Gillian Ramsay, Assistant Curator at Durham University Oriental Museum, recently travelled to Malaysia and Singapore with an ICOM UK – British Council Travel Grant. This is a short blog post about her trip. We will publish the full report from Gillian’s visit next week.
In 2019 I was awarded funding through the ICOM UK – British Council Travel Grant Scheme to undertake research in Japan looking at the representation of the indigenous Ainu people in museums. Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelled due to the pandemic and with Japan’s long standing Covid restrictions it became clear that the project was unlikely to happen in the near future.
Thankfully, ICOM UK allowed me to use the funding in relation to another project which I am involved with, this time looking at one of our founding donors, the Rt Hon Malcolm MacDonald. MacDonald was a key figure in the transition from British Empire to Commonwealth as well as a passionate collector, which helped him build relationships with East and Southeast Asian leaders. His views on material culture and his enthusiastic patronage of the arts also influenced MacDonald’s efforts at cultural decolonisation in Asia and Africa.
The Oriental Museum, Durham University (DU) is home to half of MacDonald’s important Chinese ceramic collections. He gifted the other half to the National University of Singapore (NUS). This element of the collection was in turn split in two and half given to University of Malaya (UM) upon its creation. As such MacDonald’s collections are foundational for the Oriental Museum, NUS Museum and the Asian Art Museum of UM.
The MacDonald project seeks to ‘reunite’ this important collection digitally through a joint online database, via a touring exhibition, conference and bilingual catalogues, with the aim of building partnerships between DU, UM, NUS and Chinese partners to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the role of art in international diplomacy and the beginnings of decolonisation in the 20th century.
Prior to the pandemic we had begun working with colleagues at UM and NUS but with the arrival of Covid it had to be put on hold. With the support of ICOM UK I was able to visit Malaysia and Singapore in October 2022 to meet with partners face to face and begin the project in earnest.
During the visit I met with Abd Aziz Rashid, Curator Museum of Asian Art, UM. We set out the aims, objectives and outcomes for the project and discussed the next steps.
24 hours after the meeting I received word from the DU International Office that UM would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DU to formalise our partnership and that the MacDonald project would be one of the key outcomes. The MOU was signed by Professor Claire O’Malley, Pro-Vice Chancellor Global on 1st November 2022.
I am incredibly grateful to ICOM UK and the British Council for supporting this visit. Not only has it re-energised the MacDonald project it has also provided me with a fantastic opportunity to develop my knowledge of Asia ceramics, the history and politics of Southeast Asia, international partnership working and has allowed me to take the lead on an important long-term partnership project, all of which will be useful for my career going forward.
