Recollecting Robert Papini

In Memoriam

Robert Papini in meditation at Vaults & Garden cafe,
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, 2007.

 

This is a belated tribute to Robert Papini, particularly for his contributions to interfaith, notably with the International Association for Religious Freedom.  I also include excerpts from his other activities, with a sprinkling of quotes to offer glimpses of his erudition.  I hope to highlight in these brief excerpts how he exemplified the voluntary and vocational nature of his work and reflected deeply.

Background

Robert was originally from South Africa, with Italian ancestry through his father who was originally from Florence.  Possessing an open and inquisitive mind, he developed an interest in people, culture and the environment, which he nurtured throughout his life.  His academic study included two degrees in the UK: a Bachelor’s in English and African & Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury and a Master of Studies in Ethnology and Museum Ethnography together with Museology at the Department of Ethnology & Prehistory/ Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (as a member of Linacre College).  This led to employment as a Research Officer in the Local History Museums, Durban from 1989 to 2002.  Some fruits of his research are evident in papers on his Academia site.

Robert at IARF

About a year later, from November 2003, he started a new job in Oxford, as General Office Administrator at the Secratariat of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF). IARF is one of the first international interfaith organisations, which traces its formation to 1900 and is a UN NGO with general consultative status, which means it can be consulted on any matter, not just religion.

Robert was soon immersed at his desk in a compact office space, within a series of rooms on the top floor of a corner block in Market Street, which also housed the World Congress of Faiths (WCF), the International Interfaith Centre (IIC) and, in little more than a storage room, Rissho Kosei-Kai (RKK).  There he started to familiarise himself with the organisation and the distinctive features of dealing with adherents of world religions and the complexities of faith-based issues.  There were numerous projects that needed planning and facilitating.  It was a demanding initiation into international interfaith work.

I had been a member of the IIC and kept in touch with the office, sometimes exchanging e-mails.  At the beginning of March 2004, I sent a note about a Dhammakaya meditation session that I was organising at the Friends Meeting House in St Giles, which was circulated internally.  Robert picked it up and was interested.  He had already practised Vipassana as taught by S.N. Goenka, but was open to exploring other methods. 

However, he was swamped by work.  It was not until June, when another series of classes was on offer, that he felt that he was starting to cope with his role and ready to attend, commenting early in June 2004:

Many thanks for this; six months on, & I'm a bit more on top of admin routines at IARF, so have some time for myself now. Am definitely there for the first & last of the dates mentioned...

Robert did make it, but only just, and couldn’t stay:

Very sorry to have had to walk out on the class - please excuse, I was just so shattered from the day's work, found myself dropping off as soon as the eyes closed, in spite of all efforts!

I need to have a good day at work first, I realise...

Robert’s exhaustion came from his wholehearted efforts and over the next years he continued to grapple with – what seemed to me – an exceedingly demanding job.  In typical corporate style, his job titles were frequently shuffled without a clear career progression; from Office Administrator, he became (in succession): Office & Research Co-ordinator, Executive Officer, Office Manager and later he signed off merely as Admin.

Occasionally, Robert’s dissatisfaction was intense (he once admitted to me that he had walked out on an important meeting), but by and large, Robert gradually found his way, managing the challenges more effectively.  One of his most impactful involvements was in human rights education, especially in India, resulting in numerous training sessions.

In parallel, with opportunities to explore near and far, he developed his leisure activities. He drew on a long-standing interest in photography that inspired the likes of High School students and photojournalists (archived), with camera in hand, he started to reacquaint himself with the geography of Oxford and the Thames, dutifully contributing photographs of historic landmarks to the Historic England Archive IOE Series.

In Osaka

His travel abroad provided an opportunity for him to apply his empathic approach towards different cultures and for others to experience his considerable writing skills, whether that meant capturing the zeitgeist in brief pithy comments or much longer, evocative narratives.  This was epitomised in an unexpected turn of events. 

By 2007, as documented in the annual report of 2008/9, IARF was suffering a crisis and underwent major organisational change with operations moved to Japan.  After holding the fort in Oxford, Robert, as the sole surviving staff member, was sent to Osaka in mid-December, to run operations out of IARF’s Japan office, assisted by unpaid volunteers.  At the invitation of Reverend Yoshinobu Miyake, he was hosted by the Konko Church of Izuo (of the Shinto tradition), one of the charity’s main supporters.

Robert was once again having to orientate himself in a new culture and, despite severe financial constraints, he embraced it with enthusiasm, vividly penning his initial impressions:

Getting back to UK end-2003 was a buzz, but this is another order of excitement. Always been hard for me to remember what it's like when you land blind in a totally new country where the script is a scribble to you, and a handful of words is all you have.

During his first week, his creative juices started flowing:

18/12/2007
OK, this should be on a blog, but gimme time - I just got here...!.

(How about 17 years or so?)

He could barely wait to describe his environment:

Evening of my third day as a transient of Izuo neighbourhood, Osaka – just got back from my first real solo sortie into the surrounds, & my virgin supermarket safari. Been itching to get reactions to file, so lucky i brought over the old Toshiba laptop from Oxford, as no office PC bought yet, let alone set up in the new IARF office, which is double ex-res rooms two doors along from my little living-cell here on level three, topmost, of the Izuo Konkokyo church residential block (From my window, that's filled with the watercolour-fine foliage of dwarf bamboo and looks directly onto the Ancestors' Hall, I can see the massive coped gable of the mighty temple's great tiled roof, which is steep & gold-monogrammed, and the antique pale green of oxidized bronze).

The loaded term 'cell' i mean in the fully positive sense – i'm sat tapping away right now on the beautiful fine-weave /tatami/ mat flooring that's integral to the traditional Japanese home, with enough room on one edge of the living space to have a mattress, on the other a thin futon for my morning & evening bodywork; no furniture, but a roomy built-in cupboard & wall-mounted heater/aircon. My tiny kitchenette has a sink, mini-fridge & single electric ring, which would be fine anyway (though you might think I look a bit outlandish looming over my wok in its recess) but there's a much bigger cooking space, with gas, in the office-to-be, where i'll likely do most feeding..

