ICR_Milan_2016-zip

MUSEUMS, HERITAGE AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE Proceedings from the ICOM General Conference, Milan 2016

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Colophon Published by: ICOM, ICOM ICR Represented by: Irena Žmuc, President of ICR Editors: Susan Hanna, Jane Legget Managing Editor: Irena Žmuc Design and Print layout: GIA Design, StudioAZ August, 2022 ISBN: 978-2-491997-64-9 6

Dedication We wish to dedicate this publication to Jean Aase who served as ICR’s Secretary during the 2016 ICOM Conference. Jean wrote and distributed ICR’s Call for Papers, organized sessions and collected most of the papers published here. Jean’s organizational and editing skills were an asset to ICR until her unexpected death in April 2017. In addition to serving as ICR’s Secretary from 2013 to 2016, Jean shepherded and edited the papers presented at ICR’s conferences from 2011 to 2013. 1

Editors' introduction Bringing together the papers for this publication has brought back warm memories for us of the spirit and inventiveness of the International Committee for Regional Museums (ICR) and its members. The overarching theme for the ICOM Triennial Conference in Milano, Italy, was Museums and Cultural Landscapes, and ICR members show that much of their work relates to this in heartfelt and innovative ways, respecting traditions while supporting new developments and experimental approaches. Here we present a diversity of papers from across the world, reflecting ICOM’s global reach and the passion and innovation that members bring to their work in regional museums and with their communities. The papers are organized into four core themes: • Understand what you have: practical solutions, best practices, projects, offers examples of dynamic ways in which museums engage at a practical level with the landscapes in which they are situated, connecting visitors to their environment. • Know where you are: connecting the cultural and physical landscapes presents experiences of museums interacting beyond their walls with their communities to increase understanding which in turn encourages cultural preservation. • See where you are going: changing museum landscapes, promoting inclusion and participation, shares ideas and activities which increase knowledge, strengthen community identity and make newcomers welcome. • Continue the good work while looking to the future: pleas for understanding and preservation recognizes the threats which narrow thinking and environmental damage can do and heightens awareness of the power of museums to harness public action at many levels to address future challenges. While some time has passed since these papers were delivered in Milan, they demonstrate the many aspects of museum work and thinking undertaken by our colleagues and outline activities and arguments that hold their value for us today. We acknowledge the many challenges, especially since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, that have delayed publication and affected all museums. We acknowledge all our authors for their patience and especially thank our President, Irena Žmuc, for managing the production. Susan Hanna and Jane Legget, February 2022. 2



Contents Museums, Landscapes and Horizons— Understand what you have, Know where you are, See where you are going, Continue the good work while looking to the future 1. UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE Practical solutions, best practices, projects 1.1 Ox Road of Häme Tuulia Tuomi, Finland 1.2 The Haciendas Route. A historical landscape in Yucatán Blanca González, Mexico 1.3 Rethinking regional geological heritage: from museum objects to interdisciplinary tourist routes Yuliya Glazyrina, Russia 1.4 Study case: Fränkische Schweiz – Franconian Switzerland – A lively alliance promoting museums and culture of a special region in Germany Rainer Hofmann, Germany 1.5 Angera Museum and the ‘Others’ non-latin cults, traditions and alphabets in Roman Lombardy. Triennial project 2016 – 2018 Cristina Miedico, Italy 1.6 Peace and Tolerance Olympiad in the spirit of the ancient Greek Pythian Games: an annual educational, musical and sports project at the Archaeology Museum in Gan Hashlosha Dror Segal, Israel 1.7 The Tower of Ouranoupolis, a landmark of various worlds Eleni Stoumpou-Katsamouris, Greece 1.8 Challenges and Choices in Pennsylvania’s Forests – a new exhibit at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum Susan E. Hanna, USA 1.9 Scanning cultural horizons – past, present and future John Magnussen and Jaye McKenzie-Clark, Australia 4

2. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE Connecting the cultural and physical landscapes 2.1 A wire fence dividing the cultural landscape of Tyrol Sylvia Mader, Austria 2.2 A regional museum in a city of volcanoes: Auckland museum, landscape, communities Jane Legget, New Zealand 2.3 The Pumapungo Museum and Ancestral Park and their relation with Cuenca and surrounding high sanctuaries Jonathan Koupermann, Ecuador 2.4 The Nature Park Lonjsko Polje – a historical rural landscape Jasmina Uroda Kutlić, Croatia 2.5 The Village Museum and community involvement in managing cultural landscape Wilbard Lema, Tanzania 2.6 Climate vs history: the creation of a modern european capital and the challenge of reality Leonidas Argyros, Greece 3. SEE WHERE YOU ARE GOING Changing museum landscapes, promoting inclusion and participation 3.1 Museums on the radio: extending the horizons of cultural landscapes Damon Monzavi and Reza Dabirinezhad, Iran 3.2 Inclusion – new challenges for museums Dagmar Bittricher, Austria 3.3 A new museum for an old cultural landscape: the Museo Regional Altepepialcalli case Paulina Rojas Sánchez, Mexico 3.4 A Milan museum accessible for all Claudia Carraro, Anna Pericoli and Isabella Tiziana Steffan, Italy 3.5 Evolving tradition: social participation for the symbolic revival of the Regional Museum of Anthropology Palacio Canton Giovana E. Jaspersen García, Mexico 5

3.6 A regional history museum and the garden city: exhibition as catalyst for action – Suita City Museum, Osaka, Japan Kenji Saotome, Japan 4. CONTINUE THE GOOD WORK WHILE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Pleas for understanding and preservation 4.1 Aperture of need: perspectives on cultural landscape issues in Pakistan Saima Jabbar and Wafa Akthar, Pakistan 4.2 Archaeology and the museum: what strategy for the promotion and the protection of archaeological sites of ancient iron metallurgy in Côte d’Ivoire? Timpoko Hélène Kiénon-Kaboré, Côte d’Ivoire 4.3 Seeds of the future Mazhar Naveed, Pakistan 6

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UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE Practical solutions, best practices, projects 9

1.1 Ox Road of Häme Tuulia Tuomi, Finland Introduction I will briefly outline the Ox Road of Häme, ‘Hämeen Härkätie’, as an example of a cultural landscape project. It is an historical road and probably the oldest roadway in Finland. It covers approximately 160 kilometres through Southern Finland from the old capital, Turku, to Hämeenlinna. The route of the Ox Road of Häme. The Ox Road came into being no later than the 9th century. The road connected the Iron Age settlements of Southwest Finland and Häme. The Ox Road grew more important in the 13th century when it started gaining administrative significance. The town of Turku formed in the Aura River Valley no later than the 1280s; by then, the construction of Turku Castle had begun and Turku Cathedral was moved to its current location. The oldest square in Turku was established next to the Cathedral, and a road going inland started at the square: the Ox Road. The Ox Road led to Häme Castle and the mediaeval church in Hattula. The construction of Häme Castle started in the 1290s. An important trading centre formed next to the castle. In the 17th century, it became the town of Hämeenlinna. 10

Modern view of Häme Castle with Hämeenlinna in the background. The Ox Road linked the administrative castles and mediaeval churches as well as the most important trading centres in mediaeval Finland. Initially, the Ox Road was used to carry merchandise. Over time, the Ox Road also started serving the needs of administration and troop movements. Häme Castle was the most important defensive fortification between the Kingdom of Sweden and Novgorod, and later Russia. In the Middle Ages, the Ox Road also served as a pilgrimage route. It also became important for tax collection purposes. The alignment of the Ox Road still exists. However, it has changed into a series of quiet side roads since the new highway between Turku and Hämeenlinna was completed in 1962. 11

The Ox Road today. In recent years, the Ox Road of Häme has been revived for the purposes of tourism promotion. It is marked with Ox (‘Härkä’) road signs throughout, and there are some tourism services along the road. The Ox Road today. The Ox Road is one of the nationally specified tourism roads. Two sections of the road are also included in the museum routes specified by the Finnish Transport Agency. As a whole, the Ox Road is one of the nationally significant man-made cultural environments formally recognised by the National Board of Antiquities in Finland. 12

