CALL FOR PAPERS Encuentros: Artistic Exchange between the U.S. and Latin America

October 6–7, 2011
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Paper submissions from senior and emerging scholars are invited for this two-day symposium, which will examine artistic exchange between Latin America and the United States from the nineteenth century to the present. The symposium will consider how artists and artworks have crossed the border separating the United States and Latin America (defined as Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean), creating new artistic dialogues and influencing each other’s work in meaningful ways.

The histories of U.S. and Latin American art have until recently been viewed as largely independent of each other. Transnational narratives have instead privileged exchange with Europe. But as recent exhibitions and scholarship indicate, today there is a growing desire to dissolve the rigid borders that separate the history of art of the United States from that of Latin America.

This symposium seeks to bring together original, innovative scholarship that crosses several time periods, geographies, and approaches. Papers are solicited that couch artistic interchange between north and south within its historical moment or political conditions, examining the role of individuals, institutions, publications, and exhibitions in the exchange and promotion of art and ideas. Proposals that consider the special relationship between Latino artists from the United States and their distant or recent Latin American cultures of origin (and vice versa) are also welcome. We invite papers that engage with all media of visual art, including craft, architecture, and the moving image, and take into consideration issues of class, race, gender, patronage, art markets, and popular culture. Proposals may consider various modes of artistic engagement including the exchange of ideas and techniques, artistic collaboration, appropriation, and counteraction.

“Encuentros: Artistic Exchange between the U.S. and Latin America” is being organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of a five-part series on American art in a global context with funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

To submit a paper, please send a two-page, double-spaced abstract (300-500 words) and a short C.V. to Amelia Goerlitz, Research and Scholars Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012 MRC 970, Washington D.C. 20013-7012. Proposals may also be submitted via e-mail to AmericanArtSymposium@si.edu.

Proposals must be received by January 15, 2011. Confirmed speakers will be required to submit the text of their 20-minute symposium presentations by September 1, 2011. The symposium will be available for viewing in a simultaneous and, later, an archived webcast.



Antonio Frasconi, The Storm Is Coming, 1950. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase

El Dia de Reyes, January 6

Ever since I can remember, my family has celebrated El Dia de Reyes, or the Epiphany, on January 6. This is the day Mexican families remember the arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem, bearing gifts for Baby Jesus. Although the tradition was not celebrated in the United States, my parents drove us across the border to Ciudad Juarez, to my aunt's house to partake of the goodies and Rosca de Reyes, an oval-shaped, sweet bread decorated with candied fruit, and tamales and hot chocolate mix called Champurrado. It was the day my cousins opened their Christmas gifts and the rest of us received brown bags filled with candy, peanuts and fruit, and a small gift. As a young child, I looked forward to this day because it meant we could open more gifts and visit with our cousins in Mexico. It also meant that whoever bit into the Rosca de Reyes and found a miniature, plastic Baby Jesus doll that had been inserted into the bread, would have to host a party on February 2nd, El Dia de la Candelaria, or Candlemas, extending the Christmas Holidays even more.

Now that I have my own family, I celebrate El Dia de Reyes. Luckily, the tradition is spreading across the border and now I can find the Rosca de Reyes at my local supermarket and bakery. At seven o'clock, on January 6, we gather around the Nativity scene to eat Rosca bread and sip hot chocolate. It is a time of storytelling and New Year resolutions. My children love the tradition, and look forward to biting into a piece of Rosca, hoping they will find the Baby Jesus doll. I can always look forward to our version of Candlemas party of peanut butter sandwiches and kool-aid treats!

To find out about El Dia de Reyes, visit: inside-mexico.com/featurereyes.htm


contributor: Maria Miranda Maloney, poet and writer living in El Paso, Texas.

Innovative Engaging Online Experiences

Once again, the Latino Virtual Museum stuns us with its online feed of machinima videos. If you missed this year's Dia de los Muertos Festival, or if you would like to revisit the virtual spaces,
take a trip to see the machinima collection:

lvminteractive.org

The Latino Virtual Museum interactive is designed to be, well, interactive. There's plenty of information here for educators, students, writers and museum enthusiasts. The site is updated regularly with art, music and literary videos.

Speaking of literary, LVM is partnering with writers, poets and community literary groups to bring and promote the best of our cultura and palabras in the virtual world. LVM is planning future in-world writing workshops, poetry readings, performances and interviews with Latino writers from across the globe. We invite you to visit with us again. In the meantime, enjoy lvminteractive. org.