Robert proceeded to describe his use of the local public bath (for his ‘cell’ had no shower or bath) as very much a social activity, but a tradition in decline as a result of Western influence.  Then came further details of his residence,

So anyway – there it is, my monkish cell with its outhouse ablutions. In all it's small for a great lunk of a spotty barbarian like me, kinda 'cubicular' i guess, but perfect for your stripped-down living, your monastic aspiration, and i have near-perfect silence here. There's a little street goes down the one side of this long 3-storey residential block, but hardly any traffic, and it's utterly charming, in the way of everything i've seen so far in the neighbourhood: /so/ different from our innercity streetscapes, obv everything three-quarter size, yes, but in many other ways such an insight into pre-modern urbanity while being totally modern, and refreshingly non-postmodern in the human scale of it, the sense of neighbourhood & the diversity & almost hobbitonian individuality of structures, the mingling of small business with residential, the balconies, jungle of oldstyle wiring overhead through all the interlinked alleyways & arcades that make up our Izuo 'hood, in the district here of Sangenya Nishi, a ward of Taisho, one of the many areas of what is a truly huge, trade-grown megasprawl between distant coastal mountain range and bay, with a good part of it reclaimed from the sea (including the airport, built by infilling the bay with mountain-top) --- and much of that in centuries well before the Dutch began their much-celebrated polders.

Bringing his historical survey into present times, he paused again to reflect:

Not too hard then, wandering about, to sense for oneself how the cities of pre-modern Japan must have been before American bombs & the post-war boom ushered in the built environment we see now. And this Now itself is all very much of that era; what gives the charm is the 50s/60s retro feel in building design, kinda like visions of old-school futurists, now a little worn & dated, but very much inhabited & alive, & conforming well to a certain stereotype we have of Japan (or at least, that the sophisticated have; I'm disturbed to discover how crude were my notions of this country & culture - just as with everywhere unknown, you come to realise. Pious it may sound to ask again, but the old chestnut stands: When will we learn to attribute the very same full humanity to others as we do to ourselves & 'our own'? Travel the cure? Shame it has to be on fossil fuel).

And found other sites particularly striking for being of a certain period:

Took a wander around the neighbourhood this afternoon … Found my way into the Osaka Dome (Police & Bon Jovi to play soon), & it's so /very/ much of its time - 80s futurist, now beginning to wear a bit. This was the Wembley Arena of its day, and vast it must have seemed then. Still pretty impressive. They have some kind of snowmaking lark going on at the top level, & loads of young people were buying snowboarding & other gear at a big indoor market, then queuing to get in. All the rage, obv. Minded me of Dubai's snow mountain in the desert, & other insanities of the incipient anthropocene era of atmosphere-wrecking.

Back in the office, it was time to deal with some practicalities.

Izuo, Osaka

18 Dec 07

dears

First day spent assembling the few bits of office furniture, devilish diagrams but eventually got them figured & glued, banged & screwed all together, trala, with just one cockup, of slight consequence though odd appearance (I blame it on a skewhiffed hands-off education. Come naa then, Bob the Builder To Be, make yo papa's ghost proud...)..

He was seemingly adopting the famed Japanese work ethic, as exemplified by his distinguished host:

 … Tomorrow we go off to Kyoto again, this time to some of the great shrines, for a 'greeting'. And it seems there's a trip to Tokyo next week, for this G8 Religious Leaders thing of Rev. Miyake's. He richly deserves the honorific 'tireless' that's given him in the biography of his grandfather that i'm reading: having gotten back from Tokyo at 3.30am this morning, after three top-level meetings with cabinet secretaries, etc., he was up at 4.30am to hold a temple service, then hit the desk to complete a newsletter for a 11am deadline! Even with the flu that he's inevitably picked up (quite a few people going about in facemasks, as it's said to be bad this year), he remains cheerful as ever, happy to help me out, managing well enough without his office girls today (Tuesday is a day off around here).

After an eventful start, he was in good spirits, sending the following note to welcome the arrival of 2008:

Dear friends

This year I count myself probably the first of you to greet the new year, here in Osaka, on the western Pacific rim. Aah yes - to be first, for once... ;}

(Most of you at least nine or ten hours away from first continental landfall of Jan 1st. 2008, some much more. Shame... But the suspense is everything, right?)...

Enjoy it when it comes, & here's to the year -- hope you're facing it with courage & commitment.

As ever -  Life, Love & Unity  !

Robert was in his element on this sojourn.  With his stay being extended, his wife, Catherine, went over several times to join him.  After a successful spell that met the approval of his hosts, he returned towards the end of 2008 to establish a ‘virtual office’, subsequently returning to Osaka for shorter spells.  In the minutes of the IARF Council Meeting of March 2009, the Personnel Committee reported:

Guji Takahiro Miwa had supervised the Osaka Office and was pleased with Robert’s performance. From November 2008 Robert had operated a virtual office from his London home and this had worked well with appropriate cooperation from the Church of Konko, whose staff had checked the incoming post. The three months in Osaka and three months in London arrangement will continue during 2009. A motion of thanks to Guji Takahiro Miwa, Guji Yoshinobu Miyake and Robert Papini was passed by acclamation.

Through generosity and fruitful collaboration, IARF survived and was able to maintain a significant international presence, providing input on a range of issues that affected religious practice directly and indirectly.  Robert provided a continuous thread to all these activities, not merely in fulfilling his office duties in practical terms, but, more profoundly, by his sincere cultural adaptation, demonstrating a deep dialogue with the Japanese members who provided the main financial support.  He earned considerable respect and hence encouragement to keep going.

Laying Foundations for Digital Communications

IARF’s severely limited financial resources prompted the organisation to make increasing use of electronic means of communication, a direction already evident in Council Meeting minutes of 2009.

