The National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) is a research center for ethnology and cultural anthropology.

Seminars, Symposia, and Academic Conferences

Saturday, October 7 ～Sunday, October 8, 2017
Research Trends Round-table I 《International Symposium》 “Preservation of Cultural Heritage in a Changing World”

  • Date：October 7 - 8, 2017
  • Venue：National Museum of Ethnology, Conference Room 4
    Languages：Japanese, English (Simultaneous interpreters provided)
  • Programmed by：
    Department of Advanced Human Sciences　and
    Inter-University Research Project “Conservation science research on the establishment of sustainable collection management and museum environment”
  • Organized by：National Museum of Ethnology
  • Co-organized by：
    Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas - Platforms for Advanced Technologies and Research Resources, Research Platform Resource Support Program "Platform for Integration and Sophistication of Image Information on Area Studies
  • Entry and Inquiries
    Deadline: Wednesday, August 30
    E-mail: preservation2017 [at]idc.minpaku.ac.jp 　※Please replace 'at' with @.
    FAX: 06-6878-7503
 

Aim of the symposium

The preservation of cultural heritage is guided and constrained not only by social and cultural factors, but also by environmental and technological factors. In the last thirty years our society has begun to face new challenges.
The overwhelming environmental issue is worldwide climate change, which necessitates the incorporation of sustainability in any preservation program. Among the technological challenges, the dramatic shift from analog to digital media continues to be a primary concern.
Papers will be given by European, Japanese, and North American speakers from the field of cultural heritage. Topics will include sustainable climate control; integrated pest management; preservation measures from a long-term perspective; and issues of access to images by scholars and the general public.
The symposium will provide a venue to present fundamental and practical research, and also offer a forum to explore how the new environmental and technological challenges may require innovative and novel approaches to the use and care of cultural heritage.
Time will be devoted to behind-the-scenes and special exhibition visits, as well as to experiencing a number of projects related to the use of images in the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan.

 

Program

Saturday, October 7
Moderator: Masayuki Deguchi, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
10:00 - Registration
10:30 - 10:40 Opening Remarks
Kenji Yoshida, Director-General, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
10:40 - 11:00 Introduction
Naoko Sonoda, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Session 1 New environmental challenges
　　Chair: Bertrand Lavédrine, Director, Centre de recherche sur la conservation / Professor, Museum national d’histoire naturellle, Paris (France)　Visiting Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka

Keynote speech
11:00 - 11:40 "Theory and practice of sustainable preservation"
Jim Reilly, Director of Business Development, Image Permanent Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester (USA)
11:40 - 12:00 Q&A
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch
Museums in a new era
13:00 - 13:25 "Creation of a new national museum to meet the environmental needs of the 21st century: Kyusyu National Museum"
Mitsuko Honda, Researcher emeritus, Kyusyu National Museum, Fukuoka
13:25 - 13:50 "Environment-friendly collection management at the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan"
Naoko Sonoda, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
13:50 - 14:00 Q&A
14:00 - 14:15 Break
Sustainable preservation measures
14:15 - 14:40 "The preservation of photographs using local resources in Luang Prabang, Laos"
Martin Jürgens, Photograph conservator, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
14:40 - 15:05 “Mobile and non-chemical pest control measures applicable to small-size museums”
Shingo Hidaka, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
15:05 - 15:15 Q&A
15:15 - 15:30 Break
Museum tour
15:30 - 17:00 Behind-the-scenes visit
Naoko Sonoda and Shingo Hidaka, National Museum of Ethnology
Tomomi Wadaka, Bunka Sozo Kogei
Yukako Kawamura, Kawamura Conservation and Environment Research
Sachi Hashimoto, Hashimoto Bunkazai Kikaku
Special Exhibition “Revisiting Siebold’s Japan museum”
Welcome party
17:30 - MC: Noboru Yoshioka, Assistant Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
 
Sunday, October 8
Moderator: Masayuki Deguchi, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Session 2 New media challenges
　　Chair: Naoko Sonoda, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka

Keynote speech
9:30 - 10:10 "The changing role of the photograph conservator"
Nora Kennedy, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Photograph Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA)
10:10 - 10:30 Q&A
10:30 - 10:45 Break
Preservation of images
10:45 - 11:10 "Image and preservation in the digital age"
Bertrand Lavédrine, Director, Centre de recherche sur la conservation / Professor, Museum national d’histoire naturellle, Paris (France)　Visiting Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
11:10 - 11:35 "Preservation of digital films through analog films"
Katsuhisa Ohzeki, Researcher, National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
11:35 - 11:45 Q&A
11:45 - 12:50 Lunch
Access and use of images
12:50 - 13:15 “Creation of the ‘Japanese Animated Film Classics’ database"
Yuzo Marukawa, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
13:15 - 13:40 “Creative use of archival images”
Itsushi Kawase, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
13:40 - 14:05 "An academic platform of images from the 20th century"
Taku Iida, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
14:05 - 14:15 Q&A
14:15 - 14:30 Break
Use of Images in the National Museum of Ethnology
14:30 - 15:30 Hiroko Yokoyama, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Yasunori Yamamoto, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Shota Fukuoka, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Ritsuko Kikusawa, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
Discussion
　　Chair: Naoko Sonoda, Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka
15:30 - 16:30 All speakers