Dia de los Muertos Festival Starts Tomorrow

Join us for the 2010 Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum’s 2^nd Annual Día de los Muertos Festival in Second Life

Join us…in celebrating and exploring Latino cultural heritage through this holiday for honoring the dead and the cycle of life and death. Learn different aspects of Día de los Muertos and how it is celebrated and practiced.

Check out our machinima video:

http://latino.si.edu/LVM/LVM_PUBLIC/LVMDODPROMO.mov

Visit us at:http://bit.ly/4gVMnS

SLURL:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Smithsonian%20Latino%20Music/174/191/24/?title=Ball%20Court%20of%20the%20Sun&msg=Oct.%2031%20Meso%20Ball%20Game%20Tournament

FEATURING:

LILA DOWNS

CESAR IVAN

NANCY LORENZA GREEN

RINCON BOHEMIO

ROBERTO SANTOS

AMALIO MADUENO

SHANNON ELIZABETH HARDWICK

MARIA MIRANDA MALONEY

AND....

STORYTELLING AND WRITING WORKSHOPS

LIVE POETRY READINGS

MESO-AMERICAN BALL GAME

AND MORE....

Dia de los Muertos Literary Series: Poem by Selfa Chew

A CAROLINE


No esperaré a que tu cuerpo se deshoje
Para beber el café de tus cabellos
Los cinco años y el asombro que llevabas
Como un vestido de fiesta hasta mi casa.
Te sobreviven la ciudad azteca,
Los indios, las selvas tejidas por tus sueños
En que la raza de tus padres te llamaba
Hija del sol
Gajito de obsidiana
Quetzal precioso y corazón de jade.
Como un pedazo de azulejo entre los dedos
Jugaste con la estrella de tu muerte
En calles de letras y colores
Que anunciaban la vida del destino.
Te sobrevive la ciudad del frío
Mirar obsceno de Los Angeles sin prisa,
Entre edificios guardando los tatuajes
De brazos tensos amantes de amapolas.
Te sobreviven también las prostitutas,
Las agujas en las venas,
Un cuarto de hotel
Y la escalera en que dormías.


Copyright Selfa Chew, 2010


Selfa Chew has published two books: "Mudas Las Garzas" and 'Azogue En La Raiz". Her articles, poems, plays, and translations have been published in Holland, Argentina, Spain, Peru, Mexico, and the United States. Selfa coordinates the Contemporary Mexican Literature Conference and the Contemporary Mexican Literature Journal and is a member of the editorial board of the literary review BorderSenses.

Dia de los Muertos Literary Series: Three Poems by Richard Vargas

WHY I FEED THE BIRDS


once
i saw my grandmother hold out
her hand cupping a small offering
of seed to one of the wild sparrows
that frequented the bird bath she
filled with fresh water everyday

she stood still
maybe stopped breathing
while the sparrow looked
at her, then the seed
then back as if he was
judging her character

he jumped into her hand
began to eat
she smiled

a woman holding
a small god


TO RICKY ON HIS TENTH BIRTHDAY FROM DAD

it was unlike any birthday
gift you ever gave me
"The Golden Press Illustrated
Gulliver's Travels"

the story of an odd man
destined to be the stranger
an observer always on
the outside looking in

it was as if you were
presenting me with a guide
as if you knew how my
life was going to turn out
twenty-three days later
you left for good trading me in
for one last sting of the needle
a sweet dream that never ends

now
every father's day i sit down
with the book on my lap
open it and hear your voice
rub my fingers lightly over
and over your inscription
like a blind man
wishing for more


WEDDING POEM (for lily and chris)

so this is what it's come down to
after the invites are mailed and
the colors are picked and the brides-
maids cringe at the dresses they
have to wear but with the understanding
the only one that counts is the bride
as she walks down the aisle classy
like a Princess Diana with just a touch
of sultry Marilyn Monroe

the groom basically shows up
in his rented tux and shiny black shoes
tries to stay loose and not keel
over which sometimes is the
most important job of the day
love is pledged and "I do" is said
then a kiss to seal the deal
to loud and approving applause

