Just discovered this….. nothing to do with my blog though.

 Today there are people who believe very strongly that the mission was accomplished and I see all over the Internet there are events celebrating Apollo II’s successful feat such as Purdue University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections Exhibit  Purdue’s Place in Space: From the Midwest to the Moon.

 Check out the top 10 Apollo hoax claims here. Real or not? Check out both sides of the story and decide for yourself.

Michael Jackson in 1978 with Miss Universe 1977 Janelle Penny Commissiong

 The year was 1978 and 5 shy black brothers- a.k.a. The Jackson Five had just changed labels from Motown to Epic and riding a wave of popularity- well at least here anyway. They caused much ado among young female screaming fans most of whom are happy to recall their “Jackson” moment. Their visit and concerts are now phenomenally remembered with the passing of Michael Jackson.

 I must state that this photo wasn’t part of any grand historic conservation project nor an exhibition of any sort but given the current climate of regret in this country over the passing of the great King of Pop, this gem from the newspaper archives deserves honourable mention in my blog.

The link to the original article written by Dexter Lyndersay is here.
Photo by Mark Lyndersay.

Here in Trinidad the JWs are best known for standing on street corners selling Watchtower magazines and knocking on neighbourhood doors in an attempt to spread their gospel. These images are therefore as informative as they are riveting.

More photos of that hurricane have been posted here by Florida Memory: the State Library and Archives of Florida.

 

 

 ”The automobile is such a part of our national identity,” said Becky Cape, head of public services at the Lilly Library, “and yet the industry is in crisis. It’s especially interesting to revisit auto history not only in Indiana but also around the world.”

According to IU News Room the exhibition features:

 …automobile catalogues and ephemera from the collection of Thomas T. Solley. Solley, a grand-nephew of J. K. Lilly, Jr., was director of the Indiana University Art Museum from 1971 to 1986. The exhibition features some of the earliest automobile catalogues, including luxury automobile sales catalogues which were often works of art.

Much work and thought have gone into the collection,

Solley’s collection for example shows how luxury car catalogues became an art form at the end of the 19^th century. Increasingly competition among car manufacturers saw the publication of catalogues enhanced with lithography, photo-mechanical reproduction and special leather-tooled bindings to lure prospective buyers.

Not familiar with Indiana and its car history? Here’s some trivia: in the early 20^th century, Indiana was at the centre of the automobile industry, producing more than 250 makes of cars in more than 40 Indiana cities and towns.

Interested? The exhibition runs from May 26 to September 5, 2009.

Lok Virsa’s Executive Director Khalid Javaid said:

“This exhibition will be most beneficial for the students, researchers, writers, intellectuals and all those who want to get them acquainted about the culture and heritage of Germany….It will certainly go a long way in bringing people of both countries closer to each other.”

 It is something to be celebrated: crossing borders, promoting diversity, sharing by way of photographic record but there are murmurings emerging from conservationists and concerned citizens that UNESCO may yet be destroying some of the very things it is seeking to protect.

 UNESCO, the United Nations organization responsible for education, science and culture has been mobilizing armies of experts preserve cultural heritage and the promotion of cultural diversity across the globe by protecting cultural and natural assets, which are deemed to be of universal value. Currently there are over 800 sites from over 130 countries have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Register and 32 of these sites are located in Germany.

 The World Heritage seal is a guarantee of preservation. But even as UNESCO reaches across borders to promote cultural diversity it is being accused of being a “lame duck in a straitjacket, incapable of protecting the world’s truly endangered places.”  Simon Usborne poses the question: Is UNESCaO’s World Heritage project harming the very places it seeks to protect? He states that many within the conservation community are convinced UNESCO is failing. Rows, it seems are popping up as to whether or not the project is being undermined by bureaucracy and the ambitions of those seeking the mighty tourist dollar. The ancient ruins of Macchu Picchu for example are being visited by 4,000 people each day and listed as being “Under Close Surveillance” but not “In Danger.” It appears that countries submit the sites they want to be inscribed, often to boost tourism and that UNESCO has no power to step in to protect the other places that may need attention. UNESCO insists it “has most of the important sites”, but does not claim to have a monopoly on preservation.

These murmurings are not to be dismissed since many sites are in danger due to continuous tourist traffic and environmental changes. Perhaps hosting more travelling photographic exhibitions is a decent enough route to satiate our wander lust. In the meantime UNESCO has also declared a number of important monuments in Pakistan as world heritage sites including Rohtas Fort, Archaeological Ruins at Mohenjodaro, Buddhist Ruins at Takht Bahi, Taxila, Lahore Fort and Shalamar Gardens and the Historical Monuments of Thatta.

Maybe some of us will be fortunate to view a photographic exhibition of these remarkable places.

And on final note, the online news reports could have at least carried one relevant photograph. It is an exhibition of PHOTO after all! 

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The old cliché is right: a picture tells a thousand words. And, thousands more! Photographs do much more than capture moments in time. Photographs add authenticity to text, the spoken word and are a visual record of things- known, unknown and unnoticed. Images transcend language barriers and weave a powerful narrative of the history and culture of a place and its people. As a tool for recording and understanding history it is “all of the above”. 

Increasingly, with the passage of time and the loss of cultural artefacts, historical projects and patrimony have become indelibly intertwined. It is certainly not urban legend that many countries have come to realise the loss of national information to cultures with enough assets, cognisance and timing to purchase the rights. The question is asked rhetorically for example: How many rights does Jamaica own to the works of Bob Marley?

 The painful lessons of the past have been learnt. The importance of documenting and keeping records is being realised and countries and organisations are spending large sums of money to ensure that national heritages are preserved. Information and communication technology (ICT) is a powerful ally in this regard– new and emerging technologies are creating electronic tools and platforms that enable a variety of digital initiatives by libraries, archives and other similar institutions. These are now being used to collect, store and share information though the processes of scanning, electronic audio and video files-sharing, databases etc. Great effort is being made to reduce the scatter of photographic images, restore, preserve, digitise and store them in databases for storage and retrieval. Best of all, an impressive percentage of these efforts and energies are making the news.

This blog  provides commentary and critical appreciation on the headliners: photographic documentation projects and preservation activities that are making the news. It will promote the importance of preserving one’s cultural heritage by way of visual documentation and share the work being done by others to document and preserve patrimony.

Hopefully the zest that created this blog will be contagious.

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