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Spreading the Word: An Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund Project
- 1. Josefine Frank E: j.s.frank@bham.ac.uk T: 0121 414 5800 @FrankJosefine Spreading the Word: An Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund Project
- 2. Cadbury Research Library Collects, manages, preserves and makes accessible the University’s collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives, photographs and associated artefacts
- 4. Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts • Over 3,000 manuscripts encompassing Islamic, Christian and Jewish texts • Over 20 languages, including Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Greek, and Ethiopic • Dating from 7th to 20th century Mi’a Kalimat attributed to Ali ibn Abu Talib , 1568-9, Islamic Arabic 1651 The Four Gospels , 17th century, Armenian 1
- 5. World-class collection for Birmingham Edward Cadbury (1873-1948) Alphonse Mingana (1878-1937)
- 6. Birmingham – young and diverse • One of the youngest cities in Europe about 40% under 25 • Culturally and religiously diverse 42% other than White 46.1% Christians, 21.8% Muslims, 19.3% no religion 22% born outside the UK Source: 2011 census figures Birmingham Council House University of Birmingham
- 7. Our idea Use the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts 1) To connect local people with their cultural and religious heritage 2) To encourage pride and confidence in Birmingham’s identity as a city shaped by faith diversity Masnavi-yi Ma'navi by Jalal al-Din Rumi, early 19th century, Persian 1
- 8. Project overview •Internships •Volunteering opportunities •Social media •Exhibitions •Muslim women’s group •Interfaith youth group •Bookbinding survey •Archival research on collection history Research & documentation Work with community partners TrainingDissemination
- 11. Reflections after first project year • Be brave and experiment because visitors’ responses are unpredictable . • Working with the most obvious community partners does not always result in the best partnerships. • There is an almost irreconcilable gap between Muslim scholarship and non-Muslim research on Islam.
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon. My name is Josefine Frank, project curator at CRL, together with my colleague Dr Sarah Hall, I worked on a pilot project trying to engage secondary school students with the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern MSS. We recently finished the first round of this project and would like to thank the organisers for inviting us here today, to share some of our achievements and reflections with you.
- What is Cadbury Research Library? CRL collects, manages, preserves and makes accessible the University of Birmingham’s collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives, photographs and associated artefacts. We are the custodians of over 200,000 early printed books as well as over 4 million unique archive and manuscript collections.
- It directly supports the University’s research, learning and teaching agenda, as well as the national and international research community mixture of archive, library, and museum Besides running the research and exhibition facilities, we deliver a range of hands-on group teaching sessions CRL holds a wealth of unique archives, manuscripts and rare books which provide ideal material to deliver hands-on group teaching sessions in our Chamberlain Seminar Room. Workshops with original material allow for a practical and direct approach to the study of cultural heritage and provide the perfect chance for students to develop an appreciation of the resources in the University’s collections. On these occasions many students discover new insights into their subjects and develop an awareness of the rich possibilities of primary research. Our broad and varied collections support a wide range of subjects and our experience is that they create an extremely rewarding teaching and learning environment for students in many disciplines. Colleagues and students in CAL: literature, history, languages, art history, theology But also history of medicine and anatomy, abolition of slavery, business ethics using company archives, and East India Company using missionary archives and ships' logbooks.
- What is the Mingana Collection and why is it culturally important? The collection is made up of over 3,000 manuscripts, written in over 20 languages. Originating from the Middle East the manuscript were acquired by brought together in Birmingham during the 1920s and 1930s by , Alphonse Mingana (1878-1937), under the patronage of the philanthropist and businessman Edward Cadbury, who generously named the collection after its first curator. Alphonse Mingana, a Chaldean priest of Assyrian descent born near Mosul who had settled in England. varying in date from the 6th to the early 20th century and written in over 20 languages, including Arabic, Syriac and Persian. The collection contains mainly Islamic and Eastern Christian theological and philosophical texts. Orphaned - no curator since 1957 and without the necessary expertise and knowledge the manuscripts remain under-researched and poorly understood
- What is the Mingana Collection and why is it culturally important? The collection is made up of over 3,000 manuscripts, written in over 20 languages. Originating from the Middle East the manuscript were acquired by brought together in Birmingham during the 1920s and 1930s by , Alphonse Mingana (1878-1937), under the patronage of the philanthropist and businessman Edward Cadbury, who generously named the collection after its first curator. Alphonse Mingana, a Chaldean priest of Assyrian descent born near Mosul who had settled in England. varying in date from the 6th to the early 20th century and written in over 20 languages, including Arabic, Syriac and Persian. The collection contains mainly Islamic and Eastern Christian theological and philosophical texts. Orphaned - no curator since 1957 and without the necessary expertise and knowledge the manuscripts remain under-researched and poorly understood
- Barriers: insufficient documentation and lack of specialist