Google’s New App Brings Hundreds of Museums to Your Phone

Liz Stinston, Wired

July 22, 2016

Not everyone can visit Sicily’s Valley of the Temples, home to some of the world’s oldest examples of classic Greek architecture. Nor can they view the soft colors of Claude Monet’s “Tiger Lilies” in person at Tokyo’s National Museum of Western Art. Despite being made for the masses, art and culture are often inaccessible. Google’s Cultural Institute wants to change that. In the past five years, the initiative has teamed up with more than 1,100 institutions to bring artwork, artifacts, and 360-degree museum tours online. This week, in an update to its Arts & Culture app, the company turns your phone into a powerful portal for accessing and experiencing that art.

The app (for Android and iOS) officially launched last year, but the newest iteration comes with two key additions: Google Cardboard tours for 2o locations (including the Valley of the Temples), and a new tool called Art Recognizer that turns your museum visit into a multimedia experience.

More here.

Arizona State Museum Launches Databases to Share Southwest Textiles with the World

TUCSON, ­­­AZ (July 8, 2013)—Like never before, two brand new, searchable, and illustrated databases aim to share the artistry and study of southwestern textiles with the world. 

The databases, plus extensive background information and helpful guides, are available on the Arizona State Museum website at: 

http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/coll/textile/asm_southwest_textile_database/

http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/coll/textile/jbw_southwest_textile_database/

Available at the click of a mouse are baseline data and images essential for understanding the evolution of three cultural textile traditions in the American Southwest—Navajo, Pueblo, and Spanish-American. Focusing on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the information spans three major periods from the time of Spanish governance to 1821, the Mexican era until 1846, and the American and early reservation period since then.  

These groundbreaking resources represent the culmination of decades of research by two world-renowned textile authorities: the late Dr. Joe Ben Wheat of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Dr. Ann Lane Hedlund, who recently retired as curator at Arizona State Museum and professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. 

Of this capstone project, Hedlund said, “These tools can be used by anyone to create absolutely new knowledge about the Southwest’s Native American and European-influenced textile traditions. Most importantly, as an anthropologist who studies both living and long past artists, I want artists of all stripes to have access to this wondrous visual and technical compilation.”

Other audiences that she lists include every museum curator with SW textiles in their collections; scholars interested in SW history and material culture; handweavers and artists seeking the roots of SW weaving; collectors and others who appreciate worldwide crafts, folk art, and art of all time. “And certainly students of all ages—I hope students will enjoy exploring the information and will get it to tell us things that we’ve never known before.”

Though other online databases of museum collections exist, and there are certainly in-depth databases of ceramics and other media, there is nothing quite like these two new textile resources in terms of their detail and query-based interactivity. 

“It’s also a first to have such stellar visual, technical, and historical selections from so many museum collections gathered in one place for comparisons,” said Hedlund. “I know of nothing that allows visitors as much access and ability to query the data as this incredible store of information does. We included nearly every SW textile in our collection, some 600 examples, and just over 1300 specimens studied by Wheat in 50 other public collections." 

One of the first two recipients of a PhD in anthropology at the University of Arizona, Wheat is the author of Blanket Weaving in the Southwest, posthumously published in 2003. Hedlund’s books include Reflections of the Weaver’s World, Navajo Weaving in the Late 20^th Century, Navajo Weavings from the Andy Williams Collection, and Gloria F. Ross & Modern Tapestry. Hedlund continues to serve as the managing editor of the Joe Ben Wheat SW Textile Database.

This project was supported by the Gloria F. Ross Tapestry Program at Arizona State Museum, with generous contributions from several private donors. The online databases were engineered by ASM Webmaster Laura LePere and Applications Programmer Michael Ornelas, with assistance from many valuable individual and institutional participants acknowledged on each website.

Digital Heritage Projects with Indigenous Peoples

In the posts this week there will be some links to ongoing projects that have created digital heritage collections - a recent trend in museum anthropology that seeks to create positive, reciprocal, and productive relationships between museums and the communities whose objects they house.

These projects have provided communities with greater access to collections and, in some cases, they have also devloped mechanisms to respect and implement various levels of access to the materials based on cultural protocols. This week we will include just some of the leading examples we know of in the field with some further reading by project participants when available:

Reciprocal Research Network
Go to: http://www.rrnpilot.org/

From the website:

The RRN is an online tool to facilitate reciprocal and collaborative research about cultural heritage from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia. The RRN enables communities, cultural institutions and researchers to work together. Members can build their own projects, collaborate on shared projects, upload files, hold discussions, research museum projects, and create social networks. For both communities and museums, the RRN is groundbreaking in facilitating communication and fostering lasting relationships between originating communities and institutions around the world...