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1.2 The Haciendas Route. A historical landscape in Yucatán Blanca González, Mexico Introduction After the Conquest of Yucatan, its soil and water limitations forced the Spaniards to keep the Mayan food production system for two hundred years: cultivation of corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers, along with hunting, fishing and the collection of fruit, honey and wax. For the Maya, the lands, the forest and the caves have owners and they have to ask permission of those owners before using their lands, water, etc. That is why they still practice several rituals before preparing the lands (asking for permission), while they wait for a good harvest (begging for rain) and when they obtain their meals (thanking the owners of the land, the god of rain, etc.). Maintaining their communal lands and food production system allowed the Maya to continue being independent, and to preserve their language and the rituals and traditions that united spiritually them with the land. As a result, the cultural landscape of the Yucatan peninsula remained intact for almost two centuries. Private haciendas were established late in Yucatan, in the 18th and 19th centuries to produce corn and to raise cattle. Although some of the Maya started to work and live in the haciendas, they had the chance to produce their own traditional crops. Such crops were grown on land that the owner of the hacienda would lend them in exchange for some days´ work. So they produced corn, beans, peppers, etc. for the boss and for themselves. This means that the landscape was not completely changed. A new landscape In 1880, the landscape of the northern part of the state began to transform into an enormous henequen plantation. After some decades, 62 out of the 106 municipalities switched to producing henequen, which was exported to be used in American agricultural machinery. The owners of the haciendas made large fortunes. The haciendas needed more and more labour and the laws and politics contributed to push the Maya to live and work in them. Workers were also imported. For the Maya this was a big change since they now had to work in large-scale planting of an agave they knew and used, but for which they had neither gods nor rituals. Henequen plantations grew constantly: new buildings for the landlord, the employees, the workers, and the machinery, were built; new spaces for drying the fibre were created, and Decauville rails were installed to transport it. 14

After the Mexican Revolution (1910) the government took charge of commercializing the fibre. In the late 1930s it expropriated part of the land in the haciendas for peasants to grow henequen. The haciendas could keep 150 hectares (including the buildings, machinery and part of the lands). The participation of Maya peasants in producing henequen changed the landscape in Northwestern Yucatan. On the side of the roads henequen was the only sight to be seen. The henequen industry was the backbone of the Yucatecan economy until 1970. Unfortunately, synthetic yarns began to replace henequen in the international market forcing the production of new goods for the national market. After some years, the government had to subsidize the peasant henequen production, while haciendas’ owners abandoned their properties. In 1993, the government cancelled the subsidy and stopped participating in the henequen industry. Henequen workers moved to Merida or to Cancun to work, and the henequen landscape was replaced with native vegetation. The Route of the Haciendas Nevertheless, in the same decade, the infrastructure of henequen haciendas began to be restored and converted into hotels, restaurants and spas, as part of a new project. In less than ten years, numerous hacienda buildings were rehabilitated for tourism and recreation. Some haciendas maintain small plantation areas, while others provide tours to cenotes (underground rivers) and archaeological sites, and serve as wedding venues. In the former “henequen region” some haciendas operate as living museums while others have created small historical museums. • Hacienda San Pedro Ochil In the last decade of the twentieth century a Banking Consortium purchased many old and abandoned Mexican haciendas. Seven of them were located in Yucatan. These haciendas were restored and reopened as boutique hotels and restaurants, intended for social events and some housed workshops. They are run by a cultural branch of the consortium. This fact attracted the interest of local and foreign investors in restoring old hacienda buildings. Ochil was a Pre-Columbian site. In colonial times it was a private property for raising cattle, and later for producing maíze. It became a henequen hacienda at the end of the 19th century. Located on the road to Uxmal, the hacienda was restored in 1999 and provides lodging and restaurant services. Some of the buildings are rented for weddings and other social events. Workshops for recovering handcrafts traditions have been organized there, training locals to make objects of bone, henequen and silver. 15

These handcrafts are marketed in the shops of haciendas and museums that belong to the consortium. In the main building there is a small museum depicting the architectonic and productive history of the haciendas. However, it does not elaborate on the land, the community, nor the work force. • Hacienda Sotuta de Peón Hacienda Sotuta de Peón is located close to Mérida, in the town of Tecoh. It was built in the late 19th century, specifically for henequen production. A group of investors bought the hacienda 25 years ago and restored it. They furnished it with objects from other abandoned haciendas. The aim was to create the ambience of a “living hacienda”. Visitors are transported using mule-driven platforms called “trucks”. These go along the old system of narrow rails, originally installed for internal communication. There are stops at the plantations and the machinery house to see the shredding of the henequen leaves. The areas where the henequen leaves were dried and pressed are also visited, as well as the main house. The tour includes a visit to a traditional Maya house, resembling the ones in which the workers used to live. Visitors are then taken to the cenote Dzul-ha, where they can swim and refresh. There is also the option of tasting Yucatecan cuisine in a restaurant established for touristic purposes only. As noted above, part of the infrastructure and the exhibited objects were recently acquired or restored to show the hacienda as a “living museum”. Nonetheless, the interesting part of the visit is the experience of a “truck” ride, considered a recreational and fun activity for hacienda owners´ family and friends. Unique to Sotuta de Peón is the possibility to observe how henequen production took place, through its defibrating, drying, and packing processes. The hacienda is open daily between 10:00 and 13:00, and the visit is guided by trained staff. It is a timed, guided tour in which the visitor has limited interaction with the staff, who come from the surrounding villages. Its website claims that this “living hacienda” provides employment for 80 families in the area. • Hacienda Yaxcopoil Hacienda San Jerónimo Yaxcopoil is located beside the road that connects Mérida to Uxmal, at km. 43. It was a cattle-raising private property from the 17th century; in the 18th century it switched to corn production, and at the end of the 19th century it began to grow henequen. At the beginning of the 20th century it was considered one of the largest and most important haciendas in Yucatan. It was then that the architecture of the main house and the new spaces created 16

for workshops and storage were modified: a pompous decoration was added, and French furniture and books, and German machinery were imported. At this property there are Pre-Columbian Maya relics, Colonial style architecture and decoration, and elements from the ‘henequen period’. Like all haciendas in Yucatan, until the late 20th century Yaxcopoil was open to the public free of charge. It stopped producing and shredding henequen in 1986. An entrance fee began to be charged then, as can be seen on the internet and tourism magazines. It is a very popular location for marketing publicity and promotions. In 1976, the movie La Casta Divina (The Divine Caste) was filmed here. It told the story about life in Yucatecan haciendas during the development of the henequen industry. The movie won a prize for “best artistic setting.” Visitors can see, without being interrupted or bothered, the main house with its original furniture, the machinery and workshop buildings (no longer functioning), and the houses of the workers. It is also possible to talk to women and old men who still live there, while most men and younger women go to Mérida to study or to work. On its website, a “small museum” is advertised. It has Maya pieces found on the land of the hacienda. In one of the rooms there are many archaeological vestiges, but the real museum is the property as a whole, because it transports us to the henequen landscape, to a period in time when Yucatan became one of the richest regions in México. Conclusions The three haciendas with museums in what used to be the henequen region provide testimony to the wealth that the so called “green gold” brought to hacienda owners, as well as the subsequent decline of the industry. Nonetheless, the inequitable social organization established for henequen production is not mentioned. When we look at the staff that work in the haciendas’ hotels, restaurants and other social events, it seems that such unequal social hierarchy is still being reproduced: the only difference is that older generations worked in the henequen industry, whereas younger ones are part of the current tourism industry. In what used to be the old henequen region, there are approximately 150 restored haciendas that serve as hotels, restaurants, family countryside houses, or other social venues. Haciendas Misné, Teya, and Xcanatún are among them. In the city of Mérida and surrounding areas, haciendas became urban neighbourhoods named after such properties. Some examples are: Buenavista, Sodzil and Pacabtún, Others are restaurants and social venues, like Chichí Suárez. 17

Old haciendas are also present today in the real estate market. They are announced in the press and on websites. Some of them have even been purchased by foreigners. In summary, although the henequen landscape was transformed and almost vanished, the rehabilitation of old haciendas emerged as a new source of employment for the surrounding villages and can still be seen as a cultural and historical landscape, evidence of the henequen cultural landscape, nowadays promoted as the Route of the Haciendas. Finally, I want to point out that the topic of the ‘Henequen episode’ which generated the henequen landscape in Yucatan is also represented in some museums in Merida: the City Museum, the Museum of the Maya People and the Museum of the Maya World. In addition, two museums are hosted in two very nice residences that were built during this so-called ‘Green Gold Period’: One is the Regional Museum of Anthropology and the other is the Montes-Molina House. Named after the last owners, the Montes-Molina House, preserves and exhibits its original furnishings from the beginning of the past century. announced in the press and on websites. Some of them have even been purchased by foreigners. In summary, although the henequen landscape was transformed and almost vanished, the rehabilitation of old haciendas emerged as a new source of employment for the surrounding villages and can still be seen as a cultural and historical landscape, evidence of the henequen cultural landscape, nowadays promoted as the Route of the Haciendas. Finally, I want to point out that the topic of the ‘Henequen episode’ which generated the henequen landscape in Yucatan is also represented in some museums in Merida: the City Museum, the Museum of the Maya People and the Museum of the Maya World. In addition, two museums are hosted in two very nice residences that were built during this so-called ‘Green Gold Period’: One is the Regional Museum of Anthropology and the other is the Montes-Molina House. Named after the last owners, the Montes-Molina House, preserves and exhibits its original furnishings from the beginning of the past century. 18

