[Nhcoll-l] FW: Special issue of "Curator" on ivory

[Hawks, Catharine]

From: Miller, Scott
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2018 2:51 PM
To: SI-Collections Collaboration Community <SI-CollectionsCollaborationCommunity at si.edu>
Subject: Special issue of "Curator" on ivory

The special issue of the journal "Curator" on ivory appeared last week  - 260 pages from many disciplines and open access.  This grew out of the Smithsonian's internal discussion on ivory, the Material Culture Forum discussion, and then the AAM meeting panel.  The volume, which includes many Smithsonian authors, provides great context for our next steps in pan-institutional ivory activities at the Smithsonian. Almost every Smithsonian museum has ivory in its collection. Thanks especially to Cheryl Braunstein of NZP for being the driving force behind the volume.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__onlinelibrary.wiley.com_doi_10.1111_cura.2018.61.issue-2D1_issuetoc&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=jkkHx6mp9cyPMno9b6oWnbbARbsZDnavUJOOTRHXhFc&s=OeqI9izH6tGayCzvrBIaQLglU-vDoAtqhcrHArT3t-o&e=

"The push for total bans on movement of ivory in many countries, and many states in the USA, creates a "non-target" impact on historic ivory objects that are valued for artistic, cultural or scientific reasons. Because of its unique physical properties that have still not been fully reproduced by any human-made material, ivory has been used in vast array of functional items including musical and scientific instruments. Before the widespread use of plastic, a myriad of everyday objects used ivory, including billiard balls. We believe that preserving elephants can be achieved at the same time as protecting and treasuring historic ivory objects that are central to the record of our material culture (note our emphasis on historic). These aims, both fundamental, need not be mutually exclusive. But trade bans have created a debate that brings the two objectives into conflict. The forthcoming special issue of Curator: The Museum Journal on Ivory being released Friday, January 26, 2018 tackles the complexity of this challenge."




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