector Museums.

Prof Darko Babic

Chairman, ICOM-ICTOP

Uma Parameswer

Board Member, ICOM-ICTOP

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K E Y S P E A K E R

When Rajah Charles Brooke founded the Sarawak Museum in 1886, he envisaged an institution “second to none in the East”. As a hub in a collecting network that constructed and disseminated colonial knowledge about Southeast Asia during the ‘high Imperial’ period, the Museum played a central role in the development of Borneo collections both in Kuching and further afield.

Contemporary museological discourse increasingly emphasises the acknowledgement of collections’ colonial origins, and the importance of understanding the historical conditions in which they were formed. The Sarawak Museum provides an insightful case study for the exploration of this historical context in Southeast Asia. Brooke-era Sarawak’s unique position, intimately connected to but ultimately outside of British colonial networks, had significant repercussions for the development of the state Museum, and for the interpretation of Borneo globally.

What motivated Brooke to found a museum in Kuching, and how did he perceive its role? How did the structure of the Brooke state shape the work of curators and collectors in these early years? And how did the political, social and cultural context of Brooke Sarawak influence its participation in transboundary networks of scientific knowledge-gathering and dissemination? My research explores these questions and the legacy of these processes for the interpretation of colonial collections today.

ABSTRACT

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE MUSEUM AND THE CURATOR

Thursday, 15 Nov 201810.15 – 10.55

SPEAKER Jennifer R. Morris is a PhD candidate in the Department of History, National University of Singapore. Having studied history at the University of Cambridge, and museum studies at the University of Leicester, UK, she moved to Southeast Asia and developed an interest in the history of museums and scientific collecting in the region. From 2017-2018, she participated in the Sarawak Museum Campus Fellowship Programme, researching the history of the Sarawak Museum and its collections during the Brooke era.

Jennifer R. Morris

Research fellow Sarawak Museum Campus / PhD candidate National University Singapore

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PA N E L 1

In response to new academic approaches, as well as changes in visitor demand and in funding, museums are undergoing dramatic shifts in structure and curatorial narrative. This panel provides insights into new directions major museums are embarking on to prepare themselves for the future.

ABSTRACT

“THE BIG PICTURE” –MUSEUMS IN TRANSITION

Thursday, 15 Nov 201811.10 – 12.20

MODERATOR Dr Elena Gregoria Chai Chin Fern is born and educated in Kuching, Sarawak. She attended her tertiary education at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo with her first and second degrees in Anthropology. She obtained her doctorate degree from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in the field of Area Studies. She is currently a senior lecturer attached to the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. She has conducted fieldwork in Laos (Vientiane, Paksan, Houayxai) on ‘soukhuan’ or soul calling ceremony. Her other works include Hakka women and their marriage ceremonies; Tua Pek Kong temples in Sarawak; boat trading network of riverine communities; spirit mediums ‘tatung’ and belief systems of multi ethnic society in West Kalimantan. Her present projects deal with disaster management and ancestor veneration of overseas Chinese.

Dr ElenaGregoria Chai

Senior Lecturer, Department of Anthropology Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, UNIMAS Sarawak

PANELLIST Professor at Fudan University from 1987 to 2014, teaching and tutoring doctoral candidates of “Cultural Heritage Theory and Management” and “Religion, Art and History of Asia”, and Director of the Shanghai Museum since 2014.

He was also the Dean of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology of Fudan University, in charge of the Fudan University Museum; Section Chief of Scientific Research of Arts of Fudan University; Director of the History of Arts Institute of Fudan University and a steering group member of Chinese local chronicles.

His researches are mainly related to: 1. Intellectual and cultural history of ancient China2. Ancient Chinese etiquette and ritual Study 3. Cultural heritage and museum culture4. Philology, cultural anthropology and archaeology

Yang Zhigang

Director of the Shanghai Museum, China (PHD degree of Chinese History from Fudan University)

PANELLIST Curator of Shanghai Musuem, Director of the Cultural Exchange Office of Shanghai Museum in 1997-2016, Administrator of International Progrmas of Shanghai Museum in 2017-2018, Vice Chair of Exhibition and Exchange Committee of ICOM China, Member of Art Advisory Council of Salzburg Global Seminar.