Robert was again instrumental in this development; the ‘IARF - RFYN Young Adults’ Human Rights Training, Kolkota: 2011’ report noted:

Mr. Robert the administrator-IARF has began with session where he has made us know actualization of HRD ie “Human Rights Defenders” He introduced us with the various sources from where we can began and channelize our revolution towards Peace. In his continuing session he has mention the various ways ie media, SMS, Facebook, and Twitter can play significant Role.

The IARF Website was intended to be central to these developments.  Unfortunately, it was not fit for purpose.  Navigating from the home page, one  encountered pages authored in 2009, in one design, and a presumably early 2008 design used for news in 2010.  The site also had a discussion forum that was swamped by spam, and with custom PHP coding that was not maintained, the security status was questionable.  And then there were the styling and presentation issues, the variability in layout, fonts, colour schemes.  All in all it was a mess.

So IARF sought a solution based on an established content management system and Robert was tasked with delivering it.  A tender was put out, to which several companies responded, but I suspect that the budget was not adequate for commercial rates – even after significant discounts.  It likely prompted a reassessment and a reaching out to existing contacts in the hope of finding someone with requisite skills (and a charitable disposition).  That let Robert to me.

At that time, I was employed half-time as Web Officer at the Museum of the History of Science, so I had some spare capacity.  And having developed and consolidated the museum’s web offerings in WordPress, I had some idea about content management.

On 11 May, following a face-to-face chat, Robert sent me their requirements document.  At the end of the month, after further exchanges, Robert wrote:

Apropos, this email is really to tell you some good news (well, I hope it's good for you! - i.e. that you're not committing out of any sense of obligation to the interfaith cause.  The consensus seems to be that our new site project is in better hands with you than with some anonymous vendor for whom we're just another client.

Agreement was reached, and I started the work in early June.

There was endless scope for design, but Robert kept things fairly simple - it would suffice to make the site resemble or, at least, be in tune with the United Nations(!).  At that time, the U.N. site was heavily information-oriented, with hierarchical navigation, which actually suited me because I tend to think that way and am not a specialist in front-end graphic design or user interfaces. I proceeded to customise an existing WordPress theme by Brian Johnson, a member of the IARF US Chapter, extending it to accommodate the wider remit of the parent organisation.

Robert was keen for the site to emphasise its global scope and for it to act as a conduit in both directions and he wanted visitors to be aware of this and hence the use of the Pulsemaps heat map WordPress plugin.  He also sought to offer various means for essential communication from those directly affected by religious persecution.  Hence the Skype contact and the brief contact form, encrypted in case of snooping, especially by state authorities.

The main work was completed in about six months, in time for Christmas 2011; the site was duly delivered on a new virtual private server with not insubstantial system resources allocated.  I provided various documentation and training with further consultancy in subsequent months, when I departed for Qatar to take up a full-time post at the Qatar Museums Authority.  I would come back periodically to the UK and as Robert lived near Heathrow, we met up a couple of times in Terminal 4 before my departure back to the Gulf.

Whilst laborious, the website re-development project consolidated Robert’s knowledge of the entire organisation in its various strands, right across the world.  The international scope was reflected in Robert’s promotion of IARF work on social media, establishing a Flickr group, which featured the Human Rights Education and Training Programme in India.

where he was also involved in panel discussions

With the projects being delivered, his contributions became duly recognised in various countries outside the UK, not just Japan and India.  For example, for his role in the founding of the Kenya chapter:

To IARF administrator brother Robert Papini, I thank him for all the support he has shown towards the formation of IARF Kenya chapter.”  (Rev. Lawrence Adera, Secretary General IARF Kenya chapter)
Midview Hotel, Nairobi, 20 July 2013

By 2015, the website was well established and in much better shape.

The international reach of IARF was evident in its member groups:

 

Having implemented these major deliverables, Robert decided that it was time he moved on and he retired from his post in June 2015. 

Vade Mecum

Over the years, we met up periodically for wanderings on foot, sometimes joined by Catherine; and after leaving IARF, he had more time to roam. For, Robert noted, “We 'obligate bipeds' are in prime health when doing around 20km per day!”

We met mainly in towns and cities, which served as sources of endless anthropological fascination as we navigated across centuries of development and bounced ideas off each other.  One such meander was in 2016, assisted by Designs of the Times: Self-guided walk through the Square Mile (archive).  Always with Robert, as an allotment holder, having an eye for uncovering green spaces (the so-called secret gardens):

Robert in Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden.

 

[See also some photos on Flickr.]

The next day, Robert reflected:

a very promising beginning to possible probings of whatever may remain neglected & unilluminated in this breathtaking megalopolis.

And in response to a tentative proposal I had in mind for a “3D illuminations of neglected spaces (or similar)”, he was encouraging, clearly seeing a deeper potential:

I've been interested in Psychogeography for a while, though never had the chance to really go into it. Seems all a bit trendy at the moment, but nonetheless may have merit if it matures along with the kind of technology you're clearly thinking about applying.

[See, e.g., an explanation of the term by the Tate. ]

Occasionally, we met in more rural settings, such as Wytham, where we’d observe other kinds of wildlife going about their business.  But it didn’t really matter where we ambled for Robert was perspicacious in any environment.

Thursday’s Lotus

My own introduction to interfaith work, which led to my meeting Robert, was through my mother, the late Fuengsin Trafford, who worked for 10 years at the Multi-Faith Centre in Birmingham before it ceased operating in the mid-1990s.

Shortly after my mother passed away in 1995, I started writing her biography.  By the time Robert left the offices in Market Street, I had a complete draft and was getting editorial feedback with a view to publication.  Robert offered his services and agreed to compile the index, patiently and painstakingly using DEXter, a clever, but somewhat temperamental tool that provided wonderful automated assistance most of the time, but not always.  A little over twenty years after commencement, Thursday’s Lotus was finally published and I was pleased to present a copy to Robert. 

He graciously responded:

I do have to say, it's such a total pleasure to heft in one's hand the finished work -- thank you!  It's been a while since I was involved in anything that saw the solidity of bound paper.

To say it again, it's been a privilege to be associated with something out of the ambitious world of interfaith that has this much integrity & worth. So much of what I toiled at with IARF so often seemed futile, but your labour of love has gone quite a way to persuading me of the merit of its wider context.

