[AIW] Public Lecture, Tulsa OK 1/22/11

Hosmer, Brian brian-hosmer at utulsa.edu
Wed Jan 5 17:39:09 CET 2011


December 29, 2010

Press Release




TULSA, Oklahoma - On January 22, 2011, Dr. Paul Tapsell of the University of Otago in New Zealand, will give a free public lecture at 2:30 p.m. at the Gilcrease Museum. The University of Tulsa History Department is pleased to welcome Dr. Tapsell as the H.G. Barnard Lecturer for this year. A reception honoring Dr. Tapsell will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Vista Room at the Gilcrease Museum. Immediately following the reception, at 2:30 p.m. in the Gilcrease Auditorium, Dr. Tapsell will present the H.G. Barnard Lecture, titled "Indigenous Perspectives at Traditional Museums: The Ko Tawa Exhibition Project, the Auckland Museum, and the Art and Science of Reverse Colonization."

The lecture will address the problems of conventional museum exhibitions presenting native people's treasures out of context, specifically the Auckland Museum's display of the Mãori tribe's cultural treasures (taonga). Dr. Tapsell will share his experiences in the Ko Tawa exhibition project, which challenged New Zealand's Auckland Museum to rethink its practice of displaying the Mãori tribe's taonga (cultural treasures). As director of the Auckland Museum in 2003, Dr. Tapsell gathered a team of 10 Mãori museum employees, supported by colleagues and key industry leaders, to take the exhibit's artifacts back to their roots. They developed a daring exhibition targeting New Zealand's indigenous youth as its primary audience. Through the Ko Tawa exhibit, the Auckland Museum became a venue for displaying taonga according to the values and perspectives of their originating communities.

The Ko Tawa exhibit generated significant questions that are relevant to museums in the United States, in particular for Native American collections. Dr. Tapsell will show how the Ko Tawa exhibit can provide a model for museums in the United States, which are challenged to accurately and respectfully display Native American cultural artifacts. Dr. Tapsell will also provide perspectives on broader associations between museums, universities, and the various publics they serve, as well as how to make centuries-old narratives interesting to a younger, more urban generation.

Dr. Tapsell is Chair in Mãori Studies and Dean of Te Tumu, the School of Mãori, Pacific, and Indigenous Studies at the University of Otago, Dunedin, Aoteoroa/New Zealand. He is internationally known for his provocative views on museum exhibit design and is a strong advocate for including indigenous voices in the exhibits that present native cultures.

This lecture is made possible by generous contributions from the Chapman Trust, the Gilcrease Museum's department of Education and Public Programs, and the Kendall College of Arts & Sciences.

Brian Hosmer

Brian Hosmer
H.G. Barnard Associate Professor of Western American History
Department of History
University of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK  74104
918-631-3843



If you have any questions, please contact Kelly-Wadsworth at utulsa.edu

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