Lee Rubinstein <> wrote:
To: Moyosore Okediji <>
From: Lee Rubinstein <>
Subject: Databases... General Thoughts and an
Experimental example: the deYoung Museum in San
Francisco
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:54:39 -0400
Hello, Moyo. I left you a message (Monday? Tuesday?) and would like to update you on my progress and continue our discussing regarding productive directions for formulating a comprehensive visual database of African objects for TUAA.
Introduction and Method/general observations and potential considerations I have perused -- and in some cases combed, picked and scoured dozens and dozens of on-line databases with some very good new finds (as well as some disappointments which might be made into opportunities). Undaunted by databases in languages of which I have minimal knowledge, I have made forays into some new terrain as an opportunity to broaden my view as well as to have an experiential base from which to assess the challenges and promises of this endeavor. The extreme diversity of programs in use
to consolidate and make available images and documentation is quite notable (to use
a term that need not be deleted among the many that apply!) and makes clear the need to consider the logistics and strategies that will make this on-going investigation and preparation the basis for a fruitful endeavor.
As your experience has made you well aware, there is no direct correspondence between the quality of a museum collection and an institutional commitments and support to develop on-line resources.
However, I do perceive a significant potential opportunity in this void -- to engage institutional support and cooperation by coordinating our efforts with those of museums to make their collections accessible and bring attention to these museums and their African holdings. Also, the creation of broadly uniform systems of classification and navigation would be of great benefit to researchers at every level and for any purpose; the application of established (and evolving) principles of library science could certainly be useful here! Thus far, many museums have developed web presentations of collection highlights but no comprehensive access to catalogues of their collections. Some museums have hardly more than a handful of images of works on-line while others -- such as the
American Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum at Harvard,
Musée du Quai Branly (when images are accessible...), MEG in Geneva are gold mines. The Rijksmuseum voor Volenkunde in Leiden looks promising as well, but you need a headlamp and a sharp, heavy pick axe as well as a Dutch- English dictionary in the early going.
The inconsistencies among databases and sites are numerous both seemingly ontological and internally specific! There is no absolute universal for the data, which is provided for an object. There are varying modes of attributions (group/sub-group) and terminations for cultures (as in Dan/Yacouba/Gio/Mano or Yoruba/(A)Nago (the whole range of Yoruba sub-groups which are often subsumed by the termination Yoruba)... even Kuba/BaKuba... It's even confusing to make this statement without expanding this sentence or paragrph into a volume! The discrepancies stem from variations in knowledge, perception, classification, translation, transliteration, etc. How objects are classified and listed -- "ritual object" as opposed to
"ile ori," for instance, create challenges for searching. Among other factors to consider, of course, are the qualitative standards applied to the collections or their constituent objects and our own role in assessing authenticity and/or correct attribution among accessible references. There is ever that minefield of questionable and outdated attributions as well as differences of opinion on cultural classification (e.g., Luba-Hemba, Sungu-Tetela/Tempa- Songye). The limited or divergent understandings of cultures and the inter-relationships among them weigh heavily upon the inaccuracies and the inconsistencies of the accessible databases especially given that numerous ethnographic databases are posited upon long-ago notations.
It should also be noted that while some search engines on specific sites allow for direct linkage as reference, others do not allow such direct linkage or reference. While an object can be viewed in the latter instances -- and sometimes copied and extracted, one must know the object number or the cultural classification or the terminology used to identify the object (particularly trick when the site is, for example, in Dutch!) in order to locate and access the specific object. So, it is important to think about navigability and interface- ability as well and the degree to which our endeavor aims to enhance navigability and access!
We will also need to explore the rights and permissions attached to database access imposed by those institutions which have indeed committed themselves to -- and made great progressin -- generating accessible on-line catalogues. I imagine that you are more directly connected and bear credentials that will make you a more effective liaison. I wonder what opportunities might be coordinated with the upcoming opening of the Museum for African Art in its new home in NYC. I noticed that a colleague of yours from Denver (Lisa Binder) has joined the curatorial team at the Museum, so perhaps that is a potential institutional partnership deserving of exploration. There is room for considerable growth in their on-line resources. Fine Art Museums of San Francisco/de Young Museum Now, moving toward a more specific example... I selected the database of the deYoung (Fine Art Museums of San Francisco/FAMSF) to do an initial exploration, as it is a manageable size and quality of collection to allow a cursory but meaningful consideration. I compiled the data -- by nation -- regarding the accessible on-line images but find that it is important to think about which categories should be made primary as well as the various options for reference and cross-reference that would be our targeted outline for the database. (Use of a flexible, integrated database would of course allow multiple configurations.) For instance, while my initial instinct places the culture group – for "traditional" objects, at least as the primary category, such a cultural emphasis does not necessarily apply easily to contemporary --especially Diasporas production. As unidentified and unclassified objects are often categorized by country, country-specific groupings seems in some ways a productive logistical choice, but as cultures are not bound by current national boundaries, one must consider to what extent use of such a primary classification interjects a not wholly inclusive and even a colonialist bent that will require revision when the maps are redrawn anew. Then again, we need to consider amid construct accessible classifications through which the database will be a logical and accessible resource now and in the future.
