from NUS Museum -
Peranakan Chinese in Globalising Southeast Asia:
The Cases of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
go to conference web-page
go to conference programme (PDF)

Just to announce a one-day conference organised by NUS Museum Baba House in conjunction with the Chinese Heritage Centre.
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from CBS News -
Bye, Tech: Dealing With Data Rot
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Keeping Up With Data Rot



from The New York Times -
Should You Worry About Data Rot?
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Not an optimistic view, given the mismatch between the amount of personal digital artefacts being created and the effort given over to implementing an intuitive, reliable and cost-effective process of digital archiving.

"Data rot refers mainly to problems with the medium on which information is stored. Over time, things like temperature, humidity, exposure to light, being stored not-very-good locations like moldy basements, make this information very difficult to read. The second aspect of data rot is actually finding the machines to read them. And that is a real problem."

Link from The Long Now.

from The Research Channel -
Reading the Unreadable
go to web-page

A nice video showcasing the use of advanced imaging technology and computer processing, whereby fragile documents could be "unrolled" virtually without having to subject the original material to physical stresses and handling.

link via ConsDist List.
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from The Times -
Oligarch leads fight to save Russia's neglected 'Utopia'
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An encouraging development - hopefully not just for the short-term - of private-sector (or should that be cash-rich sector) initiative in the preservation of architectural heritage in Russia. And, tapping into notions of popular culture and consumption, no less:

"In Russia the usual safeguards about heritage aren't there. The law doesn't work. So you have to fall back on fashion to save these buildings. These buildings are cool. Repeat it a thousand times till they get the picture."

Let's hope that this really works ...

from The Times -
Why museums have become our home from home
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An interesting take on the shifting role of museums - becoming one of a "secular" civic - and civilised - space which fulfills a social function previously taken up by churches, town halls and schools.
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from SEED -
The Amazing Race
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Following from the earlier post, yet another attempt at raising awareness of the disappearance of languages and the urgent need to document, if not preserve, them - albeit appealing to a more populist base.

"[K. David] Harrison [who co-runs the Oregon-based Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages] says his goal is to 'assist small and underrepresented languages in crossing the digital divide.' Recording the languages and giving them a presence on the Internet helps maintain and grow the number of speakers, he says, and lends some 'prestige' to speaking a minority language."

from Smithsonian Magazine -
15 Must-See Endangered Cultural Treasures
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There's no better way to combine a holiday and heritage awareness. Then again, the current sad state of Angkor Wat and the Lascaux caves - due to overwhelming tourist exposure - sends a note of extreme caution.
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UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
go to website

Part awareness-raising and part documentary. Hopefully, such efforts could help to instigate a sense of urgency in the race to preserve the world's languages.



Link via Google Maps Mania.
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from Indianapolis Museum of Art -
Sebastiano Mainardi: The Science of Art

Two interesting videos on the restoration of a Renaissance painted altarpiece and the subsequent exhibition that was built around the process.




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from Spiegel -

Cologne Archive Building Collapses
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Archive Collapse Disaster for Historians
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Sad yet incredible news!
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from Bloomberg -
China-Art Sales May Drop as Bidder Refuses to Pay
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Perhaps the one positive thing to come out of the recent series of twists and turns, in the auction of 2 looted bronzes from the Yes Saint Laurent collection, is that there would be greater scrutiny of the provenance of antiquities - from China, at least.
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from Pruned -
Pedreres de s'Hostal
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Photo by Lluis Bertran

An interesting transformation (through the efforts of a non-profit organisation) of a disused quarry into a "post-industrial heritage park".

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