Start to work at the Shanghai Museum since 1982, when she was graduated from Fudan University. With her profound knowledge of English, she has translated a lot of museum publications and gallery introductions, and done a lot of work related to international programs for the Museum, including international exchanges of exhibitions, personnels and symposiums, long term cooeration with foreign museums, etc. With her effort, more than 120 exhibitins of the Museum have been sent to over 30 countries in the world, over 30 international conferences and academic symposiums were held at the Shanghai Museum and more than dozen foreign museums have a long-term cooperative relationship with the Shanghai Museum.

Zhou Yanqun

Chief Cultural Exchange, Shanghai Museum (China)

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PA N E L 1

“THE BIG PICTURE” –MUSEUMS IN TRANSITION

PANELLIST John Sijmonsbergen (Amsterdam 1964) studied Dutch Colonial History and Business Management. He is a married father of three and lives in Amsterdam.

After completing his studies, John pursued a career in business for ten years before switching to the cultural sector in 2005, in order to combine his management experience with his passion for culture.

John was headhunter at Brunel International and later director at advertising agency Brandbase before joining cultural promotions agency Anno in 2005. In 2010 he was appointed to the board of the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde in Leiden as deputy director. In 2014 the museum merged with Amsterdam’s Tropenmuseum and the Africa Museum in Nijmegen to form the National Museum of World Cultures. This cluster of museums was expanded in 2016 to include the World Museum in Rotterdam. The museum group is run by a single central management team. John is its deputy director responsible for Strategy and Development, including funding and the redesign of the four museums.

John Sijmonsbergen

Deputy Director, National Museum of World Cultures (Netherlands)

PANELLIST

PANELLIST

Kennie Ting is the Director of the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum, and concurrently Group Director, Museums at the National Heritage Board (NHB) Singapore, overseeing national museums and festivals managed by the NHB. He is presently the Chairperson of the Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS), which aims to promote mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe through collaborative museum-based cultural activity.

Before NHB, he worked in the former Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, where he was involved in developing strategies for heritage and the arts, including the Renaissance City Plan III and the recent Arts and Culture Strategic Review. He is interested in the history of travel and the heritage of Asian port cities and is the author of the books, The Romance of the Grand Tour – 100 Years of Travel in South East Asia and Singapore Chronicles: HERITAGE.

After studying History and Culture as an undergraduate, Hyeonji Kong worked as an English interpretor at the National Palace Museum of Korea, where she grew her academic interest in heritage interpretation/utilisation and decided to study the field of cultural heritage. After graduating MA Cultural Heritage Studies at University College London with her dissertation on heritage interpretation, she is currently working as VCM Liaison and International Relations Coordinator at the National Museum of Korea.

Kennie Ting

Director Asian Civilisations Museum (Singapore)

Kong Hyeonji

International Relations Coordinator/ VCM Liaison, National Museum of Korea

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PA N E L 2

Collecting and building collections is core to the work of the museum, even as perspectives on the how and the why a museum collects have changed over time. What constitutes ethical collecting today? What are some new approaches to managing historical collections? This panel provides latest insights in the field of museum ethics.

ABSTRACT

THE ETHICS OF COLLECTING – NEW APPROACHES

Thursday, 15 Nov 201813.30 – 14.40

MODERATOR Steph joined The Hunterian in 2017 and was previously Director of Heritage Collections at the University of Amsterdam. Steph is an experienced museum director and academic with over 25 years experience in the cultural sector. He is an art historian by background with an international reputation and extensive knowledge of museum collections. In The Netherlands, he worked for the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, for the National Institute for Conservation, at the National Museum of Antiquities and was in charge of the extensive and important collections and museums of the University of Amsterdam.

Research InterestsSteph’s major research interest is in museum ethics. In The Netherlands he was member and chair of several national committees, amongst them the one that designed the new deaccessioning guidelines for Dutch museums and that have been implemented in the Dutch law on Cultural Heritage in 2016. Currently he is a member of EthCom, the standing committee on professional ethics of the International Council of Museums.

Steph Scholten

Director of The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

PANELLIST After graduating from the University of Paris La Sorbonne, in Art History, Constance de Monbrison worked at the Musée National d’Art Moderne and at the Musée du Louvre where she coordinated two large exhibitions, one in Taïwan and the other in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Since 2001, Constance de Monbrison has been the curator of Insular South East Asia at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris (France). Among other projects, she participated in the preliminary phase of the museum conception and contributed to the layout of the permanent collection from Oceania, Indonesia and Philippines. In 2008, together with Pieter ter Keurs, she was the curator of the temporary exhibition “Au nord de Sumatra, les Batak”; and in 2013 she curated “Philippines, archipel des échanges” alongside Corazon Alvina. In 2017, Constance also organized with Paolo Maiullari (museo delle Culture, Lugano), a symposium on Borneo called “Borneo, last Terra Icognita”.