...The RRN is being co-developed by the Musqueam Indian Band, the Stó:lō Nation/Tribal Council, the U’mista Cultural Society and the UBC Museum of Anthropology. This collaboration ensures the needs of the originating communities as well as museums are taken into account at all stages of the development. Each co-developer has a member on the Steering Group and each of the First Nations has several Community Liaisons.

Rowley, Susan, Dave Schaepe, Leona Sparrow, Andrea Sanborn, Ulrike Radermacher, Ryan Wallace, Nick Jakobsen, Hannah Turner, Sivia Sadofsky, and Tristan Goffman. 2010. Building an On-Line Research Community: The Reciprocal Research Network. Presented at the Museums and the Web 2010 conference. Denver, CO, April 13-17.

Archaeology Online

Friends and colleagues: The latest installment of the Video News from TAC features the following stories:

* Famed UK archaeologist and lecturer Dr. Brooklyn Hornswoggle-Smyth expounds on contemporary archaeology in a short film parody by two irreverent UK students

* Interview with Dr. Mark Van Stone, Keynote Speaker for TAC Festival 2012, with a particular focus on the Maya calendar and predictions of the end of the world in 2012.

See these stories in the June 2012 edition of this monthly half-hour show, available now on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel (http://www.archaeologychannel.org) as well as on cable TV in cities across the US.

Launched in October 2010, the Video News from TAC has presented 47 stories on highly varied topics in seven US states, 18 other countries, and two heavenly bodies (the Earth and the Moon). Video News program details can be found at http://www.archaeologychannel.org/VideoNews.html. The growing list of cable TV stations carrying the show is posted at http://www.archaeologychannel.org/VideoNewscabletv.htm.

This and other programs are available on TAC for your use and enjoyment. We urge you to support this public service by participating in our Membership (http://www.archaeologychannel.org/member.html) and Underwriting (http://www.archaeologychannel.org/sponsor.shtml) programs. Only with your help can we continue and enhance our nonprofit public-education and visitor-supported programming. We also welcome new content partners as we reach out to the world community.

Richard M. Pettigrew, Ph.D., RPA
President and Executive Director
Archaeological Legacy Institute
http://www.archaeologychannel.org

Anthropology Spotlight App

The American Anthropological Association announces that it has just launched a Wiley-Blackwell anthropology app, Anthropology Spotlight, available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Among other things, our new app contains abstracts for Museum Anthropology.

It is free and available for download at the iTunes store:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/anthropology-spotlight/id477973128?mt=8

Anthropology Spotlight is not to be confused with the AAA’s meeting app (http://bit.ly/s3tHtq), which is a useful tool for the AAA conference.

Wiley-Blackwell Anthropology Spotlight’s features include:


• Latest information on key anthropology conferences and latest conference tweets
• A free, comprehensive Frommer’s travel guide to major conference locations (in this case, Montreal)
• Latest abstracts for anthropology articles and books, including the ability to “follow” your favorite publications
• Latest Special Issues, including free articles
• Access to a series of Publishing Workshops, in audio and PDF format
• Customizable YouTube search tool to find educational videos
• A customizable search of scholarly literature, blogs and news articles related to anthropology
• Customizable Syllabi Search tool to find syllabi freely available on institutional websites, perfect for generating teaching ideas
• The ability to bookmark any content you see, email yourself a Reading List and share content via Facebook and Twitter
• The ability to add your own RSS feeds, allowing you to keep track of your favorite sources

Please download and help spread the word!

AMNH Margaret Mead Film Festival

The American Museum of Natural History’s Margaret Mead Film Festival, held November 10-13, 2011, announces the seven outstanding nominees for the Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award. The award nominees, all U.S. premieres, continue to push the boundaries of visual anthropology as they take audiences deeply into contemporary societal challenges around the world.

The Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award recognizes documentary filmmakers who embody the spirit, energy, and innovation demonstrated by anthropologist Margaret Mead in her research, fieldwork, films, and writings. The award is given to a filmmaker whose feature documentary offers a new perspective on a culture or community while displaying artistic excellence and originality in storytelling. Eligible filmmakers must present a U.S. premiere at the Margaret Mead Film Festival. The 2011 winner will be announced on November 13 at the Mead Festival’s closing night ceremony.

more here

MOACAT

We finally had a chance to peruse the the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia's online catalogue (MOACAT). A great resource and it gives lots to think about in terms of effectively and efficiently getting collections online.

Check it out here.

Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness

From a news release:

HERSKOVITS AT THE HEART OF BLACKNESS is the third title in California Newsreel's monthly preview series. We invite our colleagues to view the film for free before making a purchase for your school, library, conference or organization.