it's on to the reception as spoons
tap on glasses and the couple's
first dance ever as mr and mrs
the cake is cut and bets are made
will they be civil about it or shove it
down each other's throat
the bride shows some leg as
the garter is slid down her shapely
calf and the single men jostle for
position like basketball players
during an inbound pass
then the ladies take the floor
leaping into the air like NFL
receivers making an end zone catch
coming down with the bouquet
doing the "I'm next" victory dance
later the DJ plays "respect"
and "what I like about you"
as everyone on the dance floor
is laughing and sweating because
today is for being happy

being happy with the hope that
man and woman can still share
their dreams and stand together
against the odds while making it in
a world that gets crazier
every time we turn on the
evening news

so tonight when we lie down in
our beds the joy we witnessed today
will take root and tomorrow
blossom with the realization

that there is still enough love
to go around for the rest of us


Copyright Richard Vargas, 2010

Richard Vargas was born and raised in California. He graduated from Cal State Univ., Long Beach. He is the publisher of the "Tequila Review" (1978-80), and the author of "McLife" (Main Street Rag Press, 2005), and "American Jesus"(Tia Chucha Press,2007). He is editor/publisher of "The Mas Tequila Review", and will be receiving his MFA in December 2010 from the University of New Mexico. To contact the author, email to: picodegallo54@yahoo.com

Dia de los Muertos Literary Series: Two Poems by Carolina Monsiváis

THE PACT

“Si tú mueres primero, yo te prometo,

te escribire la historia de nuestro amor...

-Benito de Jesus "Nuestro Juramento"

I believed the act of cremation
softened bones to dust.
I never imagined the person
whose job it is to pound
what heat doesn't dissolve.

I needed to believe
that what the body endures
in life ends with death.

But I know there are laws
to protect the dead, rituals
by candlelight to guide
the dead.

I prepare to fight for my lover's body
keep it from being drained, hollowed,
filled with sick-smelling liquid.
I flinch at the thought of his bones
smashed and scattered to ash.

But at least I can write our story.

Unlike my tio, his place unmarked,
no stone cradles his name.
Not even a document. "Asi
lo queria," my tias remind me.
"He just wanted to be with his mama."

My tias who carried Tio Ramon's ashes
cupped in their hands
to spill inside a hole
dug up at the foot of our nana's grave
by the boy who cared for him last.

Ramon didn't want anyone
to walk by and point,
know his real age.
Each year, over copas de coñac,

he'd declare his age reduced,
so that by the time he died
he was younger
than his younger sister.

His story
is of the first man he loved.
One nobody in my family
wants to remember.

What of his story written within
marrow? Who will read what love
dejo caer onto their skin?

The pact between them
sin tinta sangre unspoken
became a joke. His story strung
to laughter is retold and retold
not as a song
but a chisme.



RITUAL
para Liz


Your mother unhooked our framed collage
from a wall in your bedroom where rented

movies--titles peering--are scattered next
to books stacked. Hand painted strips of cloth

mark pages you read last. Your laptop mute
battery drained, sits sealed shut. Your latest

project, jewelry tangled and discarded, crushed
onto crosses, waits for your return. Less than

six years ago, the three of us-- you, me and Letty,
worked on the collage your mother passes on.

We sat around your table gathering pictures
from the previous ten years. Among them, included

the man who occupied four years trailed by two,
gutted by guilt. Ready to end my self-inflicted

punishment, I released his pictures
and his letters including the one he

left on the refrigerator before he left,
where he wrote "no one will love you

the way you are the way I did". Something
I prayed to be true. Letty sliced him from

the pictures only I remained, year after year
a single image you and Letty surrounded.

You burned his letters within cinderblock
stacked in your backyard. Smoke tangled

itself into the factory's dim light that slipped
over your fence. You held your camera up

to capture smoke and light weaving into each
other. Before it engulfed you completely.


Copyright 2010, Carolina Monsiváis

Carolina Monsiváis is a recipient of the Premio PoesiaTejana for her book, "Somewhere Between Houston and El Paso," and a winner of the Nuestra Voz for her collection "Elisa's Hunger"(Mouthfeel Press, 2010). Her work has been anthologized in "Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry", "Literary El Paso", and "U.S. Latino Literature Today". The author lives and teaches in El Paso, Texas.