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1.3 Rethinking regional geological heritage: from museum objects to interdisciplinary tourist routes Yuliya Glazyrina, Russia Introduction Permian Period of geological prehistory (299-251 million years ago), discovered in the territory of the Perm Region in the middle of the 19th century, is the only geological period, identified within the boundaries of Russia and named after the Russian city of Perm. Perm, a city of one million inhabitants, is located at the foot of Ural Mountains, a natural boundary between Europe and Asia. The Permian Period is known scientifically worldwide, as is the Jurassic period, but it was not fully understood and evaluated in the place of its discovery, until recently. Perm Regional Museum decided to rethink the region’s geological heritage, and present the Permian Period as one of the key elements of the regional heritage by creating a new paleontological and geological branch – the Museum of Permian Antiquities, as well as initiating agenda that reaches out beyond the museum walls in different ways: from tourist routes to community engagement programmes. Developing the Museum of Permian Antiquities The Museum of Permian Antiquities opened in 2011 with the support of the Regional Ministry of Culture. It introduced modern exhibition, sophisticated learning programmes, a public agenda, paleontological excavations and research programmes. Annually we run the Children Paleontological Conference, the only one in Russia, which gathers about 500 pupils from 7 to 17 years old, inspired by paleontology and curiosity. We clearly understand that most of them will not become geologists or paleontologists but they will receive their first inspirational experience of the scientific perspective and grasp the time scale. The Museum has initiated a series of paleontological excavations in the Perm Region, and participants of the Children’s Paleontological Conference are able to take part in the Museum’s scientific excavations held under the license of regional government. The Museum’s strategic purpose is to raise contemporary interest in global paleontological discoveries in the context of our region’s history. It aims to help shape a geo-environmental consciousness in visitors and local residents, by triggering interest in the Earth Sciences. Meanwhile the Museum reaches out beyond its walls to connect the geology, history and culture of the Perm Region. The Museum of Permian Antiquities was established to promote the idea of a ‘regional branding’, and now the Museum creates a “geological revolution” in our minds. Our complex approach was recognized as the best museum educational 20

practice in Russia in 2013, and in 2015 it was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award. Geological challenges It should be mentioned that geological heritage is not so easy to present: it operates on a completely different time scale and involves enormous life forms (it is hard to imagine a dinosaur of 30 metres length and weighing 30 tons, or the duration of a geological period that lasted for 50 million of years). All this is enormous in comparison with human life! Fossils tend to look like “boring grey stones”, and people would hardly recognize them if they were to find then in the bank of the river. At the same time some extraordinary creatures and events are connected with the Permian Period: it refers globally to the time when amazing reptiles called “crowned crocodiles”, enormous dragonflies, helikoprion sharks with spiraled tooth, and other creatures were found on the single supercontinent Pangaea. Moreover the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history occurred at the end of the Permian. The Museum tends to involve multidisciplinary contexts or even domestic cultural practices (cooking, gardening…), as well as to use models from tourism and mass culture. We encourage our visitors to measure the geological time by their own steps or do “paleontological gymnastics” – push-ups like pangolins did 300 million years ago. We integrate poetry into geological heritage interpretation. For example, the Museum launched a poetry tour based on the reflections of poets and writers (from Leo Tolstoy to Osip Mandelstam) of the prehistoric past of the Earth and its own place in the course of millions of years. We aim to inspire our visitors to awake from their personal assessment and problems, and to understand that we are all a part of a greater changing world. As a result, children and adults take a closer look at their feet, and understand that objects inside museum showcases or even steps on the ladder at their summer cottage are not just boring grey stones but petrified examples from the seabed of the Permian Sea. Heritage and humour The Museum has developed several original activities to bring humour to the scientific museum approach. We can justify sharing a sense of humor as an absolutely necessary part of our practices. For instance, the famous local salt called ‘permjanka’, presented in our paleontological exhibition, had been deposited on the bottom of the Permian sea shallows 280 million years ago. During last 600 years the Perm Region was well known across Russia for its salt industry, crucially important for the state’s strategic aims. A cultural joke about the “salty ears” of the salt porters is well known among local inhabitants and all over Russia. We have turned this historical and cultural wave into the geological (or geo-cultural) point of view to use it as a resource of popularity and show that 21

salty ears are not only a part of regional history but a part of regional prehistory. We started to measure the salinity of the ears of locals in a humorous way to find out whether they really are salty, and to show connections between the prehistoric sea of Permian Period and this cultural joke. In one instance, we invited actors playing the role of doctors to prescribe tricky medical remedies for listening to the “ancient sound” of the Permian sea, if the ears were not salty enough. This example shows not only the humoristic museum approach but the idea of cross- disciplinary contexts which is necessary while speaking about geological history as a part of human history. Museum outreach We made a crucial decision to reach out beyond the museum walls and show the Permian period as not only objects in museum exhibition, but also to find “aliens” from geological prehistory in natural, cultural and historical features of the region, and unite them into tourist routes. The Permian Period is connected by interdisciplinary bridges with everyday life: from popular rafting across local rivers (where the ancient cliffs consist of fossil shells) to ordinary salt served at breakfast and excavated from the ancient Permian sea. Other interdisciplinary examples include: Gingko biloba tree, “living fossil” (called the ‘Dinosaur tree’ by Charles Darwin), plants that were widespread on the Earth during Permian which is now found all over the world – from South Korea to United Kingdom, and local dishes of Perm Region such as pastries flavoured with Equisetum “horsetails”, plants which also survive from geological prehistory The idea of reconsidering regional geological, cultural and geocultural heritage is mostly based on the bottom-up initiatives of local communities, tourist guides, students and teenaged geologists, who turned up at a museum to show off their paleontological finds, and get advice about unusual regional attractions. The Museum responded to these requests by creating a series of tourist routes which take the Museum beyond its walls. It offered wo types of experience: (i) an open brand book for tourist guides and (ii) a free mobile app Discover Permian Period! with 11 tourist routes, geolocation, virtual panoramas and fun games for individuals. Aligned with the principles of the participatory culture approach, teenage geologists became co-authors as they were able to explain complicated geological themes in the most simple and attractive manner. The mobile app is currently available for free downloading in Russian and English at the App Store and Google Play, and the open brand book is available at the Museum upon request. Geo-cultural heritage tourism Several tourist routes introduce the Perm Region as an attractive place for complex geological and cultural tourism. The first route is devoted to the city of 22

Perm itself, and the others suggest exploring the territory of Perm Region by raft, bike, car or even alpine skiing. All journeys could start and/or finish at any one of the network of 10 local history and geological museums in the province. The route at Perm city investigates creatures from the Permian Period in the modern-day streets and parks. Among them there are: geological outcrops at the place of the city’s foundation as a copper plant; the geological open air museum with its “Stone Garden”; the public art work Permjak – salty ears; landscape design compositions, created occasionally during road construction; the memorial to Sir Roderick Murchison, discoverer of Permian Period; a small museum run by young geologists and the new university museum, recently opened after renovation; a botanical garden with “living fossil” plants from Permian; and, of course, the Museum of Permian Antiquities. Among regional routes, the two most popular relate to the ancient Permian Sea. The route Kungur, reefs of the Permian Sea proposes rafting among the huge rocks of the Sylva River which were previously reefs of the warm waters. It continues with a visit into the depths of Kungur Ice Cave, itself a product of the Permian Period, and the only cave in Russia accessible for non-sport organized tours. Local museums – the Research Museum of Speleology and Karst and the Kungur Museum-Reserve – present objects like ‘Cave macaroni’ and amazing minerals. This virtual route from the mobile app had triggered Perm State National Research University to develop a well-equipped environmental trail, Reefs of Permian Sea, and a new observation deck at the protected natural area Preduraliye Wildlife Reserve. Another route, Skiing down the bottom of the ancient sea, is designed for lovers of alpine skiing who probably do not realize that the snow-covered rocks of the local Gubaha mountains were once the bottom of a warm sea. A scientifically important border of the Carboniferous and Permian periods could become the ‘golden strike’ of geology here. The Salty route highlights salt production in the journey to the North of Perm Region and the Open-Air Museum ‘Hohlovka’. The terrestrial route In the wake of Permian reptiles contains a journey to the site of Russia’s greatest paleontological excavations. Visitors could discover fossilized trees of Permian period in Kokui Mountain, ‘meet’ a roaring pangolin in Ocher Local History Museum and feel yourself like a giant alien in the child-friendly Park of Permian Reptiles. Finally, the Ginkgo route refers to this ancient plant that can be observed in the ‘living fossil’ greenhouse exhibition at the Botanical Garden of Perm State University, while Gingko imprints are shown at several local museums, and still are collected in the rivers of the Ural mountains 23

