Workshops

DEMUSEALISATION!

Transcultural Encounters with Religious Objects

Symposium + Workshop*

This symposium and workshop is organised by the Centre for Religion and Heritage (Groningen) in collaboration with Museum Catharijneconvent. It centres on religious objects that have been permanently or temporarily musealized. 

The tension between the secular space of the museum and the religious nature and uses of many of the objects they display and preserve has been noted by several scholars. Much contemporary writing on religion in museums tends however to centre on the social and performative dimensions of the museum space, rather than on the material aspects of the objects themselves.

This the symposium (at the Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society, Groningen) and workshop (at the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht) poses fresh questions on the status of such objects by exploring the intersection between religious artworks and transcultural approaches to material and visual culture.

How can attending to the material nature of the religious objects (both those classed as ethnographic objects, and those consider art objects, or treasures) invite new insights into the agency of the religious object in the museum? What does de-musealization (through temporary loan or re-use) imply about the status of the object, and its keepers? What is the significance of collections of religious objects within the context of contemporary transcultural societies?

March 22: 13.00–18.30

International Symposium.
Courtroom, Oude Boteringestraat 38, Groningen.

March 23: 10.00–13.00

Workshop
Museumlab, Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht.

ReMA Students, and PhD students can attend and complete readings and an assignment related to the symposium and workshop as a course for 2 EC. 

ReMA students or PhD candidates who are a member of NOSTER or any other national research school in the Humanities (LOGOS) are asked to register through NOSTER’s Moodle platform so they can receive 2 EC for participation.

ASSIGNMENT: Preparation for and participation in symposium and workshop + written exhibition review applying learning (details to follow).
OUTCOMES: Understanding of contemporary issues in curation and ownership of objects of religious significance + ability to apply current transcultural approaches to analysis of museum exhibition practice + experience of an experimental method in museum curation.

Please register by March 1, for catering purposes

*Kubai plaster-cast figure in the holdings of the Museum Weltkulturen Frankfurt.
Photo: Armin Linke (source: hyperallergic.com )

For more information about this workshop, click the button below:

Religieuze objecten zijn vaak prachtig gedecoreerd. Dat alleen al lijkt hun plek in het museum te rechtvaardigen. Voor de oorspronkelijke gebruikers heeft die decoratie een extra dimensie: de objecten weerspiegelen iets van de Eeuwige. Het aanraken van zo’n voorwerp brengt je dichter bij God. Of je houdt juist gepaste afstand, omwille van de heiligheid die erin besloten ligt.

In een museale context is de omgang met zulke voorwerpen heel anders. Hier ligt de focus niet zozeer op wat we ermee doen, maar op wat we zien. Die beperking beïnvloedt het begrip en de ervaring van bezoekers. In dit fieldlab over het tentoonstellen van religieuze objecten denken we na hoe we het oorspronkelijke gebruik en de gelaagde betekenis van deze voorwerpen duidelijk kunnen maken aan museumbezoekers – bezoekers die vaak niet bekend zijn met de achterliggende rituele gebruiken en betekenissen. We onderzoeken dit aan de hand van ceremoniële objecten uit de collectie van het Joods Cultureel Kwartier.

In multidisciplinaire teams van museummedewerkers, academici en ontwerpers bedenken we alternatieve presentatievormen. Tegelijkertijd onderzoeken we wat dit ontwikkelproces met onszelf doet, gebruikmakend van de methode van emotienetwerken. Dit is een eenvoudige oefening die helpt om meer zicht te krijgen op het ingewikkelde samenspel van emoties rond al die objecten, gebouwen, tradities en rituelen die ons leven mee vormgeven, en die voor ons als individuen allemaal andere betekenissen kunnen hebben.

Tijdens het fieldlab maken en bespreken we op verschillende momenten mindmaps waarmee we in kaart brengen wat er met ons gevoel gebeurt. Gaandeweg zal duidelijk worden wat onze kijk is op religieuze objecten in een museale context.

Locatie: Joods Museum Amsterdam
Tijd: 09.30-16.30
Kosten: €25 inclusief lunch

In this workshop we will explore the connections between heritage, education and diversity. How important is religious literacy for the future of heritage in Groningen? How does heritage play a role in religious education? What is it like to teach about these themes in a diverse classroom? We will explore these questions, with the exhibition Feest! In Oost en West (Holidays in East and West) as an example. This interactive exhibition is shown in the bell tower of the School Church in Garmerwolde, and shows eight religious (Christian and Muslim) holidays in a modern way, using contemporary imagery and combining ancient and new architecture.

The workshop starts in Groningen, at the ‘office church’ of the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken. After an introduction and informal lunch, we will cycle to Garmerwolde for a visit to the School Church.

The workshop will be led by Inge Basteleur, Project Leader Education at the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken. As project leader, she is responsible for all things connected to education, such as development of teaching materials and programs for all ages, and organizing events. The workshop is sponsored by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed.

Location: Groningen & Gramerwolde
Time: 12.30-15.30
Costs for non-students: €15
Register via this form

Join us for this workshop in Den Andel that will explore how heritage activists today are making use of medieval churches to create new meanings. We want to investigate the creative work undertaken with church congregations, village communities and artists in the North of the Netherlands.

We will start off in the church in Den Andel, where Jolanda Tuma will tell us about her work with the Dorpskerkenbeweging. Her work began with her Kerk in het Dorp initiative, meant to reinvigorate village churches. Then we will move to the studio of sculptor Anjet van Linge. Together with Jolanda and others, she organised Monnikenwerk (Monks’ Work) for the fourth time this year. With Monnikenwerk, artists use medieval churches as their studio for six consecutive Wednesdays, exploring the space of the church and the possibility of connecting with something greater than us. This year, Monnikenwerk took place in fourteen churches in Groningen and Friesland. An impression of this year’s work can be found on www.monnikenwerk.nu.

This workshop will take place in conjunction with the course of Prof. Todd Weir "Regional Heritage: Old Churches, New Meanings" in the MA track Heritage and Religion. The workshop is sponsored by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed.

Location: Den Andel
Costs for non-students: €15
Register via this form