First in our Dia de los Muertos Literary Series: Poems by Amalio Madueño

MY DEAD ABUELITAS

I thank my dead abuelitas while driving
Thank them both when alone on the highway
When I sense their care in snowshreds
Streaking an iced arroyo, their cold observance
From a feathered ridgeline of dormant encino
Their admonition in distant windshield flash
When the grasp at emptiness becomes a feast
When the solution of dream’s puzzle makes me smile
In small roadside confessions I thank them
Watching over me and my skimpy prayers


ALCALDE CEMETERY

No maps to celebrity graves here
Heaven is a wisp of cloud in high blue
What stays: frayed Norteño Catholic trinkets
Metate stone too heavy to carry anymore
Ojas, red plastic flowers left
By Sunday’s devout – remnants of early winter
Luminarias, matachine fringe, icons, solstice

Day moon above Truchas cools the llano
Honing seeds, sliding easily behind
Headstone wind shaking weed whips
Hardened species settle scores: ocate,
Osha, white sage, ocotillo
While in the earthen chapel Guadalupe,
Sedate in her nicho
Scares up spirits from the aisles



DEVIL FISH

on your way across Pima County’s basin & range
you tread through the home of the devil fish
you’ve heard of its uniqueness & believe its
2 inch tenacious silver chubby spined body
& “superior” mouth with tricuspid teeth can stand
Quitobaquito warmspring’s triple ocean salt
you can’t see him until you step on him
buried in the mud the little devil feels your toe
& reads your beating heart you must go
way across Sonoita Flats & the organ pipes
to see his orange-red tail-flash
he can’t trip you or swallow you up he is
that extra thing dormant in the muddy ooze
of the Gila & Santa Cruz as Spring approaches
the little carajo becomes an iridescent blue
& yellow Diablo waiting for you down below

Copyright 2010


Amalio Madueño is a poet from New Mexico and author of "Lost in the Chamiso" (Wild Embers, 2009) and co-authored of "Taos Poetry Circus: The 90s" (Pennwhistle Press, 1999).

Latino Virtual Museum Launches Second Annual Dia de lo Muertos Festival in Second Life

Experience Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, festivities in Second Life as the Latino Virtual Museum celebrates its second annual Dia de los Muertos Festival. The festival begins Friday, October 29 through Tuesday, November 2. To partake of this celebration, you will need an avatar. Click on the sidebar link GET YOUR AVATAR HERE.

Dia de los Muertos is a cultural celebration stemming from the blending of pre-Hispanic and Spanish customs, and it is celebrated throughout Latin America. This celebration is a day to honor and remember those who have passed on. It is both a time of mourning and happiness, and a time to celebrate life and death. If you want to learn more about this celebration, click the Dia de los Muertos sidebar banner and it will take you directly to the event page, or visit latino.si.edu and follow the links.




One of the highlights of the festival will include a "The Day of the Dead Ballgame Tournament", sponsored by the Walt Disney Company. The ballgame is based on the first organized Mesoamerican sport played almost 3,000 years ago! The game is played almost like soccer but instead of using the feet to kick the ball, players use their hips. Now, imagine playing this game in Second Life. Well, you can. Drop us a line at lvmsecondlife@gmail.com, and we will be happy to sign you up and your team!

Here is a list of the Dia de los Muertos event line-up:

Featured performance of poetry and music by Rincon Bohemio, from El Paso, Texas

Children's storytelling time and workshops for schools, with artist and musician Nancy Lorenza Green

Dia de los Muertos community ofrenda in LVM's virtual cemetery

Featured artist interview with Cesar Ivan


University of Notre Dame takes on the Smithsonian Latino Center in a meso-ball game tournament of life and death at the Ballcourt of the Sun

Opening procession featuring live Aztec ritual-blessing

Virtual Poetry Reading with poets from across the U.S.

Interview and featured concert with Lila Downs

Community ofrenda in Virtual Native Lands in Second Life

Skull Dance Party with live DJ



And more...


FORTHCOMING IN THIS BLOG: WE WILL POST POETRY, STORIES, AND ESSAYS FROM POETS AND WRITERS FROM ACROSS THE U.S. STAY TUNED!

The Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum website launches Fall 2008!

The New Frontier in Education and Online Learning

Welcome/¡Bienvenidos!
The Smithsonian Latino Center, in partnership with Ohio University Vital Lab and Second Life’s Linden Labs are pleased to present the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum (LVM), an avatar-based 3D virtual learning environment whose unique navigational features will provide access to the vast and rich collections, research and scholarship, exhibitions and educational activities of the Smithsonian Institution as they relate to U.S. Latinos and Latin America.