Reinterpreting and rebranding The Museum of Permian Antiquities re-introduced from the geological point of view some well-known objects that already had the status of regional icons or brands, offering a fresh look at familiar things. Principles of participatory practice and community engagement helped to create a regional network of partner museums and partner organizations, and the Museum is working to expand the sphere of influence, inviting niche audiences. The open brand book implies not only audience engagement in the course of the project and availability of a concrete final product (our free supplement from the museum), but a principle of an open-ended outcome too. It means that, even after completion of the active stages of the project, the audiences can still influence its outcomes, the most important of which is a quality development of the “Permian Period” concept in the minds of the local population. Thus we offer an independent development outside of the Museum based on the theme started inside the Museum, broad in time and territory. Strategy success The Museum did not pursue any straightforward commercial objectives. The main strategic, long-term aim is to create momentum for a rethinking of the regional geological heritage. After five years, it can be said that the idea has been a success! We initiated a series of social and cultural effects: from private initiatives to the acknowledgement of local government. Among the most influential effects (which includes those that we have been able to observe where a direct connection is not always visible) are: • Personal initiatives in geological heritage interpretation were increased: two private museums launched in Perm city, and a geological monument inspired by the shell from an ancient Permian Sea was installed in Gubaha town through private financial support; • Perm University Paleontological Museum was re-opened for the public after 10 years of renovation, and a new open-air geological exhibition was opened at the University Botanic Garden; • A series of geological field trips is being developed by independent tour agencies and tourist guides; • A special partnership project, a paleontological summer camp for children, was launched, and several geological field trips were included to its programme; • Pupils and students tend to include the Permian Period and its cross- disciplinary connections in their scientific articles and field research, and their 24

award-winning proposals are recognized among the best at the Russian and global natural sciences contests; • The professional status of the Museum was firmly entrenched among colleagues, the Museum has become a reliable recipient of several charitable programmes and received sponsored support, as well as the contribution of partners who were able to engage in a non-commercial collaboration as an indicator of their appreciation of the social value of the Museum; • The strategic position of the Museum as an agent of soft power, innovative actor and authority on issues on the Permian Period has been multiplied. This is observed on different levels – from governmental to community. The Regional Ministry of Sports and Tourism launched a special “Ambassador of the Perm Region Award” to promote and encourage the role of organizations and persons raising awareness of the Perm Region’s tourist attractiveness. The Museum of Permian Antiquities was among first laureates of the Award. As a result the Regional Ministry of Sports and Tourism, inspired by the success of our model, developed several multimedia mobile projects for tourists. Continuing challenges and future goals At the same time it must be mentioned that some problems arose from the popularity of the geological theme. The most important one is the problem of unauthorized paleontological excavations. Joining efforts with local authorities as well as the soft power of public opinion in conjunction with the community engagement programmes is on our planning horizon. Only the awareness of locals can protect the geological heritage from destruction at natural areas: the Perm region extends over 650 kilometres from north to south, and 400 kilometres from west to east, so geological objects could be monitored by the communities as the first steps. Another challenge is connected with the necessity to expand the physical museum space: we have up to 4500 visitors a day at the most popular Museum events (such as Museum Night in May and Arts Night in November), which is close to the limit of our space capacity. Probably the best option would be the museum placement of a museum in situ, territorially connected with the Permian Period, containing geological outcrops and located at the historically important place of Perm city. Finally a long-term goal is to create a sustainable regional network of natural protected areas in the style of the European Geoparks Network to establish geological tourism. This issue could be achieved in partnership with regional government and Perm University which has already developed a system of natural reserved areas of state, regional and local levels. 25

1.4 Study Case: Fränkische Schweiz – Franconian Switzerland – A lively alliance promoting museums and culture of a special region in Germany Rainer Hoffman, Germany Introduction Franconian Switzerland is part of the Franconia region in Germany, situated in the triangle between the towns of Nuremberg, in the south and Bamberg and Bayreuth, in the north; it covers approximately 56,000 total kilometres. Despite its relative poverty, Franconian Switzerland has a rich cultural heritage, seen in numerous castles and castle ruins, historical half-timbered buildings and countless small monuments, such as wayside shrines, crucifixes etc. This picturesque landscape has attracted tourists from everywhere since the beginning of the 18th century. Within the region you will find a large number of museums and collections, as well as private enterprises which claim the name of museum, as this term is not protected in Germany, so anybody can name their project “museum”. This historic heritage nevertheless plays only a secondary role in tourism (the principal source of income in the region). For example, little notice is taken of most of the museums in the region. Far more significant is hiking, mountaineering and – most important – savouring the beers of the countless breweries as well as the specialties of the regional cuisine. To change this, and to give culture a more prominent role in tourism, the museums in the region that comply with the ICOM criteria, thirteen in all, joined forces some years ago. 26

The thirteen members of the Alliance of Museums of Franconian Switzerland • Felix-Müller-Museum reveals the works of Conrad Felixmuller, a very active, well-known regional artist of the 20th century. One of Germany’s important Expressionist printmakers, Felixmuller left his mark in many churches and public buildings, as well as in private houses. • The German Camera Museum hosts a rich collection of all items related to cameras, films and projection technology. • Museumsscheune Hollfeld displays the great variety of regional craftsmanship. • Pfalzmuseum Forchheim combines three different museums under one roof: a state-run archeological museum for Upper Franconia, a special collection of regional costumes, and a typical city museum. • Synagoge Ermreuth is a site museum: a regional synagogue from the 19th century with an important local collection of Jewish life and culture. • Tropfhaus Sassanfahrt depicts the simple life of a poor peasant in the 19th century. Inside its 35 square metres interior a whole family managed with difficulty to eke out an arduous living. • Hummelstube Hummeltal, by contrast, shows the living conditions of a prosperous farmer. It also displays a former corner shop, or, as one says in American English, a mom-and-pop store. • Krügemuseum Creußen celebrates the great tradition of the local potters in the 17th and 18th century. Their products are still world famous today. • Heimatmuseum Ebermannstadt presents a local collection representing the geology, archaeology and history of this small town. • Töpfereimuseum Thurnau is also dedicated to pottery. Unlike Creußen, the potters from Thurnau produced common products for households. Today the village is still famous for its potters and their products for daily life as well as artisan products. • Museum Alte Schule Hirschaid documents the history of the village, situated next to important arterial roads such as the historic canal from Rhine to Danube and one of the first railway lines constructed in Germany. • Wallfahrtsmuseum Gößweinstein, next to the pilgrimage church Gößweinstein, interprets the nature and meaning of pilgrimage. It also documents the specific characteristics of the pilgrimage to Gößweinstein. 27

• The Franconian Switzerland Museum, as the central museum of Upper Franconia, provides within its 43 rooms an overview of all features of the region, from geology, archaeology, and history to themes of the daily lives of the inhabitants. An original synagogue is also part of this museum complex. As the list below indicates, Franconian Switzerland has a rich diversity of museums. The Tüchersfeld Declaration: formalising the Alliance of Museums In 2012, the Alliance was formalised. Representatives of the thirteen museums signed an official document, our so-called “Magna carta” or the Declaration of Tüchersfeld. 28

