Natural history collections

REVIEW

Angelica Groom
Exotic Animals in the Art and Culture of the Medici Court in Florence

BRILL / SERIES:
Rulers & Elites, Volume: 16

Publication Date: 22 October 2018
ISBN: 978-90-04-37113-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004371132

Resumo: Este trabalho é parte da dissertação de mestrado que estou elaborando para o Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades em Museologia da Universidade de São Paulo. Trata-se de um trabalho sobre o resgate da história de um museu por meio de suas coleções. O locus para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa é o Museu de Geociências do Instituto de Geociências da USP, espaço entendido como um museu, cujo status jurídico é o de acervo de unidade de ensino universitária. A proposta é, a partir da análise das coleções que atualmente compõem o acervo do Museu de Geociências do IGc-USP, poder resgatar sua história, que não está registrada na documentação institucional oficial. A investigação sobre a trajetória das coleções que compõe atualmente o acervo, através do resgate de informações sobre a coleção, adquiridas de fontes primárias (periódicos de época, etiquetas de coleção, documentação do colecionador) pode ajudar a recuperar a trajetória histórica da própria instituição. As metodologias utilizadas indicam o levantamento da biografia das coleções; deste modo, ao traçar seu percurso de "vida", deverá também ser traçada a trajetória histórica do Museu de Geociências da USP, nunca descrita cientificamente até este trabalho. Para isso serão utilizadas bibliografias que tratam sobre análise de objetos em Museus, que aqui serão adaptadas para coleções. Palavras Chave: Coleção; Museu de Geociências; acervo geológico; acervo mineralógico; museu universitário. Abstract: The work presented in this meeting is part of the master's dissertation that it is been prepared for the Interunit Postgraduate Program in Museology of the University of São Paulo. It is a work on the rescue of the history of a Museum through its collections. The locus for the development of the research is the Museum of Geosciences of the Institute of Geosciences of USP, space understood as a museum, whose legal status is that of a collection of university teaching units. The proposal is, based on the analysis of the collections that currently make up the collection of the Museum of Geosciences of IGc-USP, to be able to recover its history, which cannot be found in the official institutional documentation. Research on the collection that currently compose the Museum, through the retrieval of information about the collection, acquired from primary sources (periodical periodicals, collection labels, collector documentation) can help to recover the historical trajectory of the institution itself.

Per Federico Cesi, fondatore dell’Accademia dei Lincei, il «Natural desiderio di sapere» corrisponde a un modo plurale di pensare la conoscenza e il suo ruolo sociale e politico di fronte all’incertezza innescata dall’allargamento del mondo,  dal profilarsi di nuovi modi di comprendere i rapporti fra uomo e natura, dal confronto con una vita di
corte, dominata dall’interesse individuale.
Centro della rivendicazione universalistica pontificia e spazio comunicativo fra vecchi e nuovi mondi, Roma emerge come teatro barocco di un progetto di capitalizzazione dei saperi, che mobilita appassionati virtuosi, filosofi “straccioni”, medici mediatori, agguerriti pittori, scultori in gara con la natura, missionari in cerca di legittimazione.
Attraverso il racconto dell’affascinante storia del Tesoro messicano - imponente volume tardivamente pubblicato nel 1651 - si ricostruisce un cantiere di produzione naturalistica, fra sconosciuti exotica e artefatti stranamente familiari, scambi e competizioni, conflitti e negoziazioni, individuando nei saperi una lente per comprendere la dinamica storica.

Esta tese analisa a viagem do naturalista britânico Henry Walter Bates ao Brasil, entre 1848 e 1859, enfocando suas relações com os habitantes locais e observando de que forma estes colaboraram para o êxito da expedição. Durante os seus 11 anos de estadia no país, Bates coletou espécimes de aproximadamente 14 mil espécies brasileiras, sendo cerca de oito mil até então desconhecidas na Europa e, a partir de suas observações, propôs a teoria hoje conhecida como mimetismo batesiano. Ademais, relatou sua vivência na Amazônia em um dos livros de viagem mais aclamados e bem-sucedidos de seu tempo, sendo reeditado até os dias de hoje. A viagem ao Brasil foi essencial para a inserção de Bates nos círculos científicos ingleses e para sua ascensão social e profissional. Por este motivo, é fundamental olhar para a sua passagem pelo Brasil para compreender o papel transformador de sua viagem e as estratégias empregadas por Bates para garantir o sucesso de sua empreitada. Sem apoio governamental, institucional ou financeiro, reunir uma ampla e diversificada rede de colaboradores locais foi essencial ao naturalista. Ao longo de seu relato de viagem, Bates faz referência a um total de 221 indivíduos, frequentemente nomeando e descrevendo aqueles que o auxiliaram. Desta forma, o livro de viagem, assim como os cadernos de campo mantidos pelo naturalista e algumas de suas correspondências pessoais, são fontes importantes para a compreensão da infraestrutura humana que tornou possível a sua expedição científica. Ao longo desta tese, a análise destas fontes é utilizada como base para a identificação de alguns dos principais indivíduos que compunham a rede de colaboradores de Bates no Brasil e para a observação das formas e dos momentos em que o naturalista buscava suporte na população local. Após a análise textual, uma visualização da rede de colaboradores de Bates foi criada com o software Gephi para complementar a leitura das interações dentro da rede. Observar como se davam estas interações é uma forma de compreender melhor a sociabilidade inerente ao trabalho naturalista de campo e de chamar atenção para uma complexa rede de indivíduos geralmente tornados invisíveis nas narrativas sobre as grandes viagens científicas do século XIX, mas frequentemente mencionados pelos próprios naturalistas em seus relatos de viagem por suas constantes colaborações.

