Tone Cecilie Simensen Karlgård

Lecturer - Education and public services

Norwegian version of this page

Email t.c.s.karlgard@khm.uio.no

Phone +47 22859956

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Visiting address Frederiks gate 2 0164 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 6762 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo

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Professional interests

My primary interest is in the role of Diversity Curator and thereby safeguard the museum's function as dialogue arena and to work for the inclusion of and cooperation with the public in conducting events and outreach projects. I also have extensive experience with and interest in the exhibition production and development of outreach and educational programs. Contact with students, pupils and teachers are also important sources of inspiration in the professional work.

Project management and coordination of exhibition projects are other interests and areas of expertise.

Through many years as a board member and secretary board of Norwegian ICOM and presently Board member of ICME – Committee for Ethnographic Museums, I have broad experience from international museum work.

Anthropology and ethnographic collections and interdisciplinary museum communication are signifiers of my interests. Projects: MEMORY ON THE HORIZON – Studio photographies – Somalia 1960–1980 - Historical Museum (historiskmuseum.no) A project in cooperation with artist Leban Hussein of Somalian background and museum colleagues.

Congo gaze – people, encounters and artifacts is a collaboration project between the museum and the Congolese population in Oslo and Norway, through activating the museum's ethnographic collection a meeting place is established where new knowledge and other stories are generated.

I am concerned about the museum's role in society and what the museum should be in the future.

"It`s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." Lewis Carroll

Teaching

MUSE4910 – Utstillingsproduksjon - museologisk teori og praksis

Background

Cand.Polit in Social Anthropology from the University of Oslo, 1997

Appointments

Board member of ICME/ICOM – International Committee of Ethnographic Museums
Member of the reference group for new exhibitions in the 22 July Centre
Member of the editorial board of the Norwegian publication Museumsnytt
Representative in the national museum network Diversity Museums
Cooperating otherwise with external organizations about event management in the museum:
- APP – Action Paix a Pain
- The Norwegian Roma Association
- Romani Cultura
Cooperation with the Somali Welfare Association Baatalale and the cultural group Magical Mexico.

Tags: Exhibitions, Museology, Museum Pedagogy, Project management, Social Anthropology, Ethnography

Et inkluderende museum - kulturelt mangfold i praksis
https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/55587
Ti samiske tidsbilete – Logi sámi áigegova
Provocation and Cooperation: Testing Innovation in a New Exhibition. http://www.cristin.no/as/WebObjects/cristin.woa/wo/26.0.29.25.8
Adornment Outside and In - smykker fra Sentral- og Øst-Afrika, prosjektleder [Kunstnerisk og museal presentasjon] Museumsutstilling. Kulturhistorisk museum, UiO; Historisk museum. 2011-06-01 - 2011-08-07 UiO
En flytende verden - den gang og nå? Japanske tresnitt fra midten av 1600 tallet og til i dag, prosjektleder [Kunstnerisk og museal presentasjon] Utstilling. Kulturhistorisk museum, UiO; Historisk museum. 2011-03-18 - 2011-06-05 UiO
“Every day is party” celebrations - tools for tearing down boundaries?. "Dissolving boundaries. Museological approaches to national, social and cultural issues",; 2011-10-02 - 2011-10-05 UiO
Typical Souvernirs? Originals or copies? How do we know?. Stop Heritage Crime; 2011-01-13 - 2011-01-13 UiO

Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2016). Skapende rivingsprosess? Demontering av vikingtidutstillingen og deltakelse fra publikum, en form for dekuratering basert på tillit. Primitive tider. ISSN 1501-0430. p. 155–167. Full text in Research Archive
Iveland, Kristin & Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2004). Utstillinger i 100 år, Kulturhistorier i sentrum. Historisk Museum 100 år. Universitetet i Oslo. ISSN 82-8084-019-2. p. 116–135. Show summary
Artikkelen omhandler utstillinger i Historisk museum fra åpningen i 1904. Utstillinger med materiale fra alle de tre samlingene, både Arkeologisk (oldsaksamlingen), Etnografisk og Numismatisk i Kulturhistorisk museum er omtalt. Utstillinger er en formidlingsform som involverer hele mennesket, og skiller seg fra formidling via skrift eller film. Flere aspekter ved utstillingene diskuteres - både etiske problemstillinger, form og design, formidling og politikk. Hvordan er fremtidens utstillinger? Kan museale samlinger og utstillinger tilby forskningsbasert formidling og en dypere form for kulturforståelse enn den daglige informasjonsflyt i mediesamfunnet?
Simensen, Tone Cecilie (2002). Utstilling på liv og død. Skrifter - Universitetet i Oslos kulturhistoriske museer. ISSN 1503-0792. p. 279–287. Show summary
Summary: Ethical questions in relation to the exhibition of secret, sacred objects and other sensitive material is discussed according to ICOM code of ethics. Experiences from working with the objects of UKM are used as examples. Museum objects are not dead, even when kept in the storage rooms of the museum they are alive and well ¿ changing meaning according to political movements taking place elsewhere, as is the case with the Australian tjuringaes. To give a presentation of the reason why objects are not exhibited may communicate thought-evoking knowledge to the museum audience, instead of the object itself. A brief discussion of how far the western museum may take into consideration the local knowledge and religious beliefs of the minority people from whom certain objects are brought, is being presented. When involved in working with museum exhibitions we constantly need to find good solutions on how to show respect to the knowledge and beliefs of other cultures as well as treating our own culturally molded conviction with respect. Being a university museum in western culture we do look upon knowledge as an important value in the process of creating greater understanding between people. Anyhow no knowledge is innocent or objective, this is also important to communicate through exhibitions. The main argument in this text may be formulated as follows: the most important matter when reflecting upon ethical questions regarding the exhibition of secret, sacred objects and sensitive material is to keep the discussion alive.

