Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof.

Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

Lesson 5 : New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Davis, Newcastle University, U 'ecture Date: )1 -ugust )*+*
$n this lecture, Da is re iews key conce.ts of museology an& traces the emergence of conce.tual frameworks in the +23*4s which le& to New Museology.# New museology is significant because it .laces an em.hasis on intangible as.ects of cultural heritage, such as collecti e memory, i&entity an& belonging. $t also shifts our iew of museology from the curation of ob5ects an& s.ecimens to the 6museum as .lace7. $t recogni8es that cultural lan&sca.es reflect the uni9ueness of localities an& .rioriti8es community .artici.ation. :hese are the &efining attributes of the ecomuseum. 1.0 Definitions of Museology and New Museology Da is begins with a re iew of the &efinitions of museology an& new museology. %e cites $C;M4s &efinition an& other &efinitions of the museum, to reflect on their com.le<ities. %e then turns to the reconce.tuali8ation of museology &uring the +23*s. ,ince then, museums ha e e<.an&e& the sco.e of their e<hibitions an& curatorial .ractices to inclu&e li ing heritage, such as oral history an& memory, craftsmanshi., festi als, ritual an& .erformance, an& in this regar&, museums are increasingly being recogni8e& as im.ortant .artners in the effort to safeguar& intangible cultural heritage. !.! Museology: "iverse "efinitions Museology is the branch of knowle&ge concerne& with the stu&y of the .ur.ose an& organisation of museums. $t has to &o with the stu&y of history an& backgroun& of museums, their role in society, s.ecific systems for research, conser ation, e&ucation an& organi8ation, relationshi.s with the .hysical en ironment, an& the classification of &ifferent kin&s of museums.# + Da is cites the &efinition of the museum as gi en by the $nternational Council of Museum =$C;M> an& com.are& this with the &efinition offere& by the (einwar&t -ca&emie in the Netherlan&s. Museology co ers the com.lete range of, an& working with, cultural an& natural heritage.# -ccor&ing to Da is, the secon& &efinition offers a wi&er framework than $C;M, because it mo es beyon& the tra&itional i&ea of museology as &efine& by a buil&ing, collections an& s.ecial e<.ertise.
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Please see more &etail in htt.:??icom.museum?filea&min?user@u.loa&?.&f?"ey@Conce.ts@of@Museology?Museologie@-nglais@BD..&f, ... 1A

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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

:his broa&er &efinition of museology can encom.ass the conser ation, inter.retation an& management of heritage sites within the lan&sca.e, thus liberating museology from the museum buil&ing.

Before &el ing &ee.er into the new museology a..roach, Da is briefly traces the &e elo.ment of museums towar&s the en& of +2th century, .articularly in Euro.e an& -merica. During this time, .ractices an& techni9ues of tra&itional museum curatorshi. were &e elo.e&, such as, storage an& research, conser ation, &ocumentation, an& e&ucation. -ll of these .ractices are key facets of museum work an& we still use them to&ay. %owe er, the +2D*s an& +23*s were a time of social unrest an& .olitical acti ism aroun& a range of issues inclu&ing ci il rights an& the en ironment. Peo.le became increasingly concerne& about the im.acts of technology, in&ustry an& &e elo.ment on the natural worl& an& the en ironment generally. Moreo er, this was a time in history when many former colonies were liberate&. :his .erio& of .olitical an& intellectual ferment resulte& in the emergence of new social mo ements, an& the conce.t of new museology emerge& at that time. !.# New Museology : origins an" "evelo$ment -n im.ortant meeting in the worl& of museum .rofessionals took .lace in ,antiago, Chile in +23). (eferre& to as the (oun& table of ,antiago,# this meeting brought together museologists from countries in ,outh an& Central -merica, such as Bra8il an& Me<ico, with re.resentati es from !NE,C; an& $C;M. :he &iscussions that took .lace &uring that meeting focuse& on how to rethink the meaning an& role of museum. %ow can the museum .lay a role in economic &e elo.ment, .articularly in .laces where .eo.le were still li ing in .o ertyE %ow coul& museums link to a social .ur.ose an& contribute to regeneration an& &e elo.ment in .oor urban or isolate& rural communitiesE :he meeting ga e rise to the i&ea of community museology, that is museums &e elo.e& for an& with the .eo.le. :his was linke& to a more &emocratic ision for museumsF one in which museums are associate& with a &e elo.ment agen&a by working with local communities. :he term new museology# &i& not come into being until +2G*, when -n&rH De allHes, a Irench museologist, wrote a .iece for an encyclo.e&ia using the .hrase Nou elle MusHologie#. New Museology# became the catch.hrase for museology linke& to a community &e elo.ment agen&as, an& it gra&ually became .o.ular in many Euro.ean countries such as ,.ain an& Portugal. :he term
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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