This document states that only museums which comply with the ICOM criteria can join and use the registered logo Museen Fränkische Schweiz (Museums of Franconian Switzerland). Webpage with trademark logo and links to information about member museums. Initially, only a loose association was possible, since each museum is responsible to its own governing body. Besides the exchange of technical information (the staff in each of the museums have accumulated specialised knowledge which they are very willing to share) and mutual support with exhibition-specific and technical equipment, this association is mainly active in the field of public relations and motion. 29

A joint website was the first undertaking, the first step to gain public attention. The home page shows all the museums involved. The image of each member museum is also a link which leads to a landing page showing all the information about the specific museum. There was no expertise at developing websites within the Alliance. Fortunately, a sponsor offered not only to take over all costs for the development but was also willing to host and maintain the pages on his server for free. In addition, a common flyer was printed, which picks up the design of the webpage. A uniform CI [corporate identity] was developed for advertising material, and while each museum advertises its own special features, the leaflets show the same design. The background design colours of the leaflets correspond with the characteristic colours assigned to each museum on the webpage. Joint appearances at regional events and exhibitions, as well as a common museum pass, have already led to greater public awareness and in turn to an increase in the number of visitors across the Alliance member museums. The Alliance museums also now attend local tourism fairs. In addition, they are represented at regional events and exhibitions, e.g. at the tourism fair in Nuremberg. The Bavarian Garden Show, which is attended by thousands of people, offered us the opportunity to inform the public with our own exhibition stand for one week. In 2015 we started another project. A common museum pass, priced at only 13 € enables the purchaser to visit each museum one time within a period of twelve months starting from the date of the purchase. This means a reduction of maximum 33 € for those visiting all thirteen of our museums. In addition, all children up to 16 years accompanying the pass-holder get free admission. Together the joint appearances at regional events and exhibitions and the common museum pass have already led to greater public awareness and increase the number of museum visitors. This is also the purpose of a special Museums Day celebrated by the Museums of Franconian Switzerland annually on the first Sunday in April. Each museum involved in the Alliance offers an event that is either connected with the theme of the museum itself or the theme of the main special exhibition the museum is showing that respective year. Another valued feature of the Alliance is the access to the expert knowledge of the staff of the various museums, as well as the material resources (exhibition equipment, technical devices …). For example, our museum--the Franconian Switzerland Museum--is the only one within the Alliance with a conservator on the staff. This person can advise colleagues in the other museums. On the other hand, our museum lacks a historian of art. In case of need we can consult the specialist in the pilgrimage museum, Wallfahrtsmuseum Gößweinstein. Common activities like the digitisation of films offered to the public at museum events in our museum are carried out with the experts of the Kameramuseum. 30

With all these shared activities, our museums have raised their profiles and gained the attention of the public. Future Plans A major project for the future is the construction and implementation of a common museum storage building. Nearly every museum has problems with either inadequate or overcrowded depositories for storing their reserve collections. To solve this problem we intend to install a common depot with ideal conditions for the objects as well as for the handling of the objects. As we all run short of money, this project needs subventions or grants of public and/or private funds for capital development and operational costs. One possibility to achieve this ambitious aim may be the programmes of the European community. With our interregional concept we can possibly get up to 75 % of the required funding so that we may be able to bear the financial burden. In a further step, the museums, in conjunction with a tourist booking platform, are developing theme-based cultural tours which include not only a visit to at least one of the museums relevant for this particular theme, but also proposals for excursions and tours, as well as a proposal for a culinary experience. In the future it is planned to adapt these \"cultural packages\", which can be booked online at any time, to the specific needs of different groups of visitors, and thus to establish a genre of cultural tourism that is geared to the museums. In this way our museums become more fully embedded in the cultural landscape of Franconian Switzerland. 31

1.5 Angera Museum and the ‘Others’ non-latin cults, traditions and alphabets in Roman Lombardy. Triennial project 2016 - 2018 Cristina Miedico, Italy “Fatti non foste a vivere come bruti.” Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Canto XXVI, v. 119 Museums today: multiculturalism, interculturalism and inclusion Recent years have seen a significant rise in migration throughout the world, within Europe and in particular in the Mediterranean. Many people set off for new countries for various reasons: out of curiosity, in search of work or happiness or business opportunities. A large number are refugees fleeing famine and war in search of a safer place to live, a better future for their children, driven by desperation, great courage and a profound and hopeful optimism.1 This has always happened and will continue to happen; people move, undertake long and often very dangerous journeys, and human migration creates multi-ethnic communities. The traditional meaning of ‘us’ and ‘the others’ has changed; this division does not seem inadequate in the face of contemporary society – and still less so in the context of historical analysis.2 For some time museology has been concerned with the museum's role in a multicultural society.3 This reflection is not so much focused on the way we communicate our museum heritage to foreign visitors; it is not merely a question of translating information panels into various languages or paying attention to particular sensibilities linked to religious or ethical precepts, or social, physical or cognitive difficulties. We need instead to see the museum as a fundamental means of education for bringing about social change.4 Many times, over many years, it has been repeated at ICOM conferences that the museum must not just be a container for works of art, objects and knowledge, but a special place where beauty, history and science may be understood and absorbed, a cultural institution where teaching and learning take place, where people meet and with which they identify. This should hold good even when – for reasons of time or geography – a museum user was not born in the same cultural environment as the museum; both user and cultural environment are subject to continual transformation and therefore the museum too must necessarily keep pace with these changes. 32

Multiculturalism Especially – but not only – in large cities, the cultural environment is formed and inhabited by people who are not culturally uniform, who speak different languages and who pray in different ways, and with whom museums must be able to interact by offering inclusive experiences. In recent years there have been many highly successful exhibitions in which the most prestigious institutions have put on show the most important works of art and distinctive cultural traditions of a far-off land. Just here in Milan, examples are the splendid I due Imperi: l’aquila e il dragone, which compared the Roman and Chinese empires, or the magnificent Al Fann: arte della Civiltà Islamica, which brought from Kuwait to Milan the treasures of the al-Sabah collection. In Italy, too, we have seen the development of difference- based education, aimed at creating a shared and participatory vision of cultural heritage, developed in collaboration with immigrant communities.5 We have witnessed the birth and growth of the interdisciplinary Museums of Cultures, including the MuDeC - Milan Cultures Museum. We should also mention the intercultural importance of EXPO2015 for Milan and for all its Italian and foreign visitors. ‘The formation of multi-ethnic societies characterized by the – more or less conflictual – coexistence of racial and cultural minorities is one of the most significant features of the 21st century’. This is underlined by two important exhibitions in the 2016 Milan Triennale. La Metropoli Multietnica (The Multi-ethnic Metropolis) was produced by Andrea Branzi, who emphasized that globalization and the commodities civilization lead to a progressive uniformity, in which cultural differences tend to disappear, leading to the loss of memories, traditions and old customs. NeoPreistoria—(New Prehistory---100 verbs) the splendid exhibition curated by Andrea Branzi and Kenya Hara, follows humanity's long journey by focussing on 100 instruments and 100 verbs, which lead the visitor from the Stone Age to the present-day world.6 This collaboration between an Italian and a Japanese designer led to a fruitful encounter between two very distant cultures, and the translation of the 100 verbs, given in English as well as in Italian and Japanese, created additional meanings. Placing value on cultural differences, directing attention to the possible consequences of globalization and dedicating exhibitions and museums, space and display cases, teaches the value of differences and multiplies perspectives. Foreign visitors and those from non-native communities who identify with the cultural subject of the exhibition, museum or display will surely feel some satisfaction at seeing their own culture represented. It is hard to describe the happiness of Milanese children of Moroccan ancestry when they visited the exhibition Mosaico Marocco organized by MuDeC Junior, or those who visited the pavilions of their ancestral countries in EXPO2015. 33

