From exhibiting to researching: the changing role of university museums in South East Asia

University Museum Conference 2011

National Cheng Kung University

11-12 November 2011

From Exhibiting to Researching : the Changing

Role of University Museums in South-East Asia

 _{Universities establish museums to aid teaching and}

research within the university. However, this has led to the establishment of various collections across the various

disciplines and at times the establishment of various

university museums within one university. However, with some university museums, due to the value and historical importance of the collection, the focus of the university

museum itself is on the display of the collection and not on the research of the collection. However, universities in

South-East Asia are increasing their focus on research and therefore, their university museums have to move in

tandem with this move. This presentation looks at the need for university museums in South-East Asia to maintain a balance between being a center of excellence for research and an institution showcasing the best of its collection.

 _{Dr. Nor Edzan Che Nasir is the Chief Librarian at the University of}

Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Currently, she oversees the

University of Malaya’s Museum of Asian Art and is directly involved in setting-up the University of Malaya Art Gallery. Prior to this, she was an academician with the Masters of Library and Information Science programme from 1999 to 2007 at the Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology, University of Malaya. She was a librarian at Universiti Sains Malaysia from 1983 to 1991 and went on to become a librarian at the University of Malaya Library from 1991 to 1999 where she was attached to the Law Library. Her research interests centres on information literacy, library science education, journal publishing, institutional repositories and social media. She has presented and published numerous papers and is currently one of the reviewers for the Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science and the Editor for Jurnal PPM



_{Defining university museums}



_{Changing roles of university museums}



_{University museums in South east Asia}



_{Museum of Asian Art, University of Malaya}



Research



Latest addition



Research to commence

Joint research

 _{No clear definition of a university museum}

 _{“I do not have a definition for a [university museum,}

gallery, collection] other than it is a museum, gallery or collection administratively within a degree granting

institution (Kelly, 1999 in Lourenco, 2005)

 _{Late 16}th century – development of object-based teaching

and research = universities establish museums = 1st

generation university museum = research, teaching, public display

 _{1930s – emergence of historic collections = 2}nd generation

university museum

 _{1980’s – integration of collections with management}

 _{Tirrel (2000)}

 _{Noted the shift in research and public interest}  Had no direction or purpose

 _{Had to redefine and reposition}

 _{Examples : learning labs, ICT application, specialised}

collection

 _{De Clerq (2005)}

 _{University museums need to serve academic community and}

the public

 _{Not faculty-based but has become a central unit in the}

university structure

 _{UMAC = University Museums And Collections}  _{ICOM - International Council of Museums}



_{MacDonald & Ashby (2011 )}



_{“Pressing need to review the purpose of}

university museums”



“Succesful university museums must promote

themselves to academics and students from a

wide range of discipline”

 _{Roodhouse (2003)}

 Oxford & Cambridge University Musuems  _{Centre of excellence for research}

 _{Jaschik (2009)}

 _{U of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogy and Anthropology}  _{Dismissed research specialists in the museum}

 Museum wants research on the collection and not on museology

 _{27-28 October 2011 – University museums in Scotland}

Conference 2011 at the University of Glasgow

 Scottish universities’ objectives are beginning to shift from

diverse agendas towards a greater focus on research excellence and the impact of public engagement activities.

 _{Uni versity musuems and gallery services need to align}

themselves to this and show their impact in terms of research and teaching engagement.



_{Move towards research}



_{2 types of research – museum research and}

museological research

 _{Museums have existed in universities}  _{Started out as :}

 collection of gifts or

 departmental study collections

 _{Specifically for teaching and/or public exhibitions}

 _{Throughout the years, the public exhibitions able to garner}

a following amongst off-campus communities and

 _{gained prominence}

 _{gained financial support from individuals or corporations}  _{Thus, university museums became exhibition centers}  _{Now = universities are focusing on research}

 _{In order to survive, university museums must become a}

source for research or even a centre for research



_Museum



_{Art gallery or Art museum}



_{Museum + art gallery}

SEA – University Museum

 Museum of Asian Art,

University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur

 Muzium dan Galeri Tuanku

Fauziah, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang

 Muzium Pendidikan

Nasional, Universiti

Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjung Malim

 Muzium Universiti Malaysia

Sabah, Kota Kinabalu

 _Philippines

 University of Santo Thomas

Museum, Manila

 _Thailand

 _{Chulalongkorn University}

Museum of Natural History, Bangkok

 _{Southeast Asian Ceramics}

Museum, Bangkok University, Bangkok

 Princess Maha Chakri

Sirindhorn Natural History Museum, Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai

 _Singapore

 _{NUS Museum, National}

University of Singapore

 _{Raffles Museum of Biodiversity}

 _Indonesia

 _{Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan, Jakarta}

 _{Soemadja Gallery, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung}

 _Malaysia

 _{Malaysia Institute of Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur}

 _Philippines

 _{Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila}  _{Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center}  _{The Museum at De La Salle University, Manila}

 _Singapore

 _{Institute of Contemporary Arts, Lasalle College of the Arts,}  _{Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Gallery}

_{Malaysia's oldest university}

_{Situated on a 750 acre (309 hectare) campus in the southwest of Kuala}

Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia

_{Has its roots in Singapore with the establishment of King Edward VII}

College of Medicine in 1905

_{1949 - University of Malaya was formed with the amalgamation of King}

Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College in Singapore

_{1962 - University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur was established} _{22 academies/institutes/faculties/centres}

_{112 undergraduate programmes and 132 postgraduate programmes} _{15,202 undergraduates and 10,762 postgraduate = 25,964}

_{2,716 academic staff, 562 professional/managerial and 3,092}

non-academic staff = 5,830

_{Research university}

_{6 museums – Medical, Geology, Zoology, Herbarium, Malay}

Ethnography, Asian Art

UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA

_{Locally known as Universiti Malaya or in short UM} _{Malaysia's oldest university}

_{Situated on a 750 acre (309 hectare) campus in the southwest of Kuala}

Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia

_{Has its roots in Singapore with the establishment of King Edward VII}

College of Medicine in 1905

_{1949 - University of Malaya was formed with the amalgamation of King}

Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College in Singapore

_{1962 - University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur was established} _{22 academies/institutes/faculties/centres}

_{112 undergraduate programmes and 132 postgraduate programmes} _{15,202 undergraduates and 10,762 postgraduate = 25,964}

_{2,716 academic staff, 562 professional/managerial and 3,092}

non-academic staff = 5,830



_Collection

 _{Malaysiana - basketry, textile, brass, silver, wood carving}  _{India – stone carvings, temple sculptures, bronze}

images, miniature paintings, wood carvings

 Persia and West Asia – ceramics, Islamic bronzes,

miniature paintings, tombstones, precious stones

 _{South-East Asia – ceramics, pottery, daggers, sculpture,}

textile, jewellery, terracotta works, puppetry, sacred masks

 China – ceramics, porcelain  Japan – ceramics

 _{Malay manuscripts}

 _{Paintings – Malaysian artists}



_{Paintings by local & international artists}



_{Hiroshima & Nagasaki tragedies – Dept of East}

Asia Studies, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences



_{Heritage conservation – Dept of Quantity}

Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment



_{Public diplomacy programmes – Ministry of}

Foreign Affairs, Malaysia



_{Malay manuscripts – Dept of Library &}

Information Science, Faculty of Computer

Science & Information Technology



_{Establish the University of Malaya Art Gallery}



_{Research - Malaysian artists, Malaysian}

artworks, Educate the university community

and the public on art through activities



_{Mural restoration – Dept of Building}

Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment &

National Visual Art Center, Malaysia



_MOUs

 _{Maintain dual role}  _{research & teaching}  _{public display}

 _{Increase in museum research i.e. research on the collection} held within the museum

 _{Attract academics and research students to conduct museum} research

 _{Partner with faculties in research}

 _{Research publications which acknowledge use of museum} collection

 _{Promote museum collections to the public}

 _{Collaborate with corporate agencies, individuals, foreign} embassies - exhibitions

 _{De Clereq, S.W.G. 2005. Keeping for the future. UMAC Uppsala}

Proceedings.

 _{Jaschik, S. 2009. Museums and academic values. Available at:}

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/29/penn

 _{Lourenco, M.C. 2005. Between Two Worlds: The Distinct Pature and}

Contemporary Significance of University Museums and Collections in Europe. PhD dissertation, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris.

 _{MacDonald, S. and Ashby, J. 2011. Museums: campus treasures. Nature,}

471 (7337) : 164-165.

 _{NUS Museum. 2011. Available at : http://nusmuseum.blogspot.com/}

 _{Roodhouse, S. 2003. The Oxford and cambridge University Museums: A}

Global Contribution to Widening Knowledge and Deepening

Understanding. London: Resource, The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries.

 _{Tirrel, P.B. 2000. A synopsis and perpective of concerns and}

challengesfor the international community of university museums.

Curator, 43 (2) : 157-180.

THANK

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