Constance de Monbrison

Curator Southeast Asia region, Musee du Quai-Branly (France)

PANELLIST Kong Vireak is the Director of the Department Museums, Ministry of Culture and Fine-Arts and Director of the National Museum of Cambodia. He graduated with Bachelor degree in archaeology from Department of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine-Arts in Phnom Penh. He received a MA degree in 1998 in cultural anthropology from École des Hautes-Études des Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. From 1998 to 2005, he worked in Angkor with Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor. From 2005 to 20012, he served as Director of Education Service of the Royal University of Fine-Arts, and later as Vice-Rector. In November 2012, he was appointed as Director of the Department of Museums of the ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

Kong Vireak

Director National Museum of Cambodia

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PANELLIST Dr. Laura Van Broekhoven is the Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. She holds a Professorial Fellowship at Linacre College and is associated with the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at Oxford. Previously she led the curatorial department of the National Museum of World Cultures (Amsterdam, Leiden and Berg en Dal) and was a lecturer in archaeology, museum studies and indigenous heritage at the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University. Current research interests include repatriation and redress, with a focus on the importance of collaboration, inclusivity and reflexive inquiry. Her regional academic research has focused on collaborative collection research with Amazonian (Surinam and Brazil) Indigenous Peoples, Yokot’an (Maya) oral history, Mixtec Indigenous market systems, and Nicaraguan Indigenous resistance in colonial times. She has curated numerous exhibitions, and authored dozens of books, articles, and papers. Dr. Van Broekhoven currently serves on numerous advisory boards and panels is a member of the Women Leaders in Museums Network (WLMN) and sits on the European Ethnographic Museum Directors Group. She was a participant in the Getty’s Museum Leadership Institute, co-chair of the Oxford and Colonialism Network and founding member of Wayeb.

Dr Laura Van Broekhoven

Director Pitt RiversMuseum (UK)

PA N E L 2

THE ETHICS OF COLLECTING – NEW APPROACHES

PANELLIST Engr. Jainab Aimee Tahil-Altillero is a Civil Engineer by profession. She is a certified Materials Engineer and a practicing Structural Engineer. Her 26 years’ experience in conservation of heritage sites led her to be invited in different local and international technical conferences to present papers. Notable were the “Engineering in the Field of Restoration” conducted by Heritage Conservation Society, “Conservation of Intramuros as Philippine Cultural Heritage” presented in Myanmar, “Preservation of Collections & Museum Buildings by Integrated Pest Management over Southeast Asia” in Indonesia, accepted and peer reviewed paper at the REHAB’17 in Portugal on Preservation of Heritage Building and many other international conferences like Singapore and India. In November 8, 2003, she received an Honourable Mention distinction by the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation for the restoration of 1917 Gota de Leche building where she was the Civil-Structural Engineer. Her experience as Officer-in-Charge of the Cultural Properties and Conservation Division of the Department of Tourism-Intramuros Administration directed her to serve in different capacity at the National Museum of the Philippines, as Officer-in-Charge of 2 divisions such as the Research, Collections and Conservation Division (RCCMD) and the Fine Arts Division (FAD) while she holds a permanent plantilla position as Chief Administrative Officer of the Facilities Management Division (FMD). She also served as Consultant to various government institutions like OWWA, Cavite Museum, Inter-Agency Technical Committee for the Restoration of Ayuntamiento Project of the Bureau of Treasury, Secretary-Board Member of the Palacio del Gobernador, and the National Archives of the Philippines among others.

Jainab Tahil-Altillero

CollectionsManagement Chief

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PA N E L 3

As communities worldwide become more vocal, museums increasingly need to be more engaged with and reflective of community needs and aspirations. At the same time, new technologies also allow for more innovative approaches to audience involvement. This panel provides best practice in involving and curating with the community.