was formally acce.te& when $C;M establishe& the $nternational Committee for New Museology# =M$N;M> in +2G1. M$N;M is a ery acti e committee, with their most recent meeting being hel& in )*++ in -mster&am. !.% New Museology an" t&e Ecomuseum

%ugues &e Jarine, former ,ecretary Keneral of $C;M, was the .erson who first .ro.ose& the term HcoLmusHe to &istinguish the a..roaches .romote& by new museology. Both i&eas .romote museums which in ol e local communities an& use heritage resources to su..ort sustainable &e elo.ment. :he wor&, HcoLmusHe, first use& at a meeting of $C;M in Di5on, Irance, in +23+ is anglici8e& as 6ecomuseum7. :he ecomuseum conce.t emerge& in the early +23*s, a time when en ironmentalism was becoming a critical issue of growing concern to society. ,e eral international organi8ations focusing on en ironmental .rotection were foun&e& aroun& this time, such as Kreen.eace an& Irien&s of the Earth. :he choice of the term ecomuseum is a &irect reflection of the social an& .olitical climate of a time when ecology an& concern for the en ironment were high on the agen&a. E er since, the terms new museology an& ecomuseology ha e been a..lie& to communityLbase& heritage .ro5ects concerne& with en ironmentally sustainable social an& economic &e elo.ment. -nother im.ortant figure who .romote& the museum4s role in local &e elo.ment was a Irench museologist, Keorge %enri (i iMre. %e an& Jarine con&ucte& e<.erimental .ro5ects working with local communities in many rural areas of Irance. :he core conce.t of these .ro5ects was about how local .eo.le coul& use their heritage to strengthen the local economy, ai& local i&entity an& im.ro e their li es. %owe er, &e Jarine an& (i iMre hel& &ifferent .oints of iew regar&ing the framework. Keorge %enri (i iMre was an ethnogra.her .articularly concerne& with as.ects of cultural heritage which were &isa..earing from Irench rural society. By contrast, &e Jarine was more focuse& on the &emocrati8ation of museums.# :aken together, we can see how these .ers.ecti es broa&ene& the roles of the museum, with greater em.hasis on .lace, territory, i&entity, &e elo.ment an& &emocracy. 2.0 Ecomuseum: definition and identification $n this section, Da is turns to a &etaile& &iscussion of the &efinition of the ecomuseum# an&
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consi&ers the .rocess whereby an area, lan&sca.e, en ironment, .eo.le an& culture can .lay a role in local &e elo.ment. #.! Ecomuseum: a conce$tual framewor'

Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

(enH (i ar&, a IrenchLCana&ian museologist, .ro i&e& a &efinition of the ecomuseum as being a territory encom.assing both tangible an& intangible heritage, inclu&ing the memories of the .eo.le who li e there. ,ince then, the ecomuseum mo&el has been &e elo.e&, .articularly in Euro.e, where a grou. of Euro.ean institutions create& the Euro.ean Network of Ecomuseums.# :his network &efines the ecomuseum as a &ynamic way in which communities .reser e, inter.ret, an& manage their heritage for a sustainable &e elo.ment. -n Ecomuseum is base& on a community agreement.#) $n )**3, Da is .ublishe& an article about ecomuseums an& sustainable &e elo.ment, where he .ro i&e& a concise &efinition of the ecomuseum as a community &ri en heritage .ro5ect that ai&s sustainable &e elo.ment.#A :he main issue he raises here is about the .hiloso.hy an& .ractice of the ecomuseum, which centers on the con iction that local .eo.le shoul& .lay a central role in su..orting heritage .ro5ects an& acti ities that in res.onse to their own .articular situation. #.# Com$arison between t&e tra"itional museum an" t&e ecomuseum :ra&itional museums &e elo.e& in Euro.e some N** years ago as .ri ate collectionsF e entually museums became synonymous with e<tensi e, aluable collections conser e& in .restigious buil&ings. :hese museums were run by e<.erts in .articular sub5ects who .ossesse& s.eciali8e& curatorial knowle&ge an& techni9ues. Jisitors to tra&itional museums recei e the wis&om im.arte& by e<.ert curators. By contrast, knowle&ge in the ecomuseum is hel& by local .eo.le who &esignate their own heritage, .lace an& territory. - territory encom.asses as.ects of the lan&sca.e =geology, scenery>, built heritage =architecture>, natural heritage an& intangible heritage =&ialect, songs, stories>. :he si8e of the ecomuseum territory is &etermine& by local .eo.le. Da is mentions that the largest ecomuseum, the "alyna Country Ecomuseum, co ers an area of a..ro<imately +*,*** s9uare miles of -lberta,
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Declaration of Intent of the Lon !et "orksho#$ %rento &Italy'$ (ay )**N in htt.:??en.wiki.e&ia.org?wiki?EcomuseumODefinition@from@the@Euro.ean@Network@of@Ecomuseums , retrie e& on 1 December )*++. Da)is$ *eter+ &)**3>. !ew museolo ies and the ecomuseum+ In, -raham$ B+ and .oward$ *$ ed+ /esearch Com#anion to .erita e and Identity+ Ash ate+ .

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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

Cana&a. -lternati ely, an ecomuseum might be a ery small site, .erha.s one relating to a former in&ustry.

:he i&ea of the ecomuseum is embe&&e& within .laces, ca.turing their &istincti e characteristics an& histories. :hey reflect a .articular geogra.hy an& the ways in which .eo.le ha e use& an& mo&ifie& the lan& o er time. :he boun&ary of the ecomuseum7s territory nee& not be &efine& in by geogra.hical features such as mountains an& ri ers, or by e<isting .olitical boun&aries. $nstea& the boun&ary can be &efine& by culture, for instance, a &ialect, musical tra&itions or .articular forms of &ress. $n fact, it is the .eo.le who &eci&e what they alue in the en ironment or what they want to .reser e, cherish an& inter.ret for themsel es an& for isitors. #.% (&ree $illars of t&e ecomuseum i"eal 2.3.1 Sense and Spirit of place Phat is s.ecial about a .lace shoul& be &efine& by the locals themsel esLLit shoul& actually reflect what they alue, how they .icture their own 6sense of .lace7. Moreo er, in working with communities on safeguar&ing their heritage resources, cultural .ractitioners shoul& be concerne& with re itali8ing cultural heritage in the local en ironment. :his kin& of heritage work is calle& in situ conser ation an& inter.retation. :he heritage will be conser e& an& inter.rete& in its own situational conte<t an& it will not be mo e& to a s.ecial buil&ing or a museum. 2.3.2 Community in ol ement -t its heart, the ecomuseum is .remise& u.on a &emocratic a..roach. :his means that &ecisions regar&ing heritage management are ma&e by the local community of cultural bearers. :his &emocratic i&eal of the ecomuseum often .resents challenges in conte<ts where there are &ee.ly entrenche& social hierarchies, an& in countries where the go ernment takes a more to.L&own a..roach to heritage management. 2.3.3 !"e fle#i$ility of t"e Ecomuseum model -nother &efining feature of the ecomuseum is its fle<ibility. $t can be a&a.te& to the uni9ue conte<t an& history of each .lace. :hus, the ecomuseum can be a .ro5ect focusing on an in&ustrial
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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

site or an archaeological site, or it can encom.ass a whole range of intangible cultural heritages in a gi en territory. $n sum, the ecomuseum can be a&5uste& accor&ing to the community of culture bearers an& the s.ecificities of .lace. 3.0 %rinciples of ecomuseums and community museology