I’m sure that if Robert had been writing to or about someone he worked with at IARF, he would have been more positive, for he appreciated his colleagues in the office; his frustrations were (I feel) to do with the organisation's corporate management.  At the same time, some of these comments came from a natural modesty and humility, indications of his own integrity, which were what encouraged him to persevere.  But also, in hindsight, these were signs of low self esteem.

Environmental Awareness and an unusual Anthropological Project

Robert’s connection with Nature was deep, informed by study of evolution and observation of the present.  In May 2020, the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, Robert drew further inspiration from cultivating his allotment plot to  fuel a passion for returning to a more sustainable living and community:

I've never been more physically exhausted in any Springtime of soil toil - but it's fantastic, a joyful weariness. The life of plants, I've come to realise, is an allure that beats any that comes out of a screen.

I'm investigating a place called Tinker's Bubble, down in Somerset. Check it out, there's a great video on Vimeo.

Tinkers Bubble is a small off-grid woodland community in Somerset.  This ‘back to basics’ lifestyle was, Robert mused, probably too radical for Catherine (or, indeed, most of the population used to their creature comforts), so he wondered about milder alternatives and, so, I suggested the LandARK.  Naturally, he had already come across it and considered its viability:

Thanks for reminder of this excellent venture, which I stumbled upon years ago, bookmarked, and had not revisited. The question would be, of course, where one might be permitted to plant one's little bubble. Might it help to be tugging one's forelock before the great & good one percent who own more than half this island?

We exchanged further speculative messages against a backdrop of a world in utter confusion, without any definite conclusion.

Meanwhile, at the writing desk, within a year of leaving IARF, Robert embarked on an ambitious writing project, a kind of anthropological novel describing Mesolithic life in Africa.  He was tentative about revealing it, perhaps fearing that it wouldn’t lead anywhere, but did share a few tantalising glimpses.  Robert first mentioned his ideas to me in a park café near SOAS towards the end of October 2017 shortly before I attended an evening meeting of The Biographers' Club.  Afterwards, I wrote to him to relate that there was reflection on how to 'enter' a different time and land; in all cases the key was immersion, directly or indirectly.

Robert responded:

 …  Interesting to hear that biographers do still cherish the credo that it's possible to immerse in another time. It undergirds the whole craft, I suppose, but as the tired saying goes 'The past is another country...they do things differently there'. So I propose to market my work as a satirical subgenre of Fantasy, so absurd do i find the proposition that a modern consciousness can evoke anything faintly approaching the conditions of life even a century back - let alone the millennia that 'prehistoric fiction' wades blithely about in...

Serious fiction is only ever contemporary.

But my hunch is that even as the globe shrinks & the old nomad wanderlust of our kind dies spatially, it will compensate temporally, and while the kids are hurtling off to fantasy worlds rich in dragons & elves, or fearsome deep-space aliens, the adult imagination will want inter alia to probe further & further back into our imagined past.

And what the market calls for, none shall gainsay! Hooray indeed. Long may huddled creatives continue to earn a crust down the 'satirical fantasy' alleyway... with cakes & ale to the trailblazers, of course.  ;)?

Gradually, having got to know about Robert’s project, friends and family became curious about his writing.  I was not alone in thinking that a publisher might be interested and, so, enquired about samples.  In March 2021, replying to a message which had started on zero emission zones, Robert was characteristically thoughtful:

Molweni, bra Paul (Gauteng-greets)

Thanks for asking about my long-ongoing writerly ambitions.
It's become more effortful as I've had to start infilling the structure with plausibly thought-out, anthropologically-informed pattern & process around the storyline.

I wish it were possible to offer some sample, as it seems most creatives are able to do even just a few months after conceiving a project (mine has been five years in the making so far). 

However it's a 'built world' I'm about, so even a short passage would demand of any reader an immersion into backdrop detail (I provide it in maps, timelines, synopses, etc.) which few are prepared to undertake, given the Titanic-scale 'raft of alternatives' on market offer any day of your life... (and all within a few seconds' whisper of your fingers' busy tap-tapping). 

That begs the larger question of whether readerly attention span nowadays has any inclination toward 'built-world immersion' (aka Fantasy?). Maybe the New Pandemia inclines the newly underemployed among them that way? 

I'm counting on a few other things to make the offer stand out - not least that Fantasy has always been hugely ethnocentric. Counting most riskily of all, though, on a readership that's able to slow down, in order make sense of language rendered faux-archaic.
Not much ask there! :)

He confirmed his commitment in further correspondence.:

I've come too far now to abandon it. Huge investment of time, and sacrifice of earnings. Sometimes I do wonder what can have driven me to it!

Sadly, he would never see its completion. 

Robert’s Passing

Robert Papini passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday 23 April 2022 shortly after 3pm.  Whilst difficult to comprehend, there has since come to light much of biographical interest.  This post offers just a taste of Robert’s life, one that epitomised an enquiring mind and service to humanity. He worked hard, facilitated, inspired and did not seek credit.  It’s especially evident from his time at IARF, where he made a major contribution in delivering projects across the world, touching many people’s lives in a positive way. 

Commitment to Research for Human Flourishing

In March 2011 Japan suffered a catastrophe with a massive earthquake off its East coast. A chain of events led to the Fukushima nuclear power plan disaster with the release of massive amounts of toxic radiation. I visited Tokyo a few months later, in July, when the city's population seemed subdued and fearful in a similar way to how many people have been with the Covid-19 pandemic.

I was hosted by Professor Yukari Shirota at Gakushuin University. In response to what happened, Professor Shirota made an emphatic statement, which I paraphrase: “Japan does not have much in the way of natural resources, only human resources. I therefore commit my life to research.”

Research is fundamental to human resourcefulness and is an activity that I would like to develop more effectively. Whilst research is a natural aptitude and I’ve long nurtured an interdisciplinary approach, I have only a very limited publication record despite having spent decades in academia; to earn a living I have served mainly in a technical support capacity.  I originate ideas quite easily, some expressed on this blog, but I have found it exceedingly difficult to gain traction for them.