About the film:

*Organization of American Historians Erik Barnouw Award Honorable Mention Recipient
*Winner, 2009 John O'Connor Film Award of the American Historical Association
*Winner, Best Documentary, Hollywood Black Film Festival

Is there a politics of knowledge? Who controls what knowledge is produced and how it will be used? Is there “objective” scholarship and, if so, how does it become politicized? These questions are examined through this groundbreaking film on the life and career of Melville J. Herskovits (1895-1963), the pioneering American anthropologist of African Studies and one of the most controversial intellectuals of the 20th century. How did this son of Jewish immigrants come to play such a decisive role in the shaping of modern African American and African identities? Herskovits emerges as an iconic figure in on-going debates in the social sciences over the ethics of representation and the right of a people to represent themselves.

Read more about the documentary here.

100 Incredible Anthropology Lectures

A useful list to find great anthropology lectures online.

We've only a watched a few. But lectures like the one by Wade Davis on Endangered Cultures will inspire you to become an anthropologist all over again.

[Ed. Note: A few links seem to lead to websites that want you to buy something. But most links lead to a cool lecture!]

Florence Hawley Ellis Bibliography

A bibliography of Florence Hawley Ellis is now available online as Maxwell Museum Technical Series No. 14. The searchable PDF can be found here.

This publication is based on a bibliographic file originally maintained at the Ellis house, now at the museum. Except as noted in the bibliography, all of the items listed are available to scholars through the museum.

Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival

From an American Museum of Natural History news release:

The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival—the longest-running documentary film festival in the United States—will celebrate 33 years at the American Museum of Natural History this November, screening an outstanding and varied selection of titles culled from more than 1,000 submissions. The Festival is distinguished by extraordinary films that tackle diverse and challenging subjects, as well as exciting discussions with filmmakers and special guest speakers. The Festival presents a far-reaching selection of documentaries and other non-narrative works as well as animation, experimental films, and indigenous media. The Festival runs from Thursday–Sunday, November 12–15, 2009.

This year the Mead will highlight a series of films in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Traveling the Silk Road, opening November 14, 2009. This series includes Hair India (Raffaele Brunetti and Marco Leopardi, NY Premiere), a stirring story about a destitute family’s religious sacrifice of hair that is processed and ultimately sold for profit and Cooking History (Péter Kerekes, director in person, NY Premiere), an exploration of the customs and conflicts of food on the frontlines, from serving up savory blinis to Soviet soldiers fighting off Nazi armies to feeding French forces during the Algerian War. Other Festival highlights include Babaji, an Indian Love Story (Jiska Rickels, US Premiere), a captivating tale about a centenarian man near Hazaribagh, India who has dug a grave next to his late wife’s and descends into it each morning to await death; Beyond the Game (Jos de Putter, director in person, US Premiere), a behind-the-scenes look at the tight-knit and competitive community of cybergamers that follows the top players of Warcraft III, the most popular game globally, on their way to the professional world championships; Blind Loves (Juraj Lehotsky, NY Premiere), an emotional story about four non-sighted subjects as they demonstrate and discuss their passions and anxieties while managing independent lives; and an exploration of the science and history behind Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, a new multimedia performance by Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky), which incorporates the sounds of melting ice recorded by Miller in Antarctica.

Events at the AMNH/Mead Festival

Museum Anthropology contributor Aaron Glass wrote with the following press release information from the AMNH and Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival :

Dear All, I wanted to let you know about some upcoming Anthropology events at the American Museum of Natural History and the Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival. The Mead is the longest-running, premiere showcase for international documentaries in the U.S., encompassing a broad spectrum of work, from to experimental nonfiction. The Mead exhibits a range of non-fiction films and videos including: indigenous community media, feature documentaries, essay films, experimental works, animation, and more. The Festival is distinguished by its outstanding selection of titles, which tackle diverse and challenging subjects, representing a range of issues and perspectives, and by the forums for discussion with filmmakers and speakers. A complete program can be found on line at http://www.amnh.org/mead. See below for the anthropology highlights.
All the best,
Ariella Ben-Dov
Festival Director


Margaret Mead: American Icon
Thursday, November 13, 6:30 p.m. Kaufmann Theater, first floor
$15 ($13.50 Members, students, senior citizens)

Margaret Mead, possibly the best-known, and certainly one of the most controversial, anthropologists in 20th-century America, worked at the Museum for 50 years. Nancy Lutkehaus, Professor of Anthropology, University of Southern California, author of the just-released Margaret Mead: The Making of an American Icon, and Mead’s daughter and granddaughter, Mary Catherine Bateson and Sevanne Kassarjian, and former Life Magazine photographer Ken Hyman present memories and images of this riveting woman. Introduced by Laurel Kendall, Curator, Division of Anthropology, AMNH. A book signing will follow.