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Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2018). 11 Sami images – exhibiting indigenous diversity, experiences from cooperation and shared knowledge production in the context of the Museum of Cultural History, UiO, Oslo Norway.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2018). Tone Cecilie Simensen Karlgård, Escaping King Leopold’s Ghost – Shifting Positions and Shared Knowledge Production.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2018). Congo Gaze - People, Encounters and Artifacts Radical trust - an unrealistic ideal or conceivable practice? Show summary
With Bernadette Lynch's concept "radical trust" in mind this paper briefly describes the project idea and organization of the project Congo Gaze - People, Encounters and Artifacts, a collaboration between employees at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo and members of the Congolese milieu in Norway. The aim is to explore how and to what extent this particular project developed in terms of "radical trust". What kind of obstacles arose during the process and how could these be understood in terms of trust or also mistrust. The project idea was actuated when a group of people from the Congolese milieu in Norway, expressed their interest for the ethnographic Congo collection at the Museum. The group was invited to examine and discuss the significance, usage and plausible provenance of objects and to identify those which their views would be meaningful in the perspective of cultural heritage. In the end, in collaboration with museum employees the group should produce an exhibition. Based on this experience, questions to be addressed involve: how to best design a project process which ensure that museum employees and in this case, groups from minority communities hold a common understanding of what collaboration involving "radical trust", actually should imply? In what manner could the idea of "radical trust" be implemented within the framework of existing institutional structures of a Museum and within the frames of current public administration?
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2016). Congo Gaze – People, Encounters and Artifacts. Reflections on cooperation and challenges. Tone Cecilie Simensen Karlgård Kulturhistorisk museum, UiO.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen & Pareli, Leif (2014). Provocation and Cooperation: Testing Innovation in a New Exhibition.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2012). The Museum as arena for celebrations – “epitomizing the ambiguous reality of ‘cultural’ difference” - while exercising letting go of control?(Title inspired by James Clifford).
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2011). “Every day is party” celebrations - tools for tearing down boundaries? Show summary
“Every day is party” celebrations - tools for tearing down boundaries? Creating and strengthening the role of the museum as an arena for intercultural dialogues is important, challenging and gratifying, especially within a museum that houses old, colonial, ethnographic collections. The museum as “Contact Zone” - the challenges and values of participation will be discussed in this paper. The international day of the Roma-people, the traditional Japanese Hanami day, The Day of the Dead in Mexico, the national independence day in DR Congo – these and other events are celebrated internationally - as well as in the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo; KHM. Through cooperation over several years with the associations of the Congolese people in Norway, the Roma – peoples associations etc., these celebrations may be experienced as tools for dissolving boundaries between the majority and the minority groups. Establishing awareness of the old, national institution as a place that belongs to and welcomes us all, is another value achieved and a “boarder” torn down. To have the museum host the celebration for groups that have experienced discrimination in the Norwegian society over centuries are valuable in the ongoing work for a more diverse and inclusive society.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2011). Hver dag er en fest - museet som arena for nasjonaldager og feiringer.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2011). Adornment Outside and In - smykker fra Sentral- og Øst-Afrika. Show summary
Estetisk kraft” –– ”Adornment outside and in Smykker, besmykning, estetikk – estetisk kraft – skaper og opprettholder relasjoner og grenser mellom mennesker. Estetisk kraft kan omdefinere relasjoner og flytte grenser. Forestillinger om det skjønne er imidlertid ikke verdinøytrale. Se nøye på materialene. Tilvirkning og design bærer budskap om utveksling og innflytelse. Likheter ved smykkene viser hvordan ideer flyter mellom samfunn og kulturelle omgivelser, samt smykkers betydning som byttemiddel. Slik uttrykker smykker grenseløs sosial og politisk samhandling. Estetikk eller smykker – i sin evige foranderlighet og tilblivelse – setter lys på den viktige rolle ’den andre’ spiller for inspirasjon og fornyelse. Smykkers estetisk kraft fasinerer grunnet materialene de er laget av og fordi de er skjønne. Men skjønnhet er et relativt og foranderlig begrep; det oppfattes forskjellig på ulike steder, i ulike miljøer og over tid. Det som for noen er ment å forskjønne en person eller omgivelse, oppfattes av andre som brutalt, stygt eller vulgært. Slik er verden; et sted fullt av komplikasjoner og forskjellighet, også i spørsmål om estetikk og forskjønning. Utstillingen viser smykker fra museets afrikanske samling, i hovedsak armeringer og halskjeder. Både det delikate og røffe ved materialene så vel som håndverket er vektlagt. Smykker former den besmykkede, men former også tilvirkeren hvis kunnskap og ferdigheter er grunnleggende for selve produksjonen. Legg derfor merke til kreativiteten og åpenheten i hva som anses å være egnede materialer for smykkeproduksjon. Merk dere at estetikken og dens kraft handler om langt mer enn dekorasjon. Den utgjør en viktig dimensjon i markeringen og overføringen av sosial status og kjønn. Smykkenes estetiske kraft spiller en sentral rolle i utformingen av personlighet så vel som person. Slik kroppen bearbeides, fremtrer personen. Men la oss ikke glemme hvordan kroppsbevegelse, holdning og gester spiller sammen med smykker. Først når de ikles, blir smykker forskjønnende. Kroppen inngår i smykkene, eller kanskje blir smykkene del av den observerbare og ”levende kropp”. Det handler om besmykning – estetisk kraft – fra utsiden og innover i kroppen og sjelen. Forskjønning, utsmykning – estetiske kraft – minner oss om livets tidløshet.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2011). En flytende verden - den gang og nå? Japanske tresnitt fra midten av 1600 tallet og til i dag. Show summary
Min rolle var prosjektleder for utstillingen.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen & Mykleby, Axel (2011). Methods of Public Communication.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2011). Typical Souvernirs? Originals or copies? How do we know?
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen (2009). Mim - A Way to do Diversity in Norway.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen & Kvalø, Idunn (2004). Ikke sant? Historisk museum 100 år.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen; Kvalø, Idunn; Julin, Yngvar & Bredal, Kristin (2004). ikke sant? Historisk museum 100 år.
Karlgård, Tone Cecilie Simensen & Arntsen, Øyvind (2004). "Museum" - et program om norsk historie. [Radio]. NRK P2.
Hvoslef, Erlend Harildstad; Simensen, Tone Cecilie; Mugaas, Toril Elisabeth; Carlsson, Dagfinn & Teigen, Mårten (2002). Kirgisistan - Filtlandet midt i verden og folket under himmelfjellene.
Anderson, Astrid; Kittelsen, Tove Cecilie; Risan, Lars Christian; Seeberg, Marie Louise; Selvik, Ellen & Simensen, Tone Cecilie (1995). i Hovedfagsstudentenes årbok, UiO, Oslo, 1995. 7Letras. ISSN 82-90835-02-7.

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Published Sep. 11, 2012 2:25 PM - Last modified Sep. 30, 2023 3:56 PM