Transcript NCKU 11112011

From Exhibiting to Researching : the Changing
Role of University Museums in South-East Asia
Nor Edzan Che Nasir
University of Malaya
ABSTRACT
 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.
BIODATA
 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
 What needs to be done
UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS
 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 16th century – development of object-based teaching
and research = universities establish museums = 1st
generation university museum = research, teaching, public
display
 1930s – emergence of historic collections = 2nd generation
university museum
 1980’s – integration of collections with management
structures = 3rd generation university museum
CHANGING ROLE
 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
CHANGING ROLE
 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”
CHANGING ROLE
 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.
CHANGING ROLE
 Move towards research
 2 types of research – museum research and
museological research
IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA
 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
 BUT, must still serve the off-campus community
Types
 Museum
 Art gallery or Art museum
 Museum + art gallery
SEA – University Museum
 Malaysia
 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
Research, National University
of Singapore
SEA - University Art Museum
 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
 NTU Art & Heritage Museum, Nanyang Technological University
UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA
 Malaysia's oldest university
 Situated on a 750 acre (309 hectare) campus in the southwest of Kuala
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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 nonacademic 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
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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 nonacademic staff = 5,830
Research university
Museum of Asian Art
 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
Research
 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
Latest addition
 Establish the University of Malaya Art Gallery
 Research - Malaysian artists, Malaysian artworks,
Educate the university community and the public on
art through activities
Research to commence
 Mural restoration – Dept of Building Surveying,
Faculty of Built Environment & National Visual Art
Center, Malaysia
Joint research
 MOUs
What needs to be done
 Maintain dual role
 research & teaching
 public display
 Increase in museum research i.e. research on the collection held
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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
REFERENCES
 De Clereq, S.W.G. 2005. Keeping for the future. UMAC Uppsala
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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.
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