Reasoning that I needed to devote more time to my endeavours, in July 2020 I decided not to accept an offer a 12-month contract extension to my post as Digital Projects Officer at the History of Science Museum (HSM).  Instead, I would work full-time on my research activities. However, I shall retain a connection following the award by Museum of the (unpaid) position of Honorary Research Fellow, which was approved by the Board of Visitors at their meeting last November.

There are several strands to my research that might benefit HSM. The most immediate concerns any digital aspects, particularly online communications, an area I have explored for a while and about which I will touch on below. There are other, broader aspects. In 2024 the Museum will be celebrating the centenary of its founding and I’ve already outlined some visionary ideas. I may take the opportunity to expand on them.

A number of my research strands have concerned aspect of science and religion, a broad theme whose historical development took a major turn in the 17th century, the century in which the original Ashmolean Museum was founded. The building now houses HSM, but it is still formally referred to as the ‘Old Ashmolean’. This was a period that saw the rapid rise of rationality; indeed, we denote this period as the Age of Reason. The consequences have been far-reaching, most especially in the increasing emphasis on materiality, which has pervaded notions of science and research in general.

I talk briefly about that development in Buddhism and Computing, the first tangible fruit of my research. A contribution to the ‘Mud Pie Slices’ series, it offers more than a slice of my thoughts from the past decade on critical issues around computer-based technology, particularly as manifest on the Internet. It has been a considerable challenge to squeeze in a wide range of topics without undermining the overall flow, but the issues are urgent and I wish to facilitate better access to them.

Buddhism and Computing summarises and ties together some of the main strands of my ideas in response to challenges facing humanity, concerning the freedom to think and act autonomously, the quality of awareness and so on. I conceived the Sigala project in sustainable online social networking as the primary deliverable in response to these challenges, but until recently I kept my research notes in local documents. I have now set up a website for the main body of research, research.siga.la.

Thus far the part-time efforts of one person, it has large gaps, is rough around the edges, out of date in details, lacks marketing (Why so few images? Where’s the explainer video? Etc.), yet it seeks to offer a coherent and humane vision. I’m hoping that once word gets around, the thesis will gain acceptance and the presentation strengthen, and so on.

For me the process started in November 2007 when I started to reflect on what friendship truly means and how best to support it online. Initially, I conceived this in educational terms, but very quickly saw that its scope was universal.

Having been introduced to the Internet in the early ‘90s in the context of research, I have been strongly averse to the way the Internet, particularly the Web, has been commercialised.  Browsing the Web today with its numerous interruptions, whether for legal consents or advertising, do not make for an aesthetic experience.  Furthermore, changes in search indices and results generation, favours organisations, particularly corporates, and has diminished the voice of individuals; all told, it has generally become harder to find high quality and truly diverse materials.  

Nevertheless, we need viable economic models and I see great potential in applying the work of Avner Offer, who recognised a spectrum from the gift to the market in his theory of the 'economy of regard'.  I’d like to incorporate this in Sigala.

I will elaborate on the substance of the project in future blog posts. For now, I just mention in passing that the website is a kind of knowledge base, whose process is ongoing. As explained, I author and manage the content on my laptop at home using a locally installed WordPress, a web content management system whose popularity is due in no small part to the fact that it is open source software.

Using this setup has yielded the first technical fruit. Running to a few dozen pages, the site is not large or complex, but there is a lot of text, so it may take some while to browse to find something specific. So, as with most websites, a search facility is provided. However, I’ve taken an existing search plugin, WP Static Search, and modified it to work offline, i.e. without an Internet connection or web server. I’m only an occasional coder, but have uploaded my changes to Github and submitted a pull request. This means you can download the entire site onto a memory stick and browse and search it there. (Just one tip: when downloading the zip file from Github, the plugin folder should be renamed back to ‘wp-static-search’ before deployment.)

However the research proceeds, I shall always be looking for opportunities to innovate!

Schlich and Schauberger: The Contrasting Fortunes of Two Distinguished Foresters

[Updated on 15 Sept '20 to insert a photo, transcription and translation of Schlich's memorial stone and again on 18 Sept with updates concerning information on Wikipedia; and on 22 June '25 to revise the opening paragraph, with additional links and to qualify my assertion about a continuous stretch of woodland.]

Sir William Schlich (left) and Viktor Schauberger (right)

Forestry Science

Earlier this month I met up with a former colleague, who gave me a guided tour of Bagley Wood, entering it from his back garden in Kennington.  In millennia gone by it was possibly part of a continuous stretch of woodland that incorporated what we now call Wytham Woods.  Nowadays both are conserved for research purposes and have University connections: Bagley Wood has for centuries been owned by St John’s College, whilst Wytham Woods was bequeathed to the University in the early 1940s.   

This has helped them retain evidence of their historic ancestry, which is important as environmental concerns continue to grow.  In Bagley, I was shown oak trees of various ages and how they are in close alignment with the paths; the ancient ones, many hundreds of years old with their wide trunks, tend to have collapsed, losing their original shape.  Furthermore, such woods are being systematically mapped in detail, revealing the extent of ancient woodland, for instance a study site map for Wytham Woods.  

As we trundled along, we then came across a memorial stone in Latin, dedicated to Wilhelm Schlich (1840-1925), who decades later is described as the founder of forestry science.  

Latin transcription:

In Memoriam Gulielmi Schlich MDCCCXL – MCMXXV Scholae Silviculturae apud Oxoniensis fundatoris et in commemorationem itineris sui ponendae adfuerunt publicis Germaniae silvarum curatoribus viri delecti tum primum publice in Britanniam missi.  Quarto die mensis Aprilis anno MCML.  

My attempt at translation (suggested improvements welcome, else caveat lector!)

In Memory of William Schlich (1840 – 1925), the Founder of the School of Silviculture (Forestry) at Oxford and in commemoration of his journey that led to its establishment; he was initially selected from German forest wardens to enter British service.  [Erected] 4th April 1950.

