2004 - Seoul : The Quest for the Eternal Blockbuster: Impressionist Paintings of Egyptian Dinosaurs - ICOM ICEE

ICEE 2004

The Quest for the Eternal Blockbuster: Impressionist Paintings of Egyptian Dinosaurs

At first glance, perhaps, intangible heritage and blockbuster exhibitions may appear to represent polar-opposite manifestations of the museum profession. On closer examination, however, there is a synergy between the two. At its most elementary level, this interplay exists when a museum presents in physical form and interprets through the display of objects, “the culture or traditional ways of life of a certain community, for example, their religious rites, traditional economies, ways of life, folklore, etc.”
More broadly, exhibitions showcase and diffuse the “symbolic and metaphorical meanings of the objects that constitute intangible heritage.” The romance associated with 19th century Paris is an important part of the allure of Impressionist paintings. The thrill of exploration and discovery, key reasons for the ongoing fascination with ancient Egypt. And fossils and bones add concreteness to every child’s imaginings about the world of dinosaurs. Giovanni Pinna, chair of ICOM-Italy, summed it up succinctly when he wrote that “every object has two dimensions: its physical aspect, for example its shape and size, and its meaning, which derives from its history, from the interpretation it receives from others, from its capacity to link past and present.” That duality is what traditionally has linked intangible heritage and exhibitions in a museum context.
That synergy is also expanding as new presentation and interpretation techniques are added to exhibitions. Oral history, audio guides, recordings, music, hands-on activities, computer terminals, even smell have become standard tools in the curator’s and designer’s repertoire.
Four collaborating committees -ICEE, ICAMT, INTERCOM and CIPEG – will discuss the interplay between physical exhibitions and intangible heritage. Strategic positions, conservation issues, and business challenges will be addressed as well as how blockbusters are developed, managed and toured, the impact they have on the staff and operations of the museums that organize and host them, on the museum community for which they have become a staple, and on the museum-going public that has come to expect them will round out the program.

Saturday, October 2, 2004

COEX World Trade Center

• Registration
• Welcome Reception

Sunday, October 3, 2004

COEX World Trade Center

• Opening Ceremony of the 20th General Conference and the 21st General Assembly of ICOM
• ICOM Keynote Session I
• ICOM Keynote Session II
• Opening Event and Gala Dinner

Monday, October 4, 2004

ICEE Museum Tours

– Visiting the new National Museum of Korea
– Visiting Kasan Institute of Buddhist Culture
– Lunch at Kyung-guk-sa (Buddhist temple) as Korean Buddhist style & Tea ceremony with Korean Buddhist Master ‘Kasan Jikwan Sunim’
– Visiting Korean Lock Museum
– Visiting Museum of Korean Straw and Plants handicraft
– Visiting Gahoe Museum (of Korean Folk Painting and Amulets)
– Visiting Museum of Korean Buddhist Art
– Performance at Dongsoong Art Center hosted by the Ockrang Foundation
– Cocktail Party at Dongsoong Art Center hosted by The Ockrang Cultural Foundation

Tuesday, October 5, 2004

COEX, World Trade Center

How to promote exchange of Asian art exhibitions – Part 1: The New Vision of Asian Art Exhibition

– Moderator: Young Hoon Yi, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, National Museum of Korea, Korea
– Yasuhiro Nishioka, Executive Vice Director, Tokyo National Museum, Japan
– Hongbin Yan, Director of Exhibition, Bejing Palace Museum, China
– Pham Quoc Quan, Director, National Museum of Vietnamese History, Vietnam
– Felice Fischer, Curator of Japanese and Korean Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA
– Seunghye Sun, Curator of Japanese Art, National Museum of Korea, Korea

How to promote exchange of Asian art exhibitions – Part 2: The New Vision of Asian Art

– Moderator: Wu Tung, Emeritus Matsutaro Shoriki Curator of Asiatic Art, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, USA
– Ockrang Kim, Director of The Ockrang Cultural Foundation, Korea
– Marsha Weidner, Professor, University of Kansas, USA
– Hakan Wahlquist, Senior Curator Asian Collections & Keeper the Sven Hedin Foundation, Museum of Ethnography, Sweden
– Dongkook Lee, Curator, Calligraphy Museum of Seoul Arts Center, Korea

Wednesday, October 6, 2004