[MSN] FW: Conference on Repatriation of Cultural Heritage

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-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Mille.Gabriel at natmus.dk [mailto:Mille.Gabriel at natmus.dk] 
Verzonden: vrijdag 23 februari 2007 12:11
Onderwerp: Conference on Repatriation of Cultural Heritage

Newsletter # 5 

February 23, 2007

To mark the International Polar Year 2007 - 2008, The Greenland National
Museum & Archive was hosting an international conference on repatriation of
cultural heritage in Nuuk, Greenland from February 13th - 15th, 2007.

Nearly 85 people attended the conference from 20 different countries or
peoples. The list of participants is available on the conference website:
http://www.natmus.gl/con2007/index.html

Aim
The aim of the conference was to create understanding and mutual respect
between the parties involved in repatriation, in order to work out
recommendations to be used in future.

Programme, papers and discussions
The conference consisted of 4 different sessions focusing on 4 divergent
approaches to repatriation: legal, political, ethical and museological
approaches or perspectives. Besides Guido Carducci, Chief of UNESCO's
International Standards Section, George H.O. Abungu, Heritage Consultant /
Member of ICOM's Executive Council, and Jonathan King, Keeper of Africa,
Oceania and the Americas at the British Museum, the list of speakers
comprised anthropologists, archaeologists, attorneys, indigenous people,
museum professionals, officials and politicians from many parts of the
World. The discussions ending each session focussed on different modes of
partnerships including community involvement, the establishment of museum
inventories and above all the importance to move beyond notions of power and
control and focus on reconciliation and shared responsibility instead.  

Programme, abstracts and speakers biographies are now available on the
conference website: http://www.natmus.gl/con2007/index.html. In March 2007 a
concluding summary will also be available at the website.

Recommendations
At the very beginning of the conference, a work group was appointed to draw
up a set of draft recommendations for repatriation. The work group consisted
of the following persons:
Daniel Thorleifsen, Director of the Greenland National Museum & Archives
Guido Carducci, Chief of the International Standards Section, Division for
Cultural Heritage, UNESCO Amareswar Galla, Professor at the Museum Studies
Programme, University of Queensland, Australia and Chairperson of the ICOM
(the International Council of Museums) Cross Cultural Task Force Moira
Simpson, academic, author and consultant, Department of English and Cultural
Studies, Flinders University, South Australia Mille Gabriel, conference
organizer and research associate, the Greenland National Museum & Archives /
National Museum of Denmark

During the 3 days conference, the work group drafted a document based on the
central issues and key conclusions extracted from the 24 papers and 4 mayor
discussions. A 4 pages draft was presented to the audience on Thursday the
15th, and while there seemed to be a general consensus on the content, the
structure of the draft was too detailed and formal to be agreed upon by the
participants in general. In order to come about this, it was suggested by
the organizers to sum up the recommendations into 6-8 general guidelines or
principles - a proposal, which was met with general approval. These
guidelines will in the immediate future be re-worked and elaborated in
cooperation with the conference participants and issued on the website in
March 2007 together with a concluding summary of the conference in general.

Publication
The conference will be published in cooperation with IWGIA, the
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, and we will keep you
informed on when and how to purchase the publication. 

Kind regards,	
			Mille Gabriel


Mille Gabriel
NUNATTA KATERSUGAASIVIA ALLAGAATEQARFIALU GREENLAND NATIONAL MUSEUM &
ARCHIVES P.O. Box 145 Hans Egedesvej 8 DK-3900 Nuuk
E-mail: mille.gabriel at natmus.dk
Tel: +45 3347 3448
Fax: +45 3347 3322

www.natmus.gl