By applying scientific methods to the cultivation, management, preservation and utilisation of forests, he has influenced generations of forestry specialists and in turn had a major impact on our landscapes today.  It is probably in large part thanks to him that visitors are able to enjoy the conservation woods in this locality; I especially value their presence as many of my ideas have surface in my wanderings through Wytham Woods. 

Yet Schlich’s family did not have any background in forestry; it was an interest he developed himself whilst at university.   Having initially studied mathematics and mechanical engineering, he was inspired to pursue forestry studies by Gustav Heyer, who lectured in the subject.  Schlich’s professional career subsequently flourished in the service of the British Imperial Indian Forestry Service. 

In basic terms, the impetus came from the need to support the economic prosperity of a colonial power with the management and supply of timber stocks.  However, in conducting his work, he developed his appreciation of sustainability and a sense of how forests contribute to general well-being.  It is evident in his magnum opus, the five-volume Manual of Forestry: in Volume 1, concerning forest policy, Schlich starts his introduction with a definition of a ‘forest’, taking account of both natural ‘primeval’ forests and cultivated ‘economic’ forests.  His discussion of the utility of forests (Part 1, Chapter 1) is likewise broad, partitioning it into ‘direct utility’ and ‘indirect utility’; the former treating economic necessity, the latter embracing broader environmental considerations such as temperature and moisture together with factors of well-being (‘hygiene, aesthetics and ethics’).

Schlich recognizes that forests generally create moister climes than exposed land, “On the whole, there can be no doubt that forests preserve humidity to a considerable extent”, more so at altitude, though they also consume water (p.16).  Schlich then goes on to describe mechanical effect of forests, how the water is retained by forests:

Of the rain falling over a forest, close on one-fourth is intercepted by the crowns of the trees, and the other ¾ fall upon a layer of humus which possesses a great capacity of absorbing water and of retaining it for a time.

Some of that water evaporates from the soil covering, but the greater part penetrates into the soil; some of it is taken up by the roots, and the balance becomes available for the feeding of springs.  In this manner well-preserved forests have a decided effect upon the sustained flow of springs.

He goes on to relate that the absorption of water by forests reduces the flood level.  He describes many other health benefits of forests, particularly their release of oxygen into the air and the general absence of pollution, making them beneficial for visitors.

Whilst Schlich describes some of the general effects from the absorption of water in relation to the physical environment and human well-being, he does not (from my cursory reading) appear to say anything about the water itself, its chemical composition, how this might change during the lifecycle, and what this means for the planet and humanity.  Generally speaking, water is treated as a collective mass, an aggregate resource.  For a deeper exploration, we need another voice …

Forests and Water

In 1885, the year Schlich moved to England to take up the pioneering post of Professor of Forestry at the Royal Indian Engineering College, there was to emerge someone else who was to take a deep interest in forests, Viktor Schauberger.   He was born near Linz in Upper Austria into a family that had been foresters for many generations, their motto being Fidus in Silvis Silentibus “Faithful to the Silent Forests” – reflecting a deep awareness of Nature’s harmony, where there is sound, but not noise.  

Thus Schauberger became absorbed in forestry from a very early age.  From early childhood he developed an acute sensitivity to the silvan environment, immersing himself in its embrace, observing and reflecting, especially on water, for hours at a time, heeding well his mother’s advice,

If occasionally life is really hard, and you don't know where to turn, go to a stream and listen to its music. Then everything will be alright again.

[Olof Alexandersson trans.]

Schauberger was encouraged by his parents to pursue higher education studies, but he refused after seeing how his elder siblings had lost much of their intuition; in his view, their minds had become perverted by that formal academic environment.  Instead he trained as a forest warden.  

By observing first hand and developing his intuition, he saw how Nature works in balance, especially in the properties of water and its relationship to the forests.  He came to understand how nutrients are ingested in water cycles – when rainfall sinks deep into the ground it absorbs important minerals vital for life before it rises up again, emerging in springs or otherwise re-entering circulation.  This he called the full water cycle.  On the other hand, with deforestation, the soil bakes and cannot absorb the water, so it runs off, not only leading to flooding, but failing to absorb the minerals.  To Schauberger such water was seriously depleted, it lacked the nutrients of life.  

Based on his understanding of the energetic properties of water, particularly how this is affected by temperature variations, centred around 4 degrees C (water at rest, where energy is greatest), he was able to design and engineer a log flume that led to commissions for other flumes in several countries, one of which was filmed in a 1930 documentary. 

His successes earned him the nickname, the 'water magician' and his reputation grew.  However, whilst this provided funding for valuable research, unfortunately, as he ruefully reflected, he had successfully contributed to deforestation.   From as early as the 1920s, he could clearly foresee the environmental crises that we are experiencing today, moving him to co-found Grüne Front (Green Front), the first environmental movement in Austria, the precursor to the Pythagoras Kepler System.  

Schauberger went on to develop many theories and wrote copiously on a vast array of topics, going beyond water cycles and filtration to jet propulsion, especially utilising his understanding of balancing forces and spiral vortices.  He also was very ‘hands on’, producing many working prototypes, but many of these were appropriated by competing (and often unscrupulous) interests.  As to his written output, he only produced materials in German and using his own unconventional terminology with little interest in translation to contemporary scientific terminology.  It’s not surprising then that, unlike Schlich, you won’t hear about Schauberger in lectures or be able to read his work in university libraries.  In fact, he only published one fairly small book, which had the discouraging title, Unsere sinnlose Arbeit (later released in English as ‘Our Senseless Toil’).   

Fortunately, there are a number of publications that describe his ideas (with greater optimism); much has been translated into English, for which we are indebted especially to Olof Alexandersson and Callum Coats, who spent many years with the Schauberger family, reading, digesting, understanding and translating many of his documents.  

Coats wrote a succinct introduction for Nexus Magazine in three parts, entitled, Who was Viktor Schauberger? (1996).  Coats has also authored more substantial works, including perhaps the most comprehensive guide, Living Energies.  To gain a taste, you can see some of his lectures on YouTube.   One series was recorded on film in 1985, as Sacred Living Geometry - The Enlightened Environmental Theories of Viktor Schauberger - part 1 and part 2.  More recently, he presented at the 2008 Nexus conference. 