ABSTRACT

THE ENGAGED MUSEUM – CURATING WITH THE COMMUNITY

Thursday, 15 Nov 201815.30 – 16.35

MODERATOR Valentina Riccardi joined the Asia-Europe Foundation in January 2009. She is currently Senior Project Manager in the Culture Department. She is in charge of ASEF’s digital projects in culture, including the arts and culture portal culture360.asef.org, and the website of the Asia-Europe Museum Network (ASEMUS).

Between 2016 and 2018, she undertook the evaluation of two flagship ASEF digital projects, namely, culture360.asef.org and the ASEM Infoboard. From 2013 to 2015, she also oversaw the Culture Department’s previous grants programmes – Creative Encounters: Cultural Partnerships between Asia and Europe and ASEF Creative Networks.

Prior to joining ASEF, Valentina worked in Rome with Monti & Taft, an organisation focusing on cultural management and heritage-related projects. Prior to entering the cultural sector, she worked in fashion and marketing in Rome and New York. She was also a contributor to the Asian contemporary art publication

Valentina Riccardi

Senior Project Manager, Culture Department, Asia-Europe Foundation (Singapore)

PANELLIST Woo Souyeon is a museum educator who is in charge of lectures, programs for the international community and e-learning. She joined the National Museum of Korea in 2004 and as a museum’s first museum educator, she was responsible for designing educational programs for a new museum in its current, Yongsan location.

Ms Woo received her B.A. in History and M.A. in Learning Sciences. Before her current position, she has worked for Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University (USA) as an intern where she completed her master’s project, the Art Institute of Chicago as a project evaluator and the Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools at Northwestern University.

Woo Souyeon

Curator/Educator, National Museum of Korea

Asian Art Now (Chiu M. and Genocchio B., Thames and Hudson 2011).

Valentina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Sciences from the University of Rome – La Sapienza. She obtained her Master’s degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art Singapore – University of Manchester and completed a thesis on the validation system of Indian contemporary art.

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PANELLIST Ann Follin is the director general of the National Museums of World Culture with a dedicated staff in four museums in the two largest cities in Sweden: the Museum of Ethnography, the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities, and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm as well as the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg.

Follin boasts more than 30 years of leadership experience in various senior positions in the cultural sector, mostly in the field of museums and exhibitions. She was the director of the National Museum of Science and Technology in Sweden (2008-2015), director general of the Swedish Travelling Exhibitions (2002-2008) and the deputy director as well as head of exhibition at the Museum of Work (1989-2000).

She has been active on the boards of various institutions, including the University of Gothenburg, Gotland University, and the Swedish National Maritime Museums, and chaired the board of the Swedish Science Centers as well as the board of trustees at Deutsches Museum.

Ann Follin

Director General National Museums of World Culture (Sweden)

PA N E L 3

THE ENGAGED MUSEUM – CURATING WITH THE COMMUNITY

PANELLIST Vandana Prapanna is working as Sr. Curator, Indian Miniature Paintings in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai. She has joined Museum in 1994 after completing her M.A. in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology and M.A. (Fine) Museology.

Vandana has participated in International Training program at the British Museum London (2010). She has also been awarded Nehru Fellowship by the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the V&A, London (2011) and the Asia Foundation Brayton Wilbur Memorial Fellows in Asian Art Program’ at San Francisco (USA) in 2013.

She has successfully curated and co-curated important permanent and temporary exhibitions in the Museum. House of Lakshmi, Krishna Gallery, Indian Miniature Painting Gallery, Textile and costume Gallery, and Himalayan Art Gallery are some of the permanent galleries co-curated by her. She is also the creative advisor for the 13 Educational DVDs produced by the museum based on the collection of the museum. Vandana has contributed to prepare content design for Educational Kiosk installed in the galleries. She is also a Faculty member of the Post Graduate Diploma in Museology & Conservation (Affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Presently she is working on a collaborative project with the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett, Germany on their miniature painting collection for an exhibition.

She contributed the entries on Indian Miniature Paintings for the publication – East Meets West, Selection of Asian and European art from the Tata Collection in the CSMVS, 2010 and the guide book of the museum. She has also contributed in co- authorship several publications on Indian Art. She is presently working on the research project of the virtual reconstruction and cataloguing of the 16th century important Mughal manuscript of Anwar-i-Suhayli in the museum’s collection.

