Museguys,

I am forwarding, with permission, the following announcement/request in
the hopes it might be of interest to some on this list. Comments/answers
to Benoit, of course. Happy trails, David

David Haynes            [log in to unmask]            San Antonio

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Beno=EEt_Junod?= <[log in to unmask]>
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 10:37:04 +0200
Subject: [rete] Indian Ocean Maritime Museum, Zanzibar

I am new to this list and wish to share with you a project for which I
might
be requesting a lot of help in the coming year or two... The Aga Khan
Trust
for Culture has been working on various
restoration/revitalisation/development projects in Zanzibar and a couple
of
years ago decided to create, in the Stone Town's Old Dispensary building,
on
the waterfront, a maritime museum dedicated to the Indian Ocean.
The project aims at building an interesting, small to middle-sized
institution aimed primarily at the local population, especially
youngsters,
and also at tourists and foreigners who visit the island. It should have
a
good didactic content (but avoid being boring), tell enough of the
history
of the area and of Zanzibar's heyday of maritime glory to bring pride
into
local visitor's hearts, and awaken consciousness of the need to improve
environmental controls and conditions to protect and save the marine
environment in the area.
Thus the museological programme will run (basically) as follows: the
myths
of the Indian Ocean - Geography, environment, climate and eco-systems -
The
evolution of naval architecture, navigation and its instruments,
cartography
and trade routes and products (neolithic, Egypt, Phoenicians, the
Periplus,
the period of Arab domination of the IO, Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo,
1498,
the colonial period). a section on slavery, a section on the Clipper with
a
reconstitution of a Captain's cabin, a section on 'from the sail to the
propeller, from the sextant to the GPS and autopilot', one room on
Zanzibar
in the 19th Century, one on the Island and the sea (traditional fishing
techniques, etc.) and a section on 'a future for our oceans'
(environmental
aspects). The continuum will be given by a series of abour 24 models of
ships at 1:50, from the reed boat to the container ship - a joke, if you
think that the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich has 2600 models...
Any one who contacts me can be sent a .pdf of the three floors of the
museum, with the summary museological programme (I understand it is not
possible to send this as an attachment to this mail)
The curious aspect of this project is that there are practically no
existing
collections for the museum (except the State barge given by Queen
Victoria
to the Sultan of Zanzibar, which is being restored), and all will need to
be
acquired. To keep things within a reasonable financial frame, many
objects
and instruments will have to be replicas (astrolabe, etc.) but whenever
feasible, originals will be purchased. I know that rete is
'non-commercial',
but we will need help in looking for materials... both original and
repro.
Purchases should start in January 2005, as the museological programme
should
be finished by then.
Meanwhile... one concrete question... Where do I find plans for dhows? We
need to have models built of a sambuk, a bagala, and what Alan Viliers
terms
a boom...
Nothing at the NMM/GB. Any ideas?
Hoping not to be entirely out of order with this sort of query,
Yours,
Benoit Junod
Aga Khan Trust for Ciulture, Geneva
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>


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