Buil&ing u.on the three main conce.ts of the ecomuseum, Da is has worke& with colleagues in $taly an& at Newcastle to &e elo. what they call the )+ key ecomuseum .rinci.les. :he .rinci.les fall broa&ly within three categories: + through D are about .artici.ation, 3 through +) are about ecomuseum functions an& ways of working, an& +A through )+ are about the goals that the ecomuseum might achie e. :hese .rinci.les .ro i&e a way of assessing how successful each museum has been in reaching its goals. %owe er, these .rinci.les e<.ress the i&eal ecomuseum mo&el, an& it is not necessary for e ery ecomuseum to achie e all of them. +. ;riginate& an& steere& by local communities ). -llow for .ublic .artici.ation in a &emocratic manner A. Qoint ownershi. an& managementL&ouble in.ut system N. Em.hasis on .rocess rather than on .ro&uct 1. Encourages collaboration with network of .artners D. De.en&ent on substantial acti e oluntary efforts 3. Iocus on local i&entities an& sense of .lace G. Encom.asses a 4geogra.hical4 territory, which can be &etermine& by &ifferent share& characteristics 2. Co ers both s.atial an& tem.oral as.ects L&iachronic rather than sim.ly synchronic +*. Iragmente& 4museum4 with network of hub an& antennae of buil&ings an& sites ++. Promotes .reser ation, conser ation an& safeguar&ing of heritage resources in situ +). E9ual attention gi en to immo able an& mo able tangible an& intangible heritage resources +A. ,timulates sustainable &e elo.ment an& res.onsible use of resources
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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

+N. -llows for change an& &e elo.ment for a better future

+1. Encourages an ongoing .rogramme of &ocumentation of .ast an& .resent life an& interactions with en ironmental factors +D. Promotes research with &ifferent in.utsLfrom local 4s.ecialists4 to aca&emics +3. Promotes multiL&isci.linary an& interL&isci.linary a..roaches to research +G. Promotes a holistic a..roach to inter.retation of culture?nature relationshi.s +2. $llustrates interconnecte&ness between: nature?cultureF .ast?.resentF technology?in&i i&ual )*. Pro i&es for an intersection between heritage an& res.onsible tourism )+. Brings benefits to local communities e.g. sense of .ri&e, regeneration, an& economic, social an& cultural ca.ital :he following .rinci.les are .articularly rele ant to the safeguar&ing of of $C%: Number 1 is about encouraging collaboration among stakehol&ers in the areaF Number 3 focuses on local i&entityF Number +) raises awareness of both the tangible an& intangible, s.ecifically referring to $C%F Number )+ focuses on local .ri&e an& sense of .lace. &.0 E#amples of Ecomuseums Da is offers four e<am.les of ecomuseums in China, Bra8il, Qa.an an& $taly. ).! (&e *oga Ecomuseum, +ui,&ou, C&ina :he ,oga Ecomuseum is locate& in a remote illage in Kui8hou Pro ince in China. $t was selecte& as the first ecomuseum to be &e elo.e& in China. :he i&ea came from the central go ernment, .articularly from the Chinese -ssociation of Museums. :he .ro5ect was a..ro e& an& su..orte& by the Norwegian go ernment, which .ro i&e& Norwegian o erseas ai& to fun& the &e elo.ment. :he bu&get was allocate& for arious .ur.oses. Besi&es the ecomuseum &e elo.ment, a school an& hos.ital were built, an& new infrastructure, inclu&ing .i.e& water an& new roa&s, was &e elo.e&. :his mo&el ha& been im.lemente& in &ifferent .arts of China. - &ocumentation centre calle& the Documentation Center of the ,oga Ecological Museum was create& to house information an& resources about local culture, inclu&ing local &ialects, local
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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

tra&itions, an& .hotogra.hs. :hey create& a &atabase, .artly in &igital format an& .artly .a.erLbase&. :he museum e<hibition focuse& on local culture an& local ways of life, an& it was ery interesting when it was first o.ene&.