Interculturalism Emphasis on the richness of diversity generates respect for and memory of it, but in the face of the formation of new mixed cultures we must evaluate not just points of diversity, but also features shared by several subjects, even when these features are perceived as foreign, as 'other' by a 'we' that is difficult to define. Everyone feels that they belong to a group and that all those who don't belong to it are 'other', often regardless of realistic assessments. We need to step outside the traditional sectors of research fields, which have conditioned us to educational limits that are largely out of date, refrain from analyzing history and the evidence pertaining to human culture from just within its own sector or limits. We need to throw light on all the components of our historic, artistic and cultural heritage, including those that derive from elements that were imported, foreign, transmitted by immigrants, today just as during past millennia. So we ought to leave behind the idea of multiculturalism, and accept explicitly that all cultures are the result of the reciprocal fusion of features that are more or less dominant and learn to appreciate interculturalism as a driver of development, without sliding into anonymous globalization. The usual way of referring to the arrival of the Romans in the Lake Maggiore area comes to mind, using the term 'Romanization', which some see as a negative process, wishing to defend the pre-existing Celtic culture. Archaeological evidence shows that Celtic features did not disappear with the arrival of the invaders: on one hand the local population absorbed the new alphabet and their rights of citizenship, and began to use more efficient Roman pottery types; on the other, cults and other traditional customs, modes of dress and personal names continued to be used by these peoples. In fact after the Romans introduced bread to what became known as Cisalpine Gaul, softer varieties began to be made elsewhere because the Celts, who were beer drinkers, taught them to use brewer's yeast (Pliny Nat. Hist. XVIII, 68).7 Towards inclusion New cultural proposals, unusual points of view, suggestions that threaten the equilibria and cultural convictions of the visitor or user of museum services may spearhead a change of perspective and open the door to mutual growth. Recently I accompanied pupils from Angera on a visit to Milan cathedral. Some of them thought that their Islamic fellow-pupils would not be allowed to enter the cathedral. Once inside, in front of the 15th and 16th century stained glass windows, I made sure that Islamic children had the opportunity to recount Old Testament stories to their – incredulous – Catholic schoolmates. 34

The archaeology of migration as a means of inclusion in contemporary society Interculturality and inclusion are themes that have traditionally been linked with ethnography museums, but every museum can and should continually propose new pathways and new ways of seeing, starting out from different interpretations of the objects on show, without necessarily having to change the display. Archaeological heritage includes constructions, tools and other objects belonging to epochs and cultures widely separated in time and space, but which can constitute a basis for unexpected discussions of intercultural themes and reveal shared features in the historical roots of each one of us.8 Various fields of archaeological research are concerned with the areas of production and origin of finds, the trade routes of raw materials and finished items in the most important markets of antiquity. This work reveals the extreme mobility of ancient peoples. In the Varese hinterland, for example, we find Sardinian obsidian in prehistoric contexts, Mycenaean-style bronze shin-guards, Baltic amber in Bronze Age jewellery, and in the Roman period Spanish amphorae, Syrian unguent phials and pottery from south Gaul and Africa. While it is evident that these goods travelled together with people, the presence of raw materials or products of distant provenance does not necessarily imply the occasional presence or residence of non-native people, nor indicate the awareness of or wish to assimilate cultural features that were foreign to local traditions.9 On the other hand, isolation has always led to slower development and slower genetic, social, cultural and technological change; no pure and uncontaminated society is known, in which no encounter with external cultural influences may be detected.On the contrary, communities who lived on rivers and lakes, in areas where movement was easy, or groups who looked out onto the Mediterranean Sea and sailed in it and crossed it, did not consider the coast an insurmountable boundary, but rather the beginning of a bridge. Perhaps for these peoples travel and migration were means of growth and development, special routes leading to knowledge, skills and experience as well as escape and salvation.10 However, it is often a complex matter to trace material evidence of ancient migrations and of the residence of foreigners in a given territory, since often in the space of a few generations the ‘immigrants’ abandon their own language, artefacts and traditions and adopt local ones, just as happens in the modern world analyzed by Andrea Branzi in Multi-Ethnic Metropolis.11 An example are the Negroid skeletons found in a Roman graveyard in Milan. Nothing would ever have been known of them if it had not been for studies of bone anatomy and pathologies carried out by Cristina Cattaneo, because no objects that could be linked to their place of origin survived to indicate the presence of people who came from Africa.12 35

Today historians and archaeologists witness modern migrations and see in them the reflections of humanity's experiences in the recent and remote past. Nomadic groups settled periodically when they found welcoming territories; peoples driven by need or a spirit of adventure colonized distant unknown lands, creating new markets and founding new cities; they became integrated in places often already occupied by those who had arrived before them, with different cultures and traditions. Objects – archaeological and otherwise – preserved in museums, carefully studied and selected, can provide evidence of the continual passage and presence throughout history of ‘non-native’ people, even within the cultural landscape illustrated by a particular museum. ‘Foreign’ peoples have always brought with them their own world-view, and their own skills, religions, traditions and alphabets. When they were not eliminated or exiled – if they managed to mix with the indigenous population of the land they had reached, if they themselves were motivated to integration and collaboration – they contributed to its cultural, artistic and social development and created new communities with new traditions, which soon enough put down roots and became in their turn ‘typical’ of that place. I can think of a typical Milanese dish which has the strange name of Mondeghili, meatballs made with minced left-overs of boiled meat, stale bread, cheese, egg, garlic and onion. But few Milanese know that the name comes from the Arabic al-bunduq, which means hazel nut and ball, or that this delicacy reached Milan during the Spanish dominion under the name of albóndigas, brought by Andalusians who had learned to make meatballs from the Arabs. From local context towards intercultural roots The constant interaction between different cultures and populations is generally most evident in coastal areas; for example, in the European context, those of the Mediterranean. In mythology, the maiden Europa, loved by Zeus on the island of Crete, was born on the Phoenician coast of Asia Minor, and it was not by chance that the ancient Greeks chose her name for our continent. Turning to the study of Lombardy, which is where Angera Museum is situated, we discovered that in antiquity the Alps too were rather more permeable than we might think today, and the River Po together with its tributaries, as the Roman historian Pliny observed (PLIN, Nat. Hist., III, 49), has always carried to the Regio XI (the Transpadana region under Augustan Roman rule) everything that travelled by sea, both goods and people. Angera is a pleasant town on Lake Maggiore, with a 15,000-year old history; the oldest evidence of human activity in the province of Varese – dating to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic – comes from there. At present 36

there are no remains dating to the Bronze or Early Iron Ages, although these are abundantly present just a few kilometres away, relating for example to the Canegrate and Golassecca cultures. From the 2nd century BC, the village that was ancient Angera witnessed the start of political and commercial relations between the Celtic Insubri who lived in the zone and the Romans who were expanding their territory northwards. In 49 BC all peoples of Cisalpine Gaul acquired Roman citizenship and the Angera village became progressively more important as a trade link between the river and lake routes (the Po and Ticino and lakes Maggiore and Varese) and the trade route towards Mediolanum (the future Milan). In the territory of Legnano this road ran alongside the River Olona, which had been converted into a canal in order to facilitate goods transport. The commercial role of the ancient Statio and its strategic position on important land and water routes meant that the area was subject to an influx of goods and people from far-off lands.13 Angera's Civic Archaeology Museum, inaugurated in 1982, resides in a 15th century mansion in the town centre, and at present is equipped with 140 m2 of display area, a small area for worked stone, a conference hall and teaching facilities. The two display rooms are devoted to local prehistory and Roman history. Since 2010, after changes in management and thanks to the constant economic and intellectual support of Angera Council, the Lombardy Regional Authority and Lombardy Archaeology Superintendency, the annual number of visitors and users of museum services has increased from 150 to about 6000. Much of this recent growth has been due to the quality of research and cultural activities, to the attention paid to each sector of the public, and tireless promotion and public information effort regarding the programme of events. Fundamental factors in the museum's success, as for any cultural institution, are the quality of the events and the continuity of the cultural and social proposals. Many projects, even some of undisputed value, have limited success because of their occasional nature and because planning for the future is lacking. Every ambitious and wide-ranging project needs time to mature, to be improved through contact with users, to become known, and to become convincing, in order to obtain the desired results. For these reasons at Angera we try to develop projects which have at least a three-year duration, which gives the time and the possibility for them to get talked about, to adjust the offer in line with the demand and the reaction of the public, and to have a real effect on the community. Those who come on themed guided tours or to special events have become used to participating, they learn to expect cultural stimulation, and this often influences the programming of other events, such as those involving the library or school visits. Museum users know that at least once a month they can expect something interesting, that they will find the museum open when the schools are closed, that once a year there will be a book about local history, and something interesting and unusual each time they come. In the Beginning, as Chaim Potok said, all is rather difficult, but once a topic gets going it's hard to stop it. 37