We invite you to join us in this adventure to explore Smithsonian world-class collections, superb scholarship, exciting programs and exhibitions through the lens of Second Life, a multi-user avatar based 3D (learning) virtual world environment.

Work in Progress: 2008

Come explore the first Smithsonian Institution virtual museum model in a 3D immersive environment. See our animation sketches in UTube!

Museums and the Web

"In the brief years since the appearance of the first museum Web sites, most museums have established some presence on the World Wide Web. Museums have much to learn from each other, and from developers using the Web for other applications. To facilitate this exchange of information, Archives & Museum Informatics organises an annual international conference devoted exclusively to Museums and the Web."

Read what Glenda Sims had to say about this year's conference in her original Oz blog! Check out all the new features being explored by museums such as blogs...(yes, bloggin!), social tagging and more.


Also, check out the features that the Los Angeles Getty Museum was able to showcase in one of their online exhibits (follow the link below). While navigating through the works of sculpture by Jean-Antoine Houdon you can not only zoom in and out to get incredibly close views of the marble, but you can also spin the sculpture around and see it from all sides! All it takes is a couple quick clicks of the mouse!

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/houdon/

Your Second Life is ready!

Explore Second Life, "a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,221,392 people from around the globe." Read the Popular Science article on this amazing virtual world.

UNCG Develops Ground-Breaking Video Game for College Credit

Video games for college credit?! Believe it! This alien could be your econ prof...

Another LVM feature

You can explore this feature "Create your own gallery" at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. This feature allows you to fully explore the archives and then gives you full curatorial control on how you organize your gallery!

The beginnings of the Pygoya Museum

Pygoya WebMuseum: "WHAT 'PYGOYA MUSEUM' MEANS

miss Binita Shome, museum homepage designer, wrote:
> I need to know how u've conceptualized the site'pygoya museum'...write to me in details...that'll help me in creating the designs as per ur imagination; want my designs to match with ur thinking...

OK, think about this when you design the creation-
I'm am this art student in this dream one night, attending virtually an
opening exhibition of this artist called Pygoya. I awoke and remembered
and liked that fictitious fantasy figure from the surrealism of the
dream state. I like his Asian Abstract murals and also adopted to my
style. This style I have done since 1985 after shifting from bronze
metalwork to digital mouse. Now there are thousands of originals
executed on computers since 1985. The aggregate growing collection is
given a central site to view them, with background history, just like a
visit to the local art museum. So online, we have Pygoya Webmusem
before but now Binita I want you to call it Pygoya Museum. Hey, a
museum is a museum., online or off-line. See and enjoy many pictures.
Now I like to act upon the belief that my works displayed on the
Internet become indigenous cyberculture as well as original art endemic
to the Web. So the life collection of Pygoyan images launched very
periodic shifting moment keeps advancing with the future. The myriad of
parading images show metamorphosing into new graphic veils with the
changing commerical preferences for generic grapic programming. But all maintain
the same kernel of the artist's spirit that continues to evolve along with
the technology, as well as contribute to global world art culture and experience.
-Pygoya 3/7/2003"

Features for LVM

Also in the Smithsonian Virtual Museum, you can see VRML models for some objects. This means that you come in contact with a virtual model of one of the planes designed by the Wright Brothers. You can't walk/touch/fly on the actual model in the National Air and Space Museum, but you can definitely do that here!

This is another feature found within the Smithsonian Virtual Museum. It is called the morph feature, which consists of transforming an object into another image. In this case a painting (slide 1 upper left)is morphed into the actual photograph of the place depicted. (slide 4 lower right)


This is the first slide of a presentation on the most recurrent features in highly publicized virtual exhibtions/tours.
Visit the site!

Capturing Content for Virtual Museums:

from Pieces to Exhibits

Bradley Hemminger, Gerald Bolas1, Doug Schiff2

School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360

1Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3400

23rdTech 119 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Email: bmh@ils.unc.edu

ABSTRACT

Virtual museums provide ways to capture the

content of a real museum in a digital (electronic)

form and make this digital form more universally

available. This paper describes a novel method for

digitally recording not only individual museum

pieces, but entire museum exhibits (consisting of one

or more rooms or spaces). The methodology allows

anyone with access to the Internet or a PC to

experience anywhere, anytime, any part of the

museum’s collection or exhibits (past, present and

future). Users can explore the museum exhibits in a

virtual reality that is both spatially accurate and

visually compelling. All objects and 3D scenes are

seen in precise full color photographic quality detail.