Chapter 10 [in:] Treasure Hunting? The Collectors and the Collecting of Indonesian Artefacts. (Reimar Schefold and Han Vermeulen, eds.) Leiden: Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), University of Leiden. Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, no. 30, pages 221-239.
This chapter offers one reading of the Smithsonian’s collections assembled by William Louis Abbott (1860-1936), focusing especially on Abbott’s motivation as a collector, and the dialectic that developed between the collector (Abbott) and the collecting institution (Smithsonian). By drawing upon correspondence between Abbott and museum scientists, and upon Abbott’s letters to his family, a portrait emerges of Abbott’s self-imposed mission, his methods and criteria for selection, and the extent to which they corresponded to the needs and desires of a collecting institution. By placing Abbott and his collections in the context of museum (especially Smithsonian) anthropology from the 1890s to today, we discover why Abbott’s collecting activity was so important to turn-of-the-century Smithsonian anthropologists. Yet we also find that his ethnological collections were later relatively neglected, due to the decline in the importance of material culture studies from which anthropology suffered until quite recently.

The Role of Extinction in Evolution. Extinktion ‹ bezeichnet heutzutage das Ende evolutionärer Stammlinien durch den Tod aller Nachkommen. Nach Charles Darwin handelt sich um einen Prozess, der allmählich und andauernd in der Geschichte des Lebens und den langen und langsamen Zeiten der Geologie geschieht; er ist eng verbunden mit dem Prozess der natürlichen Selektion und somit ein vitaler Aspekt der Evolution. 1 Diese Verbindung erlaubte es, die ebenso langsamen Zeiten der biologischen Evolution und des Aus sterbens zu konzipieren : Kurz nach dem Erscheinen von Darwins On the Origin of Species (1859) begann der deutsch-baltische Zoologe Karl Ernst von Baer sich mit dem Problem des Aussterbens in historischer Zeit, d. h. innerhalb der 5.000 Jahre der menschlichen Schriftkultur, zu beschäf-tigen. 2 Er war nicht der erste, der versuchte, die historischen Perioden und die Gegenwart mit der langen Geschichte der Erde zu verbinden : Bereits Georges Cuvier hatte in seinem Discours préliminaire nicht nur ausführlich die theoretische Möglichkeit einer zukünftigen Auslöschung von Arten dis-kutiert, sondern dafür auch Quellen aus der Antike als Brücke zwischen der aktuellen Weltordnung und den tiefen geologischen Zeiten genutzt. 3 Allerdings interessierte sich von Baer 1860 vor allem für den Untergang von Arten, die mit dem Menschen in historischer Zeit zusammen gelebt hatten, und damit für eine neue Dimension des menschli-chen Ein wirkens auf die Natur. Insbesondere ging es ihm darum, eine Ant-wort auf die Frage zu erhalten, ob das Aussterben sich auch in der Gegen-wart fortsetze, und wie man diese Dimension, die man heute als Zeitalter des Anthropozäns bezeichnet, registrieren könne. Doch um 1860 blieb die Frage ohne definitive Antwort. Im Gegensatz zur immer größer werdenden Anzahl der ausgestorbenen Arten des geologischen fossil record war die Zahl der Tierarten, deren Aussterben sich historisch dokumentieren ließ, klein und überdies war ihr Aussterben auch schwierig zu beweisen. Im Folgenden sollen die Medien und Quellen präsentiert werden, die herangezogen wur-den, um den historischen und gegenwärtigen Prozess des Aussterbens von tierischen Arten und seine zeitliche Dimension sichtbar zu machen.

Natural history museums preserve a considerable, yet often unacknowledged part of the world's colonial heritage. Their identity, collections, exhibitions and, importantly, much of their research activities are based on objects which underwent multifold translocations from colonized territories to museums in the Global North.
Natural history museums took advantage of colonial endeavors and were deeply entangled in the exploitation of the colonies. However, natural objects are often displayed as "of Nature"-and framed within a narrative of Western scientific endeavors and rationality. The complex histories of acquisition as well as the political context of the discovery and translocation of objects are thus rendered invisible.

The conference takes the growing tension between the entangled history of natural history museums and colonialism on the one hand and the invisibility of those entanglements on the other as a starting point for considerations about decolonization.

Based on research undertaken for WAAS and Museums Worcestershire's Lost Landscapes project, this talk traces the history of our understanding of the archaeology, geology, and natural history of the Ice Age, and presents the fascinating stories of local characters at the forefront of research. Beginning in the heady days of the mid-19th century we steer a path through colonial controversies, enlightened ecclesia, humble handaxe-hunters, and trowelblazing teachers, up to current research and priorities for the future.

