'Fishing Together'... Building Partnerships with Museums in Afghanistan
19
CMA Conference 2013 Whitehorse, Yukon, 27 May – 1 June 2013 “Fishing Together” – Building Partnerships with Museums in Afghanistan Alessandro Califano
-
Upload
alessandro-califano -
Category
Business
-
view
192 -
download
1
description
This presentation has been prepared for the Canadian Museums Association 2013 Conference in Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada), and presented on 30 May 2013. Next to addressing the varied setting of Afghanistan's complex cultural stratigraphy, it describes a few case studies of successful and not-so-successful endeavours in the area, stressing the need of an extreme flexibility in setting up a cooperation between museum professionals. This flexibility shoul not be just confined to the tools we choose, but should also englobe our values, strategies, and priorities. In this way, we'll be able to break the dichotomy of "giving a man a fish and feeding him for a day" or "teaching a man to fish and feed him for a life": going out to fish together for a while, each one will come back enriched from the interaction.
Transcript of 'Fishing Together'... Building Partnerships with Museums in Afghanistan
CMA Conference 2013
Whitehorse, Yukon, 27 May – 1 June 2013
“Fishing Together” – Building Partnershipswith Museums in Afghanistan
Alessandro Califano
Afghanistan, a Geographic Hub 1/3
A hub between East and West, and North and South, Afghanistan shows human settlements going as far back as 100,000 years ago, with earliest Palaeolithic tools found near Ghazni, in Dasht-e Nawar.
The first images of Afghan people can be found in a relief along the stairs leading up to the great audience hall of the palace of king Darius I, in Persepolis.
Afghanistan, a Geographic Hub 2/3
ARACHOSIANS (Persepolis, Audience Hall – 6th century BCE)
Afghanistan, a Geographic Hub 3/3
Different merchandises, religions, and cultures travelled and linked together the Mediterranean, the Ural-Altaic area, the Indian Subcontinent, China, the Iranian plateau, and the Arabic peninsula.
Zoroastrianism (Balkh), Buddhism (Bactria, Bamiyan, Ghazni), Hinduism, Shamanism and Polytheism (Kafiristan, now Nuristan), and Islam (from the 7th century onwards) have all built a rich stratigraphy of many cultural layers.
Cultural Stratigraphy 1/7
Noh Gonbad mosque, Balkh (9th century)
Cultural Stratigraphy 2/7
Balkh citadel (26th century BCE to 18th century)
Cultural Stratigraphy 3/7
Blue Mosque, Mazar-e Sharif (15th century), with Manuscripts Museum
Cultural Stratigraphy 4/7
Buddhist monks' cells, Samangan (4th-5th century)
Cultural Stratigraphy 5/7
Durga head (4th century), Tepe Sardar (Ghazni),now at the National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul
Cultural Stratigraphy 6/7
Man on horse (end 18th century), Kati people, Nuristan, now at the National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul
Cultural Stratigraphy 7/7
“Tjumen' 82” graffiti (in Russian), scratched on dome of king's Summer Palace in Tashqurgan, Afghanistan
Planning “Differently”
Cooperating in radically different cultural heritage contexts requires much more than developing new strategies for different storytelling needs.
It requires from us to deeply rethink what we take for granted in planning, including our tools and our very priorities.
Alternative Fire Fighting Measures(Murad Khane, Kabul)
Ensuring an effective security systems against fire risks where reliable water / power sources may not – or not always – be readily available.
Energy Saving Measures
With the substitution of neon and incandescence lights with LEDs we achieved over 90% of energy saving, while both heat and lux affecting the artefacts were very effectively kept under control (National Museum of Afghanistan, 2010).
Different Planning Options 1/2
Motorway police emergency helpline in Pakistan
Proprietary software solutions proposed:• $ 60K US / year• $ 400K US up front + annual SW renewal
cost + additional costs if number of lines needs to be increased
Open Source solution, developed by local engineers from scratch:
• 3 million rupees ($ 33K US) one time cost
Different Planning Options 2/2
National Museum of Afghanistan
$ 10 M US provided by foreign donors (2012)
Expected achievements:• New wall and guard towers (doesn't look
much like an “inclusive museum” project...)• Museum collections database from scratch
(over 70% of it already existing...)
What could have been done, instead?• New adequate storage areas• New facilities for visitors, employees• Training, completion of existing database, ...
“Give a man a fish to feed him for a day” “Teach a man to fish and feed him for a
lifetime” Fish together...
…and both of you will havea completely new experience,
enriching both of you
Flexibility as the Paramount Factor for Planning in Critical Contexts
For further reading...
A. Califano, Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage – Continuity in Change (2008) *
A. Califano, Archaeology – Hidden Stupa, Buddhist Monastery in Samangan, Afghanistan (2010) *
A. Califano, 3000 Years of History. An Exhibition at the National Museum of Afghanistan. In: MUSE. vol. XXIX/1, January-February 2011, pp.34-41
A. Califano, Museums in Afghanistan – A Roadmap into the Future (in: The Silk Road, vol.9/2011, pp.88-103)
* see: www.slideshare.net/califano
Thank you! Merci ! ...Tashakor!
“A nation stays alive when its culture stays alive”
National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul
