Closereading van 'Een monument vol verhalen'

There are many different definitions and interpretations of the concept of authenticity, but the authenticity discourse appears to be unsuitable as an interpretation framework for the exhibition 'A monument full of stories' in Rotterdam Laurenskerk. Not only was the greater part of the church itself newly constructed in the old style after the bombing in 1940, but the exhibition, too, was made with new materials and modern media. The theory of performativeness, however, does offer a good alternative to analyse the functioning and the effects of this exhibition. According to this theory a difference is made between constative and performative statements. Constative statements ascertain something, performative statements see to it that something happens. When applied to exhibitions, this implies that a constative presentation especially aims at conveying the truth of the object presented. This entails a certain reserve, both in the form of the presentation and in the information supplied on it. Performative presentations, on the other hand, are not aimed at truths, but at experiences. It is not a question of one true story, but of various perspectives, stories, types of expertise. It is not the objects that are focused on, but the story told with the aid of objects - stage properties. A constative exhibition is characterized by material authenticity, a performative one by a narrative authenticity. Thus the distance between expert and visitor, between space, object and information is bridged. The role of the audio guide in Laurenskerk is typical for the performative character of the exhibition. There is no omniscient narrator, but there are various narrators around one theme, the listener is part of an unfinished, incomplete conversation on this theme. Information is alternated with music and personal stories; there are also many things that the visitor himself can do, grip, touch. Information, education and evocation change places. The past is not so much reproduced as performed, in a dramatic, cinematic way. Monumental churches rarely excel in the presentation of their heritage. Financial investment in an optimal presentation of heritage is often too expensive, or weighing the pros and cons of the religious interests of the churchgoers against the tourist interests of the visitors is decided in favour of the church community. In the exhibition 'A monument full of stories' the tension between the religious and the secular is never absent, incorporated in the larger narrative of Laurenskerk itself, which survived the Second World War severely harmed. It is not an exhibition in a church, but the church itself has turned into an exhibition. In an adventurous way history and the meaning of Laurenskerk are revealed, taking advantage of contemporary visual culture and media culture. Although the greater part of the churches have become cultural heritage, even nowadays religion is still alive and determines society. The border between where secular life starts and where the religious ends, is not easy to draw, and should be discussed. That is what this exhibition has achieved, in a performative sense

TAP investigations of the CO2 reforming of CH4 over Pt/ZrO2

The adsorption and reaction characteristics of methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen have been investigated over a ZrO2support and a Pt/ZrO2catalyst by using a temporal analysis of products reactor system. It was observed that on Pt/ZrO2both methane and carbon dioxide dissociate independently of one another. The dissociation of carbon dioxide acts as an oxygen supplier, while the decomposition products of methane scavenge the oxygen from the catalyst. When an abundance of oxygen is present, pulsing of methane leads to the production of carbon dioxide. It is concluded that both the selectivity with which methane produces carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide and the carbon dioxide conversion is determined by the same reaction: COads+Oads CO2,ads

Taha's vision:The modern Sufi theology of Mahmud Muhammad Taha, 1909-1985

The Sudanese Muslim reformer Mahmud Muhammad Taha was executed in 1985 for his opposition to the introduction of Islamic criminal law in his country. His martyrdom in opposing traditional shari‘a and his radical project of Islamic legal reform have been described or mentioned in many books on modern Islam. But the mystical theology underlying his legal reform has been largely overlooked. This book describes Taha’s Sufi-inspired modernist theology in its premodern and modern intellectual context. It argues that his unique reliance on premodern Sufi thought allowed him to go further than his contemporaries in bringing Islam into the modern age, especially with his theory of spiritual evolution and his views on democratic governance and the rights of women and non-Muslims. Taha’s modern understanding of premodern Sufism may be viewed both as a Muslim version of contemporary New Age spirituality and as a Sufi reply to the fundamentalist Salafi interpretations of Islam that have gained worldwide ascendancy in the past few decades

Erfgoed als schouwspel

Deze studie toont aan dat het instituut museum een krachtig instrument is om commerciële, culturele, sociale en/of politieke doelen te realiseren. Alle casussen bevatten performances die voortkomen uit de handelingen van nieuwe actoren in het erfgoedveld, die via het museum aan de wereld willen tonen dat zij iets te vertellen hebben. Zo leren we dat automerken niet alleen op winst uit zijn, maar ook verlangen naar maatschappelijke erkenning, vanwege hun bijdrage aan de samenleving. Twee sciencefictionverzamelaars wilden niet alleen in de privésfeer genieten van hun verzamelingen, maar wilden de buitenwereld overtuigen van de culturele meerwaarde van het door hen bewonderde genre. Hetzelfde geldt voor de herinneringsgemeenschappen in Hongarije, Letland en Oost-Duitsland. Zij wilden meer dan collectief herdenken, aandacht via de media en in de politiek. Zij bouwden podia voor hun versie van het verleden, met de hoop op erkenning en begrip. Deze studie leert ons ook dat musea in complexe samenlevingen meer moeten overbruggen dan verbinden. Op basis van een zelf geformuleerde missie of overheidsbeleid richten veel musea zich op complexe nationale of stedelijke gemeenschappen. De casussen uit hoofdstuk 5 (postcommunistische musea) leren ons dat al te strakke definities van een intrinsieke gemeenschap een afstotend en uitsluitend effect kunnen hebben. Het is daarom belangrijk dat overbrugging op een manier gebeurt dat buitenstaanders zich kunnen identificeren met de opgevoerde gemeenschapscultuur. Dat kan door middel van uitnodigende collectieve representaties, aansprekende en overzichtelijke scripts, herkenbare objecten en verleidelijke mise-en-scènes. De overbruggende strategieën van de automusea en de sciencefictionmusea kunnen hierbij als voorbeeld dienen

Taha's vision:The modern Sufi theology of Mahmud Muhammad Taha, 1909-1985

The Sudanese Muslim reformer Mahmud Muhammad Taha was executed in 1985 for his opposition to the introduction of Islamic criminal law in his country. His martyrdom in opposing traditional shari‘a and his radical project of Islamic legal reform have been described or mentioned in many books on modern Islam. But the mystical theology underlying his legal reform has been largely overlooked. This book describes Taha’s Sufi-inspired modernist theology in its premodern and modern intellectual context. It argues that his unique reliance on premodern Sufi thought allowed him to go further than his contemporaries in bringing Islam into the modern age, especially with his theory of spiritual evolution and his views on democratic governance and the rights of women and non-Muslims. Taha’s modern understanding of premodern Sufism may be viewed both as a Muslim version of contemporary New Age spirituality and as a Sufi reply to the fundamentalist Salafi interpretations of Islam that have gained worldwide ascendancy in the past few decades

The Effect of Vertical Coordination on Indonesian Dairy Industry Performance on Quality: A Comparison of Two Regions

The changes in institutional environment that have occurred in the Indonesian dairy industry have influenced the approach taken by the industry in managing their partnership with dairy cooperatives and with Indonesian dairy farmers. Previous studies discovered that the increasing milk quality standard required by consumers is driving the industry to apply vertical coordination. This means that the industry (as a buyer) is more closely aligned with producers (seller). In relation to the issues above, this paper reviews the effect of vertical coordination on the performance of the Indonesian dairy industry especially on milk quality. The research is based on a comparative case study of the dairy value chain by comparing two regions in Indonesia, West Java and East Java. This study used the number of germ content (total plate count) as indicator of milk quality. By interviewing 29 key informant of the value chains, the study shows that there are strong differences in implementing vertical coordination of the milk value chain in each of two regions. In West Java, the seller (cooperatives) are more reluctant to close a contract with the buyers (industry) than in East Java. East Java has strong power to implement vertical coordination because this region has only one major dairy industry. Furthermore, vertical coordination has a positive effect on improving the quality of fresh milk in both regions, though the study found that East Java has higher milk quality than West Java

Metamorphosis:

In 1990 the then Minister for Culture, Hedy d’Ancona, issued the Delta Plan for Cultural Preservation: a large-scale and national program to thoroughly improve collection storage conditions in Dutch museums. This signalled the start of a transformation of the Dutch museum.he reason for this radical transformation of Dutch museums was the pending privatization of the country’s national museums. From the beginning of the 1990s, national museums had to stand on their own feet. That gave the museum visitor a new position: the museums were forced to engage the public and did so with conviction. This new approach bore fruit: the public has been flocking to museums in increasing numbers and by doing so, have further transformed the Dutch museum. Museums want to open up their collections to everyone while protecting these collections as well as possible. To align these ambitions Dutch museums have engaged in an unprecedented construction boom. The desire to be able to study the results of those building activities brought the TUDelft to approach the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) to undertake a joint investigation into the transformation of museums in the Netherlands since 1990 together. This study shows that much has been achieved to realize the two ambitions of better collection management and increased visitor numbers. The RCE continues to endeavour to further align those two conflicting ambitions, which is why we develop and disseminate knowledge about the safety of heritage including researching climate control possibilities for collection storage and display. In her policy letter Heritage Counts (2018–2021), Minister Van Engelshoven (Education, Culture and Science) opted to further both ambitions: conservation of, and employing the unifying power of heritage. Museums particularly embody the contradiction between preservation and accessibility. They exist to preserve valuable and often vulnerable objects of art, history, science and daily life. But they are also there to make us take ownership of those objects.  The challenge for museums is to find the best relationship between their need to ensure the safety of their top pieces and prevent any risk of damage. At the same time, they want to be hospitable and open to everyone who wishes to enjoy their collection. An object has to be preserved for many generations and the current generation must be able to become acquainted with and enjoy it in large numbers. In other words: the museum must be comfortable for both visitors and collection, now and in the future. The RCE and the TU Delft Section for Heritage & Architecture often collaborate. This time we found common ground in research into the transformation of museums. Architects and museum managers are constantly faced with the task of realizing this transformation as fittingly as possible. Their mutual communication and coordination is crucial. This study hopes to contribute to that. The cooperation of the museums investigated has been of great importance in this regard. By making data available and sharing insights and experiences, they have made it possible to investigate the transformation on museums in the Netherlands. The result presents a fascinating picture of the metamorphosis of Dutch museums