from San Francisco Chronicle -
Human knowledge eroded as endangered languages die
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With the disappearance of languages, not only is knowledge lost, but a vital indication of a vibrant human existence - diversity. And the up keeping of diversity cannot be achieved by decrees or institutionalising a set of protocols. It has to be a "grass-root" effort involving the community. See also previous post on the UNESCO project to put together a handbook on the documentation and preservation of languages.
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from The Art Newspaper -
Why a clean-up would be a clear-out
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On the eccentricities of the art market - or funny money, in another guise - as it is feared that the recent surge in the auction prices of contemporary art (in Asia and elsewhere) will inevitably become unsustainable. This sounds like a bubble in the making, and the complicity of the museum world is thus implicated:

"Museums play a complex and ambivalent role in the ecology of this [art] market. The curatorial community is outraged when it suspects that the imprimatur of a museum is being used to increase the market value of works in private ownership that it has borrowed, displayed and catalogued. [...] Many curators nevertheless spend considerable time advising collectors on acquisitions and many collectors’ decisions on their own acquisitions (and their donations of related works) are informed by what they learn about who’s hot and who’s not in their capacity as museum board members."

from The Art Newspaper -
Louvre curators condemn “collections for rent” schemes
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from The Art Newspaper -
The Louvre’s loans to Abu Dhabi are soft power in action
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Two opposing views on the inevitable rise of the culture of museum loans - for dissemination of knowledge but also with other (not so cultural) intentions. See also previous post.
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from The New York Times -
Paints’ Mysteries Challenge Protectors of Modern Art
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The latest on the research of modern paints started at the Getty Conservation Institute by Dr Tom Learner when he was a visiting fellow, and has now recently (re-)joined the Getty from the Tate. Go to the research project web-pages here.
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from Tate Online Events -
Shifting Practice, Shifting Roles? Artists' Installations and the Museum
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The last in the series of symposium organised as part of the European-funded project "Inside Installations: The Preservation and Presentation of Installation Art" (see web-site). Incidentally, this last symposium, held at the Tate Modern, will also be web-casted on 22 March 2007, at about 5:15pm (Singapore time).

[ Thanks to Conservation DistList for the prior alert. ]

from The Independent -
British Library to start charging
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from The Guardian -
Cuts threaten services at British Library
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from The Telegraph -
British Library could start charging scholars
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from The Telegraph -
Don't let the British Library starve
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from The Guardian -
Culture cuts hurt everyone
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from The Guardian -
Can we afford cuts to the British Library's funding?
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from La Scena Musicale -
Waiting for the axe to fall
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A spate of articles commenting on the recent threat to cut funding of the arts and heritage, affecting the museums in the UK and the British Library.It's back to the stone-age if this goes through.

[ Thanks to the Singapore Heritage Mailing List for the initial news. ]

from Los Angeles Times -
Saving a treasured trove, ever so slowly
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An update on the digitisation project of a set of valuable manuscripts at the Greek Orthodox monastery in Mt. Sinai, Egypt. Previously posted here in 2004, the latest is that a local is now employed to oversee the digitisation process, which is expected to take many more years. The end result will surely speaks for itself, even it may take what seems like an eternity.

from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -
Afghanistan being 'systematically looted' warns museum organization
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A sobering update - and also the realisation that the enchanting and captivating artefacts displayed in museums often have a murky (and possibly illegal) past. It is ironic that encouraging a greater appreciation of heritage can lead to the side-effect of driving the illicit trade in antiquities - or is this a problem already there, regardless of who or how many passes through the portals of the museum.

from Scientific American -
Artists ponder future of digital Mona Lisa
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Saving what is essentially impermanent, though seemingly foolhardy, may not be impossible, if there is a concerted effort and strategy. Media and content migration are 2 such well-established approaches. Another, which might be more a shift in mind-set than technological, is that:

"... art lovers should consider digital art more like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, something to be revisited periodically and brought back to life through different performances."

In final analysis, heritage and cultural preservation, in all its various guises, can only be as effective as the collective drive to value what is being preserved.

Yet another year ...

It has been 3 years since the first post on this weblog. And it's also time to revamp the look somewhat, with added labels to make the grouping of posts for easier browsing. Happy reading!

from New York Times
Celebrity Architects Reveal a Daring Cultural Xanadu for the Arab World
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Yet another grandiose plan to hot-house art and culture into existence in the shortest possible time-frame. If done sensitively, it might just become the Mecca of the art and museum world where we find real cross-fertilisation of ideas that work at the deepest level. But otherwise, it could become at best a well-designed showcase, at worst an inauthentic experience. It leaves us to wish them good luck.