Legacies

Today the name of Sir Wilhelm Schlich is very much associated with the advancement of modern forestry practices; he is recognised as a pivotal figure, not only in British forestry, but across the world as a result of Britain’s historical colonial connections.  This is manifest in the Sir William Schlich Memorial Award and the Schlich Memorial Prize.

Meanwhile, Viktor Schauberger remains a fringe figure.  It's evident in his treatment on Wikipedia: he is at least listed in the Forester page, but the his own entry is insubstantial, whilst the associated Talk page is huge and contains much ridicule.   I don't think the handling of his reputation would have disturbed Schauberger for he knew the forests deeply and all that sustained them.   But he was concerned about humanity's treatment of the natural world.  It led him to make a prediction that is eerily prescient: unless we learn how to work in sympathy with Nature and support its proper functioning rather that going against it to exploit our world, we will surely destroy ourselves.  

In his work on water cycles, at least, Schauberger appears to be far more in the consciousness of environmentalists: compare a Google search for the following (just remove the [] brackets): ["water cycle" schlich] and ["water cycle" schauberger].  You will find hardly any matches for Schlich, but many for Schauberger – many are commentaries by environmentalists.

And there is further recognition from engineers and scientists from a range of discplines, some working on flood management, others on more speculative areas.   This is well summarised in a film that has the same title as Schauberger’s, motto “Comprehend and copy nature”.

A few years ago whilst paying a visit to Wytham Village Stores I came across a group of three postgrads.  I got chatting with one of them and asked about his research.  He explained that he was involved in flood alleviation in the Oxford area, specifically the bypass channel to reduce the load on the flood plains. 

I asked him whether he had visited Wytham Woods and he confessed he wasn’t really interested in them!   His response confirms my feeling that more people would really benefit from learning about the work of both Schlich and Schauberger.

Universitas and communitas at university museums

Updated 5/1/2020: I've reverted most of this to draft status as I ponder further...

In recent decades the public-facing role of university museums has greatly increased. Expectations are for this to keep growing.  At the same time, as part of the university, they have certain obligations; they need to fulfil the purpose of such an institution and to respect the wishes of founders and donors.   So in this follow-up post to my vision for the History of Science Museum in Oxford, I wish to reflect on what role a university museum might have with respect to members of the public and systems of belief, and how it might continue to develop and flourish whilst being true to its roots.  As before, they’re just my personal views, not necessarily those of the Museum or the University.

The early stages of Oxford’s medieval formation were characterised by universitas, a Latin term used for a gathering or community of scholars in higher education, who were  training in holy orders, for the religious life.  The word is properly contextualised in the phrase, universitas magistrorum et scholarium, and connotes the whole, or entire.  This holistic approach to learning has been a core foundation sustaining the academic institution for some 800 years.

At the heart of its operation is communitas, another Latin word, which may be defined [from etymonline's entry for  'community'] as "community, society, fellowship, friendly intercourse; courtesy, condescension, affability," a deep sense of collegiality, a community in spirit, not just in form.  These general principles foster an ethos, which is more than any of the individual terms.  The word commonly used today is ’community’, but it tends to be materialised with reference to a particular group, where the inevitable question is, ”Which community?” followed by “What about that community?”...

A Vision for the History of Science Museum

[Updated 21/12/19 with a reference under 'Validation' to Einstein's Blackboard,
23/12 added a note about the Steampunk exhibition,
27/12 added references to work of Stafford Beer and the Viable Systems Model
14/1/20 added a photo of IBM Q and a paragraph on a VR time machine, 
9/2/20 inserted a paragraph on how to be small - with thanks to Prof. Jim Bennett,
17/4/20 added a brief mention of Covid-19 to illustrate 'history in the making'
plus a few other minor changes.
15/7/21 added material contributions as part of History in the Making]


Apart from two years in Doha, I’ve been working at the History of Science Museum in Oxford since 2009.  With the prospect of its centenary in 2024,  I have been nurturing some thoughts about what it might become.  They’re just my personal views, not necessarily those of the Museum or the University.  (To put this in perspective, my job title is Digital Projects Officer - I'm not a board member, senior manager, curator or collections specialist.)

One of the main challenges is to properly accommodate such a wide range of scientific instruments, whose breadth should be readily apparent in the collection areas.   I favour larger premises and a few years ago pondered the conversion of the Osney Power Station, whose generous space and impressive architecture seemed to offer stunning possibilities - of bringing together the history of science, the latest developments in science and innovation, and community engagement, apprenticeships and so on.  Furthermore, the building itself had played an important role as the Southwell Laboratory, used by the Department of Engineering Science.  It even had a wind tunnel.  However, with the future of that building now determined, how might we accommodate such elements in the existing Grade I listed building on Broad Street?

Themes

Currently, many museums are working on themes, inspired by the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, which was elected European Museum of the Year 2019.   Our collections are as broad, but our space is less, so we need fewer themes whose titles are more abstract, which we might call 'meta themes'.   Abstract terminology, if meaningful and used well, can be immediately intriguing and prompt interest and enquiry, as with notions of architecture at the University Museum, Tokyo.

Accordingly, I would like to propose three new themes, though most of my deliberations have been only on the first:

1. 'History in the Making':  the main thrust of this is to keep in touch with current research and development, especially across the University's science departments.  An obvious example is Covid-19, the deadly novel coronavirus strain that has brought much of the world into lockdown. At Oxford there are hundreds of people involved in specialist endeavours to understand and treat the virus.  Whilst the media are focused on the immediate medical emergency, still many others are looking at the wider impact on society, which surely benefits from a historical perspective.
   
   So imagine a circulatory system continually supplying information on the latest research, coming together at the Museum, and being distilled for public consumption, assisted by AI, and then feeding responses back to the respective departments.   It was Rupesh Srivastava at NQIT whom I first heard use this phrase, when he suggested bringing into focus current research, whose discoveries are already entering history books - in his case relating to quantum computing.
   