Vandana Prapanna

Senior Curator, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (India)

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C A S E S T U D Y 1

A NEW ROLE FOR THE SARAWAK MUSEUM CAMPUS, IT’S VISION FOR A WORLD-CLASS MUSEUM

SPEAKER Born and raised in the Netherlands, Hans started his professional career in museums in Amsterdam and Leiden. He is a born networker with a can-do mentality creating an environment for colleagues and institutes to work together and share knowledge. Presently he lives in Kuching (Borneo) and is heading the Sarawak Museum Campus Project. In this position, he ensures the project’s successful development in cooperation with the Director Sarawak Museum Department, project developer PPES Works and the Sarawak State government. The Campus objective is to realize by 2020 a new museum campus; a new main museum with a curated 6,000 m² exhibition, a conservation & research centre with storage facilities. The project also involves the renovation and refurbishment of three historic museum buildings and gardens. Hans believes strongly in building on local talent and initiated a museum training program for the new Campus staff to raise their skills to meet international standards. He was previously the Director of Public Programmes at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, and he is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Asia-Europe Museum Network. Hans holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Groningen, specialised in arts policy and management.

Hans van de Bunte MA

Senior Project Leader, Sarawak Museum Campus, Kuching, Malaysia

Ayesha Keshani

PhD Candidate Goldsmiths University

Thursday, 15 Nov 201810.55 – 11.10

C A S E S T U D Y 2

THE OLD SARAWAK MUSEUM: FROM A NATURAL HISTORY TO A COSMOPOLITICAL FUTURE

SPEAKER Ayesha Keshani is a PhD researcher in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has worked in exhibition development for numerous museums and cultural organisations in Southeast Asia since 2013, including Think City, Penang State Museum, Malaysia Nature Society and the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (Malaysia), and the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Hoa Lo Historical Prison and Hanoi Biological Museum (Vietnam). Her practice-based PhD research, funded by the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE), explores the colonial and post-colonial histories of Southeast Asian natural history museums, with the aim of developing new cosmopolitical approaches to natural history exhibition.

Thursday, 15 Nov 201814.40 – 15.10

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C A S E S T U D Y 3

FROM PAN BORNEO ROAD TRIPTO BORNEO LABORATORY – A PLATFORM FOR DRIVING BORNEO AESTHETICS

SPEAKER Wendy Teo is a Malaysian Born UK ARB/RIBA Chartered Architect, Curator, Researcher and Tutor that seeing embedding social-culture dialogue in forming design as her ultimate pursuit. Across her design career, Wendy Teo’s projects were endorsed by a number of international awards such as Holcim Sustainable Next Generation Award (First Prize), Archiprix, Threadneedle Prize et cetera. Her recent furniture design was selected as finalist in ‘Asia Design Award’ 2018. Her projects were exhibited across UK, France, Germany, Slovenia, Turkey and Taiwan. One of the notable exhibition is 2013/14 Archilab ‘Naturalising Architecture’ exhibition curated by Pompidou Center director Frédéric Migayrou and FRAC Orlean Director Marie-Ange Brayer.

Wendy Teo believes an innovative and cutting-edge approach in design and making has capacity to revitalise craftsmanship of the region. Fundamentally, Wendy Teo sees social-culture dialogue as driving force of her design pursuit. In her award winning design practice Wendy Teo Atelier, she designed a range of nature and culture inspired interactive sculptures, furniture, architectural installation and publication. As a founder of Borneo Laboratory @ Borneo Art Collective, Wendy Teo currently focuses on revitalising the regional crafts through infusing creativity and innovation.

Wendy Teo Boon Ting

Founder of BorneoArt Collective / Chartered Architect

Thursday, 15 Nov 201816.35 – 16.55

G E N E R A L C O N TA C T SWaterfront Hotel receptionTel : (+60)82-227227

Police/AmbulanceTel : 999 (112 from mobile phone)

Fire & Rescue Tel : 994 (112 from mobile phone) / (+60)82-365994

Tourist Police Unit (Kuching Waterfront, 8am – midnight) Tel : (+60)82-250522

Central Police Station (opposite Padang Merdeka)Tel : (+60)82-244444 / 241222

Traffic Police Section Tel : (+60)82-241133

General Hospital Tel : (+60)82-276666

Borneo Medical CentreTel : (+60)82-507333

Sarawak Immigration Federal Complex, Simpang Tiga, CPL Bus K8Tel : (+60)82-230280 / 245661

Urban Transformation Centre – KuchingJalan Padungan, 93110 KuchingTel : (+60)82-420202

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