[meteorite-list] Gebel Kemil article in New Scientist

From: Peter Davidson <P.Davidson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 09:04:04 +0100
Message-ID: <D7171847AEFC6A4893D80C75E547E27102D30C33_at_nmsmail02.nms2k.int>

Kieron, Jason and others

I absolutely do not want to re-ignite the old "private" vs. "public"
argument again. As a curator for a publically-funded museum, however, I
do feel that once again I need to defend not just may own institution,
but other similar bodies.

I feel sure that every curator charged with the care and security of a
meteorite collection, or any other collection of geological material,
wishes they had the time, space and money to put as much of their
collections on display as they possibly could. Often, decisions about
exhibitions and what goes on display, are out of the control of the
curator. They are often also constrained by a list of considerations and
preconditions that is longer than my arm, and we often face prejudice
from "art" based curators about the worthiness and attractiveness of
geological specimens. I guess you have heard this all before.

But we do our level best to bring our collections to the public
attention by other means. There are talks and lectures given by
curators, school visits, there are mineral, fossil and meteorite shows
(like Ensisheim and Munich) where we can put stuff on display. Other
museums and galleries can also take our material on loan. Publications
in both the popular press and the academic press are also pumping a
constant stream of information into the public domain. Last but not
least, as the collections held in public institutions are paid for by
the taxpayers of the UK, they are fully entitled to come and view the
collections in their storage areas, subject to certain limitations, and
I am happy to take appointment from members of the public to come and
see the collections and a number of members on this list and the BIMS
list have already done so. All are welcome!

Curators face a lot of pressure from many directions. The threat of cuts
and redundancies is also now looming ever closer. Please recognise that
we are all doing our best. We recognise, in turn, that we could do
better. In the end, we all want the same thing - to bring our wonderful
meteorites to a wider public.

Cheers

Peter Davidson
Curator of Minerals
 
Department of Natural Sciences
National Museums Collection Centre
242 West Granton Road
Edinburgh EH5 1JA
Scotland
Tel: 00 44 131 247 4283
E-mail: p.davidson at nms.ac.uk

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Kieron
Heard
Sent: 05 August 2010 20:07
To: Matt Smith; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Gebel Kemil article in New Scientist

Much food for thought there, Matt. I was particularly struck by the
following statement attributed to Philip Bland:

"If they don't do it [analyse meteorites for dealers] then the
meteorites
will remain solely in private hands, sitting in a collection. The
meteorites
would be never seen again."

It has been said before, but how many of the meteorites languishing in
museum stores will ever be seen by the public? I'll bet my modest
collection
has the potential to reach a wider audience and generate more interest
than
some of those held by public bodies.


Regards, Kieron



-----Original Message-----
From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com]On Behalf Of Matt
Smith
Sent: 05 August 2010 19:40
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] Gebel Kemil article in New Scientist


An article on the controversy regarding the recent Gebel Kemil find:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727724.000-deep-impact-market-th
e-ra
ce-to-acquire-meteorites.html

or

http://bit.ly/ct9U42

Regarding the legal situation it states:

"In Egypt, permission is supposed to be required to export meteorites.
Di
Martino and colleagues were authorised to take just 20 kilograms of
Gebel
Kamil
out of the country. "Everything which is found in the Egyptian soil is
property
of the government," explains Tarek Hussein, who as former president of
Egypt's
Academy of Scientific Research and Technology was responsible for
handling
export applications until last April. He is concerned that many Gebel
Kamil
fragments that have appeared on the market in the west were not approved
for
export."


Matt.


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Received on Fri 06 Aug 2010 04:04:04 AM PDT