%owe er, when Da is went back to the &ocumentation center a few years later, he &isco ere& that all the .a.er recor&s were lost, an& there was no climate control. -ll the &igital e9ui.ment was broken?. $n fact, local .eo.le ha& not been in ol e& in the .rocess of establishing the &ocumentation center, an& they &i& not ha e the knowle&ge or the financial means to run it. :he go ernment ha& initially in este& in it but local .eo.le lacke& the ca.acity to look after the centre or the museum by themsel es. :his .ro5ect reflects that the ecomuseum was &e elo.e& using a to.L&own a..roach, which ultimately le& to its failure. ).# Ecomuseu "o -uarteirao "o Mata"ouro, .io "e /aniero, 0ra,il :he Ecomuseu &o Ruarteirao &o Mata&ouro was initiate& by se eral local grou.s. ;.ene& in )**+, the Ecomuseu focuses entirely on safeguar&ing intangible cultural heritage inclu&ing &ance, .oetry, songs, story telling, an& music. Jisitors can learn more about these elements of $C% at arious locations in the community network. %owe er, by an& large, this ecomuseum is mainly for local .eo.leF it has not been &e elo.e& for tourism. ;ne acti ity affiliate& with the ecomuseum is a ,amba ,chool where the local &ancers .erform an& transmit this tra&ition intergernerationally. ).% 1irano C&o, 2sa'a, /a$an :he %irano Cho .ro5ect was initiate& by a .riest from a local monastery who is intereste& in the art of "amishibaiLLtra&itional storytelling using storyboar&s. :he tra&ition is a &isa..earing art form in Qa.an, an& the .riest wante& to fin& a way of kee.ing it ali e among younger generations. :he .riest then went on to consi&er other as.ects of local heritage an& create& a network of about si<ty .eo.le, all of whom were fascinate& by as.ects of %irano7s heritage. :he sites inclu&e the local sweet sho., a bakery, the bicycle sho., an& a .oet who worke& in the illage. :he .riest &e elo.e& a ma. of the community to encourage .eo.le to go an& e<.lore these .laces for themsel es, an& they also use& i&eo to &ocument local festi als. ).) Ecomuseo "ella Cana$a, Carmagnola, 3taly :his small ecomuseum was &e elo.e& by a grou. of local .eo.le keen to conser e the last
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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

remaining hem. ro.e factory in the town. :hese local olunteers wante& to make sure that the knowle&ge of han&ma&e hem. ro.e .ro&uction woul& not be lost. :he ecomuseum is not a tourist attraction, attracting only about 3** isitors a year, but it &oes encourage school isits an& in ol e chil&ren in &emonstrations. :he museum is now recogni8e& by the town council, who hel. with running costs, marketing an& .romotion. '.0 Conclusions New museology has ha& a number of significant im.acts on the realm of tra&itional, Pestern museum .ractice: L :o challenge the i&ea of what heritage is aluable an& how this is 5u&ge&. L :o 9uestion the ethical as.ects of museum acti ities. L :o challenges the .olitical stances or ersions of history =ies>, art or science a&o.te& by museums or e<hibitions. L :o shift away from the curator as the sole source of authority. L :o 9uestion who has the right to re.resent others or oneself. L :o recogni8e the im.ortance of intangible heritage in the historical recor&.

L :o reLe aluate the relationshi. between ob5ects, s.ecimens an& their aca&emic inter.retation. L :o shift away from the i&ea that a museum is a buil&ing. L :o recogni8e the ongoing, contingent an& sub5ecti e nature of the historical recor&. L :o increase attention gi en to stakehol&ers an& .artici.ants, which means getting the local .eo.le in ol e&. L :o encourage the use of the museum as a .ublic# s.ace where local .eo.le are in ol e& in &ecisionLmaking. Da is stresses the &i ersification of the roles that museums are e<.ecte& to .lay. New museology an& community museology allow the museums to .lay a role in local &e elo.ment, .articularly in remote an& .oor areas. :he ecomuseum is a form of museum which encourages &emocrati8ation an& community in ol ement. $t is also im.ortant to recogni8e that in ecomuseums it
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Summarized by Chewasit Boonyakiet / Edited by Alexandra Denes Citation: Boonyakiet, Chewasit. New Museology, Communities, Ecomuseums by Prof. Peter Da is, Newcastle !ni ersity, !"# $ntangible Cultural %eritage an& Museums 'earning (esources. December )*++. ,irin&horn -nthro.ology Centre. Date of access / !('0.

is not necessarily the en& .ro&uct which is im.ortant, but that the .rocesses of in ol ement, &iscussion an& coLo.erati e &ecisionLmaking are .aramount.

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