Once regarded across most of the political spectrum as potential instruments of social progress, museums in recent years have been singled out for criticism as key instruments in the global imposition of nation-state structures and ideologies under the guise of Enlightenment.  The defence from frequently hard-pressed museum professionals has been to point to errors of detail in these histories, or to stress the good faith of individual agents in the administration and appropriation of culture, whatever the crimes of imperialism or the state writ large.  By taking a comparative and theoretically informed approach to some cases of collecting and museum-formation in China and the Middle East, the Balkans as well as in London, this day seminar will attempt to improve the accuracy of the ongoing debate surrounding the representation of ‘the Orient’, and develop the agenda for further discussion. 

9:00     Coffee and registration

Session 1        Chair: Marius Kwint

9:20     Marius Kwint, Introduction and Welcome

9:30     Homa T. Nasab, St Catherine's College, University of Oxford

            Foundational History of Museums in Iran

10:10   Eleanor Robson, History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge

Modernity and Antiquity in the Iraq Museum

10:50   Questions and discussion

11:00   Refreshments

Session 2        Chair: Homa T. Nasab

            11:30   Mahmoud Hawari, The Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford

           Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem: issues of

            interpretation,presentation and cultural appropriation

12:10   Helen Walasek, The Bosnian Institute, London

The Zemaljski Muzej, the National Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina

12:50   Questions and discussion

1:00     Lunch

Session 3        Chair: Marius Kwint

2:00     Tim Stanley, The Asian Department, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The Jameel Gallery of Middle Eastern Art at the Victoria & Albert Museum

2:40     Chengxi Dong, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

            Early Museum History in China

3:20     Questions and Discussion

3:30     Refreshments

Session 4        Chair: Homa T. Nasab

3:50     Oliver Watson, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Contemporary Collecting in the Middle East

           4:30     Jenny Gaschke, The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

The National Maritime Museum's Collections and the Middle East

5:10     Questions and discussion

5:20     Summary (Homa T. Nasab & Marius Kwint) and plenary

5:45     Close

Open to all members of the University.  We plan to go for a share-the-bill dinner at a reasonably priced local restaurant afterwards: please join us.

Registration £5 to cover buffet lunch and refreshments.  

Bookings by 25th May.  Please contact homa.nasab@stcatz.ox.ac.uk