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]> ________________________________________________________________ Speed up your surfing with Juno SpeedBand. Now includes pop-up blocker! Only $14.95/ month - visit http://www.juno.com/surf to sign up today! ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).