The altar from Angera which refers to a temple of Isis (CIL 05, 05469 (1) - EDR124514). Given the perspectives of modern museology and current world events, we decided for the three-year period 2016-2018 to propose to our users the project THE MUSEUM AND THE 'OTHERS', a reflection on – and analysis of – the ancient traces left in Lombardy by migratory movements from prehistoric times up until the medieval period. The project was presented to the public in November 2015 on occasion of Khaled al Asaad Memorial Day, held in remembrance of martyrs of historical studies and lost archaeological heritage. Today's modern world presents us with many ethical, cultural and social questions with regard to migrations, wars, the exploitation of the land and division of wealth. Of course archaeology cannot provide the answers. However, the ancient evidence held in Lombardy's museums and the research conducted by the Lombardy Archaeology Superintendency can help to throw some light on the answers that humankind has given over the millennia. Recurring questions include: which religions have been followed in these lands? Which customs were transmitted or altered through contact with foreign peoples? Which alphabets and which languages were used in antiquity in our region? The triennial project THE MUSEUM AND THE 'OTHERS' plans in-depth studies each year regarding the religions, traditions and non-Latin alphabets present in ancient Lombardy. Several particularly significant objects present in other museums in the area are specified as symbols of the presence of foreign peoples. These finds are the subjects of thematic guided visits during which not only will their artistic or technical merits be explained, but also the deeper significance of their presence here. Each detailed study results from research by specialist 38

collaborators, curators of local museums, functionaries and directors of the Lombardy superintendency and researchers at local universities. Their findings will be presented at the museum in the form of public lectures and conferences, proceedings published later in a circa 120-page colour volume. Since 2014 we have set up in the museum rooms our Archaeology Museum for Children (in Italian: Museo Archeologico dei Bambini – Angera, or MABA). There are display cases designed to be touched, easy-to-read picture captions, steps placed next to each display case to allow children to reach the highest shelves. We have set up a special area with tables, chairs, a small multi-lingual library (with texts also in Braille) and a cupboard full games – on either ancient or archaeological themes. MABA takes part in the Archaeology Museum's cultural projects, and when there are conferences, teaching sessions are organized on subjects similar to those of the adults. The aim is to provide parents and children with the same themes to enable dialogue and shared cultural growth. The Sunday MABA teaching sessions are free for users and open to all children from 5 to 12 years old, regardless of cognitive ability, and not only children from Angera participate, but also those from families in other municipal areas, within a distance of about 50 km. MABA's teaching sessions that prove the most successful are also offered to local schools. Angera Archaeology Museum's 2016-2018 calendar The 2016 theme for the Angera Archaeology Museum was THE OTHERS' GODS. Non-Latin cults in ancient Lombardy; the subtitle is a phrase from Plato's Republic: And so the myth has been saved and is not lost, and will also save us, if we shall understand the lesson. Plato, Republica, X, 612 b8-c1 On 20th March, on the eve of the spring equinox, Filippo Maria Gambari, Lombardy's Archaeology Superintendent, opened the conference series with a talk on Archaeological evidence for Celtic deities in northwest Italy. Numerous archaeological objects and inscriptions reveal the existence in the western Alpine region of cults which illustrate the Celtic religious world, reveal the world of Pre- Roman myth and contribute to the character of local religious beliefs even after the arrival of Christianity14 In April I gave a talk on The Matronae of Angera: an eternal dance over the Alps, oblivious to the passing centuries. At Angera in 1909 a first century altar dedicated to the Matronae was found, portraying the goddesses dancing under a large oak tree; it is now in the Varese Archaeology Museum. The veneration of the Three Mothers was not confined by temporal or geographical boundaries. Even with different names and iconography, the cults of the three goddesses were centred on similar roles: nature, life and underworld deities, memories of millennial rituals which can be found around the Mediterranean and north of the Alps, both in the ancient world and today. 39

Detail of the altar of the Matronae of Angera (Courtesy of Civico Museo Archeologico di Varese). In May, Anna Consonni, an Egyptologist who collaborates with the Lombardy Museums Group, presented Sovereign in Heaven, Queen on Earth. The long journey of Isis from the Nile to the Po. Isis, the principal female deity of ancient Egypt, had numerous roles and great powers, she was a wife and mother, sorceress and protector, bearer of compassion and hope. Her cult never vanished, but constantly changed and acquired a special place in the Roman pantheon too. It reached the borders of the empire and in Angera a temple was dedicated to her, as evidenced by the inscription on an altar that was drawn by Alciato in the 16th century, but was later destroyed. From 12th June to 25th September 2016 five artists occupied the museum, with works on the theme The hidden presence. The eternal sense of the divine in art. The exhibition widens the perspective of 'The Others' Gods’ to contemporary art. The works on display explored the idea that art is the fruit of a hidden presence, in comparison to the ancient vision of art as the result of inspiration by a deity. In a reciprocal play of mirrors, the archaeological perspective unveils the eternal and ancestral return to age-old iconography and personal iconology, which – though often ignored – are part of the experience of each one of us, artist and spectator. In the autumn. Anna Maria Volontè, conservator of the Sutermeister Archaeology Museum of Legnano, would describe archaeological evidence in Lombardy of Cybele, Mother of all the Gods. She covered this cult’s remote origins in the ancient Near East, its spread in the Greek and Roman worlds, the myth and evidence for worship of the goddess in Lombardy, with particular attention to the 40

Silver Patera of Parabiago, one of the most valuable finds on display in the Milan Civic Archaeology Museum. In November Anna Maria Fedeli, from the Lombardy Archaeology Superintendency, would discuss The eastern cults invade the empire: the spread of Mithraism and Christianity in Milan and elsewhere in Lombardy. The spread of the promises of immortality and salvation brought by disciples of Mithras and Christ reached Mediolanum, one of the capitals of the empire, early on, and soon arrived at Angera. Innumerable attestations are known from Milan; there is also an inscription from Angera dedicated to Cautopates, a Phrygian torch-bearer who accompanied the god Mithras (CIL 05, 05465 (1) - EDR124511 ).15 Angera's commercial role in Roman times led to its early Christianization; in the Early Christian cemetery a most unusual marble gravestone was found. In perfect Greek, the owner declares that his name is Maraotes and that he is resting in peace, asks for the protection of Maria and says that he was born in Kaprotabis, a suburb near Apamea, in Syria.16 Thus the first Christian from Angera whose name we know was born in Syria, proof of the constant circulation of people not just on the Mediterranean Sea, but also further inland. Francesco Muscolino, also from the Lombardy Archaeology Superintendency, gave the final lecture: The first bath of Achilles and Jesus. A case of \"assonance\" in the frescoes of Castelseprio. Art often reveals strange links between pagan and Christian images and heterogeneous iconography is found on the remarkable frescoes of Santa Maria Foris Portas, in Castelseprio, which preserve images that have since disappeared from western art. Three further topics published in the proceedings are: Claudia Mangani’s study The Bronze Age sun cult in Lombardy; Eliana Sedini on Hebrew religion in Lombardy in the first centuries of the Empire and Filippo Maria Gambari on Fables, witches and protective charms. Pagan religions in the folklore and folk traditions of northwestern Italy. As part of the OTHERS' GODS project, MABA has organized in 2016 a group of activities under the name MYTHS AND ME – Hands, head and body at grips with ancient religions. These activities, designed for all children from age 5 to 12 (from Angera and elsewhere), are conducted by art therapist Claudia Castiglioni and archaeologist Melissa Proserpio: • SOLAR SPLENDOUR. Let the Light shine explored the Sun's scientific properties, which connect with and explain why it was worshipped by the ancients. • THE DANCING GODDESSES. Movement, song and space around the great oak. The children thought about the role of mothers, who generate life, and the reason why they were considered goddesses. They learnt the dance of the 41

Angera Matronae and danced around a young oak tree. • GODS UNMASKED. Animal faces of the Egyptian gods, taught the children about the roles of Ibis, Horus and Anubis and making their own animal masks. Animal masks made at MABA (© Città di Angera, Civico Museo Archeologico). • A GODDESS IN RELIEF. Divine and tactile figures, was inspired by the fine silver plated from Parabiago, with the children each making a metal plate with embossed decoration. • BIRTHS OF BABY GODS. Strange deliveries in ancient cults, taught how Athena was born from the head of Zeus and Dionysus from one of his thighs, while Mithras was born in a cave, whereas Jesus was born in the stable of an inn. The children could wonder about unusual births and construct their own, original nativity scene. • PICTURES OF GODS. Once gods were painted on the wall, inspired children to make paintings on freshly plastered boards, while their parents were admiring the Castelseprio frescoes. The project’s theme for 2017 was THE MUSEUM AND THE 'OTHERS' IN THEIR SHOES. Unusual cloths, dress and accessories in ancient Lombardy. The focus will be unusual clothes, personal decorations and accessories present in local museums, tracing the origins of 'Lombard' spinning and weaving traditions – and the more recent fashion industry. Mauro Squarzanti, curator of Sesto Calende Civic Archaeological Museum, was to present the jewellery of the Golasecca Celts, especially that on display in the museum, and Baltic amber. Mauro Rottoli, archaeobotanist from the Como Civic Museum Archaeobiology Laboratory, would lecture on the helmets, hair and accessories made of organic materials found in 42