The scene and objects are polygonal meshes

representing the surfaces of objects. This permits

making measurements directly on the scene with

millimeter precision. The methodology, its

application to capturing museum exhibits, and

examples of exhibits recorded using this technique

are described. This work is part of the Virseum

project (http://ils.unc.edu/bmh/virseum) at the

School of Information and Library Science at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).

In addition to the capture of items and exhibits for

virtual access, this methodology opens the door for

many other applications, including capturing a

record of an exhibit for archival purposes and for

communication between curators, and for the design

of virtual (never physically implemented) exhibits

and pieces based on actual pieces and settings.

Categories and Subject Descriptors (ACM)

• H.3.7 Digital Libraries • I.4.1 Digitization and

Image Capture • H.5 INFORMATION

INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (e.g., HCI)

• J.5 ARTS AND HUMANITIES

Keywords

Digital library, virtual museums, virtual exhibits, 3D

digitization, 3D object scanning, 3D visualization.

VIRTUAL MUSEUMS: FIRST RESULTS OF A SURVEY ON METHODS AND TOOLS

Sylaiou S.¹, Liarokapis F.², Sechidis L.¹, Patias P.¹, Georgoula O.¹

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece¹

sylaiou@photo.topo.auth.gr, lazikas@photo.topo.auth.gr, patias@topo.auth.gr. olge@topo.auth.gr

City University, London, U.K.²

fotisl@soi.city.ac.uk

Keywords: Cultural Heritage, Virtual Museum, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Web3D

Abstract

Museums are interested in digitizing their collections in order not only to preserve the cultural information, but also to make it available to the wide public in an attractive manner. Emerging technologies, such as VR, AR and Web3D are widely used for creating virtual museum exhibitions in a museum environment through informative kiosks and on the World Wide Web. This paper makes a survey in the field and explores the various kinds of virtual museums, their advantages and limitations by presenting old and new methods and tools used for their creation.

Virtual museums can respond in various ways to visitors’ needs. With the use of VR, AR and Internet technologies, they can provide an entertaining and educational experience. Additionally, they enrich the museum experience by enabling an intuitive interaction with the virtual museum artifacts. The benefits of virtual museums are noteworthy for museum curators and various groups of end-users, like students, specialists and tourists.

Virtual museums have the potential to preserve and disseminate the cultural information in an effective and low-cost way through innovative methods and tools. They do not aim at replacing the physical museums, but they act complementary. Virtual museums that are an engaging medium with great appeal to various visitors’ groups can promote the ‘real sites’ by providing information about museum exhibitions and offer an enhanced display of museums’ artefacts through emerging technologies.

Creating Virtual Museum For The Historical Malacca’s Glittering Emergence In The Cyber World

CONCEPT REVIEW

1. Create an efficient and competitive virtual environment to promote Melaka’s success in the fields of history, culture, and tourism at home and abroad by removing obstacles to growth of knowledge capital.

2. Establish a safe heaven for incubation of intellectual property by obtaining the exclusive right to build and digitize the contents related to history in Malaysia.

3. Broaden access and shorten the geographical distance for current and future generations to expose to rich and varied cultural and traditional values by streaming the digitzed contents through Internet.

4. Develop the educational potential and raise standards of cultural education and training.

5. Ensure all citizens have the equal opportunity to achieve excellence in conservation of history and applications of IT by developing talent as well as cultivating innovation.

6. Setup the new international standard to certify the methodology and technology in preservation of the integrity of the historical records.

7. Promote the role of the governments in urban and rural regeneration in pursuing social harmony by understanding the lessons learned in history.

8. Develop various coherent and consistent events, gallery drama, guided tours, exhibitions, and scientific expeditions to generate and sustain public interest in learning history and IT.

benefits of the state department

1. Promote and complement domestic tourism industry by introducing Melaka as the history and knowledge hub to other states and the rest of the world.

2. Create more employment opportunity, especially service and knowledge based industries.

3. Cultivate, generate, and preserve the intellectual property right by the local people.

4. Promote and educate public regarding the unique history heritage and culture of Melaka state.

5. Provide a platform for exchange knowledge, conversation of history, culture and traditional value.

6. Improve trade and communications between the Melaka and other states and countries.