Anyway, back to the deYoung. The de Young Museum African Collection, curate by Kathleen Berrin, reportedly comprises 1400 works of which the site indicates -- 100 digitized images are accessible on- line. The site's collection introduction page provides images of 10 "Highlights" from the collection -- including a 17th century Benin plaque, a 20th century Kuba pwoom itok mask, a 19th century "Oath Taking Image" (nkisi nkondi) from Zaire and a 20th century Makonde mapiko mask from Mozambique. (The links from this page to the Image Base are currently inoperative, as are links tothe Museum’s four publications on African art listed, which include East of the Atlantic, West of the Congo: Art from Equatorial Africa (the Dwight and Blossom Strong Collection.) I came across 949 objects and am not certain whether the number of digitized images has increased since the site was updated, whether there are indeed various qualities of on-line images or whether indeed all of the images are digitized and the site description does not indicate the inclusion of additional works for which images can now be accessed on-line.
The searchable database, or Thinker "ImageBase, "which provides access to the African collection of the deYoung ispart of the on- line database which was created for the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco and thus includes works from the collections of both the
Legion of Honor Museum and the deYoung Museum, thus encompassing the "ancient and European art" of the former as well as the ". American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries, and art of the native Americas, Africa, and the Pacific" of the deYoung. In all, the database provides access to 82,000 works. Among these (as mentioned) are 949 works of African art and/or material culture of which 371 are Ashante gold weights from Ghana. There are more than 100 objects from various Saharan nomadic peoples (Fulani,Tuareg, Peul -- many on loan from Peter and Nancy Mickelsen; several dozen examples of Zulu beaded jewelry and personal adornment (many gifted by Edward Kessel); 82 Ethiopian objects of adornment (60 of them crosses) from Mrs. George Fitch.** There are also 24 Yoruba Ibeji twin figures, most of which are on loan from Mrs, Charles Adelmann.
Additionally, there is a group of 21 objects tentatively attributed to the Ghanzi or Gwi of
Botswana -- gifts of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Frankel. (Acloser perusal of the database will allow one to investigate past, present and future donor relationships cultivated by the
Museum.) In addition to these noted groupings, there are a few hundred remaining African objects -- 50 figures, including 17 Yaka "fetishfigures" and 5 stone figures; roughly 70 masks; and more than a dozeneach of baskets, personal adornments, ritual objects, furniture, implements (tools and/ or weapons) and barber signs. Among the features of the "ImageBase" are the inclusion of keywords within each listing that allow one to search by or to click a keyword link -- in any listing to view other related images by culture, donor, object name, class, etc. This feature does allow access to related images... but does not alwaysdelimit the search to the extent that the searcher might intend. For instance, while the "Yoruba" link (see below) allows a fairly well delimited selection of Yoruba-related works, the search word "Dan" brings up every object in the collection with which the name Dan is associated including every artist named Dan and every work of art that has "dan" in the title (as in mistranslations of the French word "in" as "dan" instead of dans) or which was donated by a person named Dan as well as objects from the Dan people! However, one can initiate a new search with multiple key words such as "Dan Liberia" and the search can be productively delimited. A search for works from "Congo" yields 25 objects while a search for "Zaire" yields 82. As with every database, one needs simply to get to know the strategies for success.
Each object listing does allow one to "Zoomify" amodestly enlarged image and to zoom in on specific details of that object or image. The size of the zoom and quality of image is moderate -- as compared with other similar programs such as those of AMNHand Quai-Branly (MEG, on the other hand, provides comprehensive, well organized access but permits minimal enlargement.) Nonetheless, the deYoung's mageBase system is reasonably effective and accessible. A nice, personal feature of the deYoung site is the ability to create and save a "permanent' selections page which is accessible to other viewers and which thus allows a user to create an archived on-line record of various sub-collections. Another interesting option offered by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where you cannot create a permanent group of selections within the site but can email all your selections to yourself before closing each session and the email, which you receive, allows you to link back to details of each object from the email!
So, there are multitudinous possibilities amid myriad challenges. But for now, here is some of the data I've collected on the "test” database from the deYoung with some links for your convenience.
1. The Introductory Link to the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco Imagebase, which includes works from the DeYoung:
http://www.thinker.org/fam/about/imagebase/subpage.asp?subpagekey=420
2. One existing African Art "My Page" that currently exists:
http://search2.famsf.org:8080/mygallery/gallery_viewonly.shtml? gallery=302
3. A link to the objects, which come up when "Yoruba" is searched:
http://search2.famsf.org:8080/search.shtml?keywords=yoruba
I have created a spreadsheet sorted alphabetically by modern-day nation which shows the geographical distribution of the origin of objects from the collection.1⁄4 I have also created a listing of objects from the deYoung, sorted by culture within countries and arranged semi-geographically with occasional examples (below) . A review of the
Information provided below and in the attached document -- along with the comments above should provide good food for thought for our next discussion about the goals and organizational principles of the TUAA database project. I hope this communication provides you with a reasonably clear idea of my thoughts and a good basis for engaging in further discussion. Let me know your thoughts.
Many thanks and best regards, Lee
P.S. By the way... in response to your inquiry regarding the availability of images of works in my collection, visit the web-site link provided in the address below and click
African Selections or African Collection Highlights. I intend to edit, re-sort, re- organize, expand... as I can! Thanks.
Lee Rubinstein
P.O. Box 1109
Buckingham, PA 18912
215/794-7814 h/w
215/915-3300 mobile
or
http://web.mac.com/leerubinstein