Lombardy. Gabriella Tassinari would offer new interpretations of the grave goods that include jewellery found in cemeteries in Angera and the surrounding area, highlighting multi-ethnic objects and aspects that demonstrate the fusion between Celtic and more typically Roman objects. My theme is the different kinds of weaving known in the area, and the unusual absence of brooches among grave goods in Angera: numerous needles have been found instead. Glass beads and the techniques used for making them is the topic of Marina Uboldi, of the Como Archaeological Museum. Lastly, Marina de Marchi, conservator of the Arsago Seprio Civic Archaeological Museum, would explain the decorations used in the dress of the original Lombards of Germanic origin, and women's hairstyles – which are the basis for the style of Lucia Mondella, heroine of a classic Italian novel set in the 17th century. MABA’s six teaching sessions for local children follow a similar theme, entitled HOW DO YOU DRESS? Stone, fibres and metal for old ethnic fashions. Children will be able to make Golasecca-style brooches, felt hats and shoes. They can make Celtic and Roman jewellery and do old-style (and very old-style) weaving, make multicoloured beads and a Lombard belt with embossed metal fittings. 2018’s final programme was OTHERS’ WORDS. Signs, languages and non-Latin alphabets north of the River Po. It is always challenging to make firm agreements with the specialists involved, but the topics were confirmed. Maria Giuseppina Ruggiero, of the Lombardy Archaeology Superintendency, would address Signs and messages in Lombardy's rock engravings; a researcher from Milan State University would discuss Etruscan words north of the Po; Filippo Maria Gambari, Lombardy's Archaeology Superintendent, would focus on the Alphabets of Celtic languages in northwestern Italy, Professor Sartori would recount the international biographies of some foreign-born people mentioned on inscriptions from Lombardy in Greek and Latin; Ottavio Lurati of Basle University would explore Personal names and place names of the Germanic Lombard People in Lombardy. Finally an actor from Lombardy would interpret Grammelot and the True Story of Peter from Angera who didn't go to the Crusade by Dario Fo. MABA’s parallel programme for children would include teaching sessions entitled ALPHA BETA ESPERI Ancient alphabets, raised dots and mixed languages. Children might learn the Greek alphabet or Celtic runes, write in Arabic or speak in sign language, read with their fingertips or by banging a pen on their desk, or chat with all the world in Esperanto. 43

Responses The Angera community has become involved, participating enthusiastically in the project activities. The same topics were also covered by meetings and teaching sessions organized at the Town Library while local restaurants planned a series of gastronomic encounters under the banner OTHERS' TASTES, inviting chefs of other nationalities to present some of their traditional dishes in Angera. I believe that our activity in Angera demonstrates that even a small museum, managed with professionalism and passion, can manage to attract the support of public bodies, institutions, partners and sponsors, and inspire the affection and trust of local inhabitants and thus contribute to social and cultural growth. On the other hand there is a risk that museums, left without qualified conservators or run entirely by volunteers, may remain open and hand out entry tickets, but may find it difficult to generate culture and social cohesion. A good project which works should be repeatable. What we have put into action in Angera of necessity involves a limited area, but it could be adapted to any historical or cultural context, altered in accordance with the locally available cultural heritage. The importance and actuality of the theme, and the versatility of its exploration, have been appreciated and welcomed by many; we have already an agreement with the European Dragan Foundation - Golden Age University which recently established in Milan, a three-year course entitled The Archaeology of Migration. 'Foreign' cults, traditions and dress accessories in north Italy's ancient past. By means of twelve lessons per year, they will extend the themes developed at Angera to a much wider setting and reach a much larger public. 44

References La Metropoli Multietnica. Edited by Andrea Barzi, catalogue of the exhibition organized for the 21st Milan Triennale. 21st Century. Design After Design, Milan 2016. Bodo, Simona, Silvia Mascheroni: Educare al patrimonio in chiave interculturale. Guida per educatori e mediatori museali, Milan, 2012. Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today. Edited by Joni Boyd Acuff and Laura Evans, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015. Cattaneo C., C. Ravedoni, B. Martino, A. Mazzucchi, D. Porta, M. Binda: Vita nella Milano romana: evidenze antropologiche e paleopatologiche provenienti dalla necropoli, in La necropoli tardoantica, atti delle giornate di studio (Milano 25- 26 gennaio 1999), Edited by Sannazzaro M., Milano 2001, pp. 59-66. Massimiliano David, Valeria Mariotti: Da Kaprotabis ad Angera. L’epigrafe funeraria di un Siriano ai piedi delle Alpi, in Syria. Revue d'art oriental et d'archéologie 82 (1), 2005, pp. 267-278. Archeologia e storia delle migrazioni. Europa, Italia, Mediterraneo tra tarda età romana e alto medioevo. Edited by Carlo Ebanista, Marcello Rotili, Proceedings of the International Conference at Cimitile-Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 17-18 June 2010, Cimitile 2011. Di città in città. Insediamenti, strade e vie d’acqua da Milano alla Svizzera lungo la Mediolanum-Verbannus. Edited by Grazia Facchinetti and Cristina Miedico, Arona 2015. Il profumo del pane e delle castagne. Dai semi di Cislago ai panini di Angera. Edited by Barbara Grassi, Cristina Miedico, Arona 2015. King Lisa, Speaking Sovereignty and Communicating Change: Rhetorical Sovereignty and the Inaugural Exhibits at the NMAI. University of Nebraska Press, 2011. Lattanzi, Vito: Musei e ‘multiculturalità’, in Al di là delle Alpi e del Mediterrane. Proceedings of the 17th congress, Verona 4-7 December 2007, Verona 2009. Meetings between Culturings between Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean / Incontri tra culture nel mondo mediterraneo antico. 17th international Congress of classical Archaeology, Rome, FAO, 22-26 September 2008, Rome, 2011 45

Archeologia e Intercultura. Integrazione culturale attraverso l'educazione al patrimonio Archeologico. Edited by Francesca Morandini, Marco Baioni, Marina Volontè, Gussago, 2010. Storie plurali. Insegnare la storia in prospettiva interculturale. Eited by Ernesto Perillo, Milan 2010. Nederveen Pieterse, Jan: Multiculturalism and Museums: Discourse about Others in the Age of Globalization Theory, Culture & Society, November 1997, 14, pp. 123-146. Simon, Nina: The Participatory Museum, 2010, http://www.participatorymuseum. Simon,Nina: From multicultural to intercultural. Evolution or Spectrum of Engagement? In http://museumtwo.blogspot.it/2014/10/from-multicultural-to- intercultural.html Szekeres, Viv: Museums and multiculturalism: too vague to understand, too important to ignore, 2011, http://nma.gov.au/research/understanding-museums/VSzekeres_2011.html. 1 In 2015 alone 140,000 people reached the Italian coast, of whom 12,000 were unaccompanied minors. In just the last week of May 2016, 880 men, women and children lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea: my research is dedicated to their memory. 2 See for example Perillo, 2010. 3 See, among others, Pieterse, 1997; Szekeres 2011. 4 Acuff, Evans: Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today; Bodo, Mascheroni: Educare al patrimonio in chiave interculturale. 5 Together with schools, museums are one of the most important instruments of democracy and development, providing a place for comparing cultures and generations, and for constructing new affiliations and new traditions, Lattanzi 2009, p. 90. See also the work of the Luigi Pigorini Ethnography Museum and the Emigration Museum, both in Rome. 6 I take this opportunity of thanking Damiano Gullì, who accompanied me to the exhibition and told me of many significant background details. 7 Grassi, Miedico: Il profumo del pane e delle castagne. Dai semi di Cislago ai panini di Angera. 8 Morandini, Baioni, Volontè: Archeologia e Intercultura. Integrazione culturale attraverso l'educazione al patrimonio Archeologico. 9 Meetings between Cultures, 2011; Ebanista, Rotili: Archeologia e storia delle migrazioni. Europa, Italia, Mediterraneo tra tarda età romana e alto medioevo. 46