Abstract

Helmis Natural History Museum is located in Zakynthos, in the village of Agia Marina Fagia, only twenty minutes distance from the centre of the city of Zakynthos. The enlargement of the private collection of Panagiotis Helmis, a collection of natural history that originally included natural history exhibits acquired by the collector to meet his needs, was a challenge for the exhibition of this collection in a museum environment. Moreover, the museum was founded to introduce to the visitors the value of nature, to present information on lesser known fauna and flora species of the island and to focus on geology exhibits.

Keywords: Museum Education, Minerals, Geology, Zakynthos, Natural History.


Περίληψη

H ανακοίνωση εστιάζει στο κοινωνικό αντίκτυπο της μουσειακής συλλογής των συλλογών γεωλογίας στο Μουσείο Χέλμη στη Ζάκυνθο. Το μουσείο βρίσκεται στο χωριό «Αγία Μαρίνα του Φαγιά» σε ορεινή θέση, είκοσι λεπτά από το κέντρο της χώρας της Ζακύνθου. Ειδικότερα, πρόκειται για μία προσωπική συλλογή εκθεμάτων φυσικής ιστορίας που με την πάροδο του χρόνου διευρύνθηκε.  Η συλλογή οργανώθηκε μουσειολογικά  και μουσειογραφικά ώστε να συμβάλλει στην επιμόρφωση της τοπικής κοινότητας, την εκπαίδευση και ψυχαγωγία των μαθητών αλλά και των ποικίλων ομάδων επισκεπτών. Με σκοπό να πραγματοποιηθούν εκπαιδευτικές δράσεις, να αναδειχθεί η τοπική αλλά και παγκόσμια φυσική κληρονομιά (χλωρίδα/πανίδα) και να αποτελέσει το μουσείο, αρωγό γνώσης και μέσο ψυχαγωγίας. Η συλλογή ορυκτών  του Παναγιώτη Χέλμη περιελάμβανε αρχικά είδη πετρωμάτων που συνέλεγε ο συλλέκτης από διάφορες γεωγραφικές περιοχές στη Ζάκυνθο και εμπλουτίστηκε αργότερα με διάφορα είδη εκθεμάτων γεωλογίας και απολιθωμάτων που προέκυψαν από ιδιωτικές αγορές. Το μουσείο πραγματοποιεί εκπαιδευτικά προγράμματα στο γνωστικό αντικείμενο της γεωλογίας με τρόπο προσιτό αλλά και εύπεπτο και συνεχώς επαναπροσδιορίζει τον ρόλο του κοινωνικά.

Λέξεις κλειδιά:
Μουσειακή Εκπαίδευση, Ορυκτά, Γεωλογία, Ζάκυνθος, Φυσική Ιστορία.

This pathbreaking and stunningly illustrated book recovers the intersections between natural history, politics, art, and philosophy in the late sixteenth-century Low Countries. Insect Artifice explores the moment when the seismic forces of the Dutch Revolt wreaked havoc on the region’s creative and intellectual community, compelling its members to seek solace in intimate exchanges of art and knowledge. At its center is a neglected treasure of the late Renaissance: the Four Elements manuscripts of Joris Hoefnagel (1542–1600), a learned Netherlandish merchant, miniaturist, and itinerant draftsman who turned to the study of nature in this era of political and spiritual upheaval. Presented here for the first time are more than eighty pages in color facsimile of Hoefnagel’s encyclopedic masterwork, which showcase both the splendor and eccentricity of its meticulously painted animals, insects, and botanical specimens.

Marisa Anne Bass unfolds the circumstances that drove the creation of the Four Elements by delving into Hoefnagel’s writings and larger oeuvre, the works of his friends, and the rich world of classical learning and empirical inquiry in which he participated. Bass reveals how Hoefnagel and his colleagues engaged with natural philosophy as a means to reflect on their experiences of war and exile, and found refuge from the threats of iconoclasm and inquisition in the manuscript medium itself. This is a book about how destruction and violence can lead to cultural renewal, and about the transformation of Netherlandish identity on the eve of the Dutch Golden Age.

https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13413.html

De nombreuses et nombreux scientifiques travaillent au quotidien, bénévolement ou non, pour collecter ces informations naturalistes. Elles sont par la suite stockées dans les musées ou dans les associations, attendant qu’un spécialiste vienne utiliser,publier, confirmer, enrichir ou infirmer une donnée. Si, théoriquement et avec les moyens à disposition dans les musées, ce sont les responsables de collection qui valorisent les collections, qui s’occupe du patrimoine associatif, universitaire, celui des collèges et des particuliers ? Le travail présenté effectué en 2018 sur une collection de Lépidoptères de la collection Barragué appartenant à l’association Giraz, montre que l’on peut redonner du sens aux collections anciennes, aux publications relatives à celles-ci, et les rendre exploitables par les scientifiques d’aujourd’hui afin d’enrichir, d’affiner l’analyse et la compréhension de notre environnement.