DON’T FORGET OPENING NIGHT at the MEAD:

IN THE LAND OF THE HEAD HUNTERS
Friday, November 14: 7:00 pm
NY Premiere of restored 35mm print
Found in a Chicago area dumpster in 1947, this silent-era melodrama, made by American photographer Edward S. Curtis and featuring performances by the Kwakwaka'wakw of British Columbia, has finally been restored with help of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Set in a time when the First Nation peoples had not yet encountered Europeans, the film tells of Motana, the chief's son, who must overcome many challenges in the spirit and physical world to woo and win the lovely Naida, a young girl whose bewitching dancing has the power to save her from the evil Sorcerer. This film screens with live musical accompaniment by the Coast Orchestra, a Native American classical ensemble conducted by Timothy Long. Discussion with Chief Bill Cranmer and William Wasden, Jr. from the U'mista Cultural Centre to follow film. See http://www.blogger.com/www.curtisfilm.rutgers.edu

AMNH and the 32nd Annual Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival presents two special programs which highlights pioneers in anthropology:

Considered the father of modern anthropology, Franz Boas worked extensively with the Kwakwaka'wakw people of British Columbia, recording their culture, language, and mythology using ever-pioneering techniques. From these many exchanges, lasting relationships formed and anthropological theories were devised and revised. In this celebration of the 150th year of Boas's birth, Revisiting Franz Boas and the Northwest Coast honors his contribution to anthropology and his revolutionary use of the visual image to examine human behavior. Through films and discussions, we will examine the impact of anthropological studies on the Kwakwaka'wakw and how this First Nation has reclaimed their right to define themselves. Also in celebration of Boas's legacy, the Mead presents Visions of Zora Neale Hurston. A renowned writer and Harlem Renaissance intellectual, Hurston studied with Boas at Barnard College. Under his tutelage, she used the moving image to capture communities in action as part of her anthropological fieldwork. A diverse panel of speakers shares photography, archival films, and anecdotes as a tribute to Hurston's pioneering work.

The programs:

REVISITING FRANZ BOAS and the NORTHWEST COAST

Saturday, November 15: 2:00 pm
In honor of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Franz Boas, the Mead revisits the culture of the Kwakwaka'wakw, possibly the most heavily studied First Nation peoples. Chief Bill Cranmer and dancer William Wasden, Jr. from the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, British Columbia, along with AMNH anthropologist Aaron Glass, will present clips from Glass's “In Search of the Hamat'sa” (2004) and Chuck Olin's “Box of Treasures” (1983), which when viewed together expose the changing face of anthropological studies and testify to the tenacity of this culture threatened with extinction. Program F10

VISIONS of ZORA NEALE HURSTON

Sunday, November 16: 4:30 pm
Deborah Willis, photographer and historian of African American photography at New York University, and Lonnie Graham, photographer and professor of fine art at Penn State University, present photographs from Embracing Eatonville, their 2003 collection of images of the United States' first all-Black municipality and childhood home of Harlem Renaissance author and accomplished anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. Elaine Charnov, director, Education, Exhibitions and Programs at the New York Public Library, presents orphan archival footage from Hurston's fieldwork, tells of their discovery, and discusses some of the author's pioneering work as an early ethnographic filmmaker. Multi-media presentation and panel discussion.

For more information go to http://amnh.org/mead or email meadfest@amnh.org. You can order tix on line or call 212 769-5200.

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RELATED PROGRAMMING:

SYMPOSIUM:
"Moving Pictures: The Celluloid Archive, Indigenous Agency, and the Work of Edward S. Curtis."

On November 13, 12-4PM, Rutgers University will host an interdisciplinary symposium that takes the recently restored 1914 silent film/ In the Land of the Head Hunters/, directed by Edward S. Curtis and featuring the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations of British Columbia, as a springboard for the reassessment of Curtis's work and contemporary issues in film and art history, cultural anthropology, literary studies, and indigenous politics. Invited guests include:

Brad Evans (Rutgers University)
Kate Flint (Rutgers University, English)
Aaron Glass (American Museum of Natural History and Bard Graduate Center)
Alison Griffiths (Baruch College/CUNY, Communications and Film History)
Jolene Rickard (Cornell University, History of Art)
Alan Trachtenberg (Yale University, American Studies)
Shamoon Zamir (King’s College, University of London, American Studies).

This symposium is sponsored by the Center for Race and Ethnicity, the Center for Cultural Analysis, and the Rutgers American Studies Department. It compliments public screenings of the film, with live orchestral accompaniment by The Coast Orchestra, at the National Gallery of Art on November 9 and the American Museum of Natural History on November 14. It will take place at the Alexander Library, Fourth Floor Teleconference Room, Rutgers University, New Brunswick. It is free and open to the public.

For more information, see http://www.blogger.com/www.curtisfilm.rutgers.edu