Cultural Considerations
Ancestral Tourism within an Urban Context
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Derek Bryce
This paper extends research on ancestral tourism into an urban industrial setting with implications for its delivery, development and promotion, articulated here in the post-industrial city of Glasgow, Scotland. Ancestral tourism has been identified as a growth-heritage market by Visit Scotland (Scotland’s official national tourism organisation), with the potential to benefit all areas of the country. Largely consumed by the Scottish diaspora in the rest of the UK as well as overseas markets such as the USA, Canada, and Australia, these tourists come in search of an ancestral homeland and a place to articulate real and imagined pasts. Both promotion and research have thus far largely invited tourists to inscribe their ancestral heritage in romanticised, rural settings. As the official, publicly funded, custodian of Glasgow’s heritage resources, Glasgow Life is charged with the delivery of social aims through provision of culture, sport and learning facilities while using the same to encourage economic regeneration and growth through cultural and heritage tourism. It also promotes and encourages public access while maintaining the integrity of curatorial roles. Glasgow Life is keen to explore ancestral tourism’s potential by drawing on the rich urban industrial heritage resources across its museums, galleries and archives. Observation, in-depth interviews, and informal conversations with staff highlighted issues in delivering consistent and coordinated ancestral tourism provision that emphasises the often-misunderstood place of Glasgow in the story of Scotland’s diaspora. Across the organisation we noted the challenges in balancing traditional curatorial roles with accessibility and commercialisation of heritage.
Creating an Inclusive Immersive Museum for Expanded Participation in a Mixed Urban Rural Environment
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Steven Cutchin
The state of Idaho in the United States has a large rural population with limited access to world art. Boise State University has received funding to implement an immersive interactive digital environment for providing the residents of Idaho with access to a wide variety of photo-realistic immersive art experiences from around the world as well as supporting digital media art creation and experimentation by the Boise State University School of Arts and the rest of the campus. The to-be-built physical space will support large format immersive digital recreations of remote locations in a system similar to a CAVE environment. This work presents a case study of the design, development, and implementation of this digitally immersive space with particular attention paid to capture how the system is integrated into the School of Art curriculum and art programs and how the system executes its core mission of inclusive engagement with the broader Idaho population, particularly traditionally non-traditional populations at the college level.
Potentialities of Museum Diplomacy : Rahmi Koc Museum's Here Comes the Sun
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Simge Erdogan-O'Connor
Museums are discursive spaces of representation, politics, and knowledge. With their activities, international exhibitions and international partnerships in particular, they affect, shape and sometimes manipulate our ways of looking at the world. Through this, museums not only engage with different aspects of a nation’s culture but also they provide physical environments for the cross-cultural exchange of art, objects, and ideas. When used effectively, museum exhibitions can be turned into useful diplomatic tools, which locate them in a key position within the cultural diplomacy framework. This study examines the soft power potentialities of museums and the roles that they play in international cultural partnerships. Using the Rahmi M. Koc Museum (Istanbul/Turkey)'s blockbuster exhibition “Here Comes the Sun” (2014) as a case study, this study answers two key questions: what role(s) do museums play in cultural diplomacy and how do they convey the messages of soft power? Looking at this exhibition, which was developed and organized in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Istanbul, the study explores the connections and dynamics between international cultural institutions and museums. While exploring the role and value of museums in cultural diplomacy, this study views museums as complex cultural institutions where different aspects of culture – the ideas, values, objects, art, and information – are exchanged and communicated.
Museums In Transition: Community Engagement and Cultural Investment in Doha
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hadeel Eltayeb
This paper explores the transitioning social role of museums in a constantly evolving and increasingly globalized cultural landscape and how this discourse is situated in the respective social, economic, and political context of Doha, Qatar. As host to a diverse global audience of locals and international expatriates, museums have had a central position the nation-building mission of Qatar’s National Vision 2030, where over half a million visitors in the past year alone were reported to have visited exhibitions and galleries in the country in 2017. 2019 has seen the opening of the new and much-anticipated National Museum of Qatar. Weeks later, The Media Majlis at Northwestern University in Qatar followed, which is both the first digital museum in the Arabian Gulf, and the first university museum open to the public in the Arabian Gulf. Both museums are considered in their respective positioning to support increased social interaction, contribution, and engagement towards investing in local cultural capital. Stavenhagen identified three concepts of culture which are assessed in relation to the investment in museum-going culture, embodied within international and intra-government frameworks: cultural as capital, culture as creativity and culture as a total way of life. Following the release of the ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Commmunities and Museums (2018), pertinent discussions on creating more inclusive, participatory approaches to museum engagement and investment are growing in urgency among museum professionals. How are museums in Doha expanding networks of engagement to invest in local communities and redefine cultural value to acquire knowledge as institutions?