   

   

   IBM Q quantum computer on display at Oxford University's Beecroft
   building (Department of Physics) reception area, June 2018

    
   The title is open to many interpretations, allowing us to use any number of scholarly methods, such as Philosophy of Science, to analyse the conditions and processes that support ingenuity and innovation, whilst also looking at the implications for society as a whole.  Also 'making' is a very relevant word because we are a museum of scientific instruments, all of which have makers and a process of production, along with various other provenance.  It should appeal especially to loyal members of the Rete mailing list.
   
   Furthermore, the Museum's collections can benefit directly in terms of the material culture.  The  processes that feed information about research can include inventory details – not just the objects used in the experiments, but also their functions, the processes in which they are involved and their environmental properties, including indications of hazards.  An ontology can be developed and refined on an ongoing basis.  This will enable the Museum and other interested parties to see at a glance what departments and teams are engaged in, the materials they are using, the processes planned and underway.  Fresh insights may be gained in high-level considerations of the processes intrinsic to scientific research. 
   
   Stock control will be incorporated into the system (think about order fulfilment in online shopping), so we know the shelf life of equipment, when it is due to be replaced and the on-site movements.   This will have many practical benefits.  As breakthroughs are made, the Museum will already know what’s involved and be able to anticipate what equipment and samples will be reaching end of life and thus be in a position to enquire about possible accessions.  There will be no need to be reactive and make hasty decisions if, for example, recycling people phone up and say, “We’ve got this… are you interested?”
   
   This theme will also be great for launch day as it will itself mark history in the making.  It should also be chosen on a date of astronomical significance.  How about Wednesday 20 March 2024, the spring equinox, an expression of being in balance?
   
   Location: the entrance to the Museum, currently the Entrance Gallery on the first floor, as it's the nearest contact to the outside world.  Many metaphors apply such as 'keeping in touch’, encountering the surface and then as you move into the building, you go back in time and deeper into the foundations of the subject matter.  It would sit well with the shop, which is usually near the entrance, offering a bright welcome and a fond farewell.   (In the process of thinking afresh, we can also become more mindful of why things are laid out the way they are.)
 
2. 'Voyages of Discovery: Inner and Outer Worlds': Again, laden with multiple meanings, this covers scientific 'voyages' as in theories, methods, experiments, etc., and the physical voyages that used these instruments.  'Inner and outer' allows equipment to range from microscopes to telescopes.  Going beyond equipment, there are more symbolic meanings concerned with other kinds of investigations, such as what it means to be human and the nature of ‘science’ across history and cultures (the inner voyage into mind, soul, etc.).
   
   In this connection, we may explore the popular theme of science and religion.  Established religions are already being engaged in dialogue through the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, but many people regard themselves as spiritual and do not relate to organised religion.  They may be interested in psychic phenomena, angels, telepathy, near-death experiences, and so on.  The Museum does have some relevant objects, so I feel there is a need to learn from another organisation, whose roots lie in the work of Sir Alister Hardy, who had a distinguished career as a marine biologist.  However, he also had a deep interest in spiritual phenomena, establishing the Religious Experience Research Unit, which built up a database of reports from individuals who had these kinds of experiences.  It's now the Alister Hardy Trust and Religious Experience Research Centre, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.
   
   In a short biography of Sir Alister for issue 67 of De Numine, its journal, Ben Korgen writes that after his retirement that:
   
   “If Hardy had been less well known, his colleagues might have brushed this off as just another hobby or as a topic for casual conversation.  Hardy was different.  He was a world renowned scientist, he had been knighted, and as the Linacre Professor of Zoology at Oxford, had become an influential spokesman for the life sciences.”
   
   Coincidentally, the Director of the Museum is a Fellow of Linacre College.  Why not develop the Linacre connection further?
   
   Location: Basement Gallery, the bowels of the museum - plumbing the innermost depths!
    
3. 'Knowledge as Art': Aesthetics, works of beauty using precise methods, fine materials, embellished and sublime, often with reverence to the divine.  A bridge between science and art that's not confined to any one particular period (e.g. medieval astrolabes or Renaissance globes), but is evident throughout history.  Arguably the most successful exhibition we’ve ever had in engaging and enthusing the public was inspired by the Victorians: Steampunk saw people queueing around the block.
   
   This theme may be developed with special attention to the physical-digital spaces.
   
   Location: Top Gallery, the lightest and airiest space, as befits celestial aspirations.
    
4. ‘Experimental zone’: a fundamentally immersive digital environment in which to explore our digital collections or recreate scientific experiments, incorporating enhanced 3D and kinaesthetic experiences.  Not a core theme, it serves to support the others individually and as a whole. 
   
   Although I'm not a big fan of virtual reality (VR), it might be a fitting place to install a VR time machine in which one takes a seat and, as in H.G. Wells' novel, play the part of a Time Traveller, particularly as this space presently houses Cyril Beeson's horological collection.  As one turns back the clock, scenes unfold gradually, giving witness to the Museum's remarkably varied history over the centuries: its spaces - as laboratory, teaching space, etc. - and its protagonists, such as Elias Ashmole, the founder, its scientists, curators and other occupants.  Plenty of scope for interaction.
   
   Location: Beeson Room

Validation

For the themes to be well-grounded, an audit of the collections is needed to ascertain relative strengths and weaknesses – there may be some surprises!

Consistent with our primary responsibility of preservation, once we’ve come up with a set of themes, we may test their coverage by seeing if it accommodates each of our past exhibitions and displays.  It should in particular encompass objects featured in the audio guide.  So, for example, we may test against the most popular of these, which is consistently (according to Front of House) Einstein's Blackboard, and we see that it's readily satisfied by applying 'Voyages of Discovery: Inner and Outer Worlds' - the mathematical equations represent the expansion of the universe, measuring both density and distance.

The blackboard is arguably our 'unique selling point' (USP).  It was even a catalyst for its own exhibition.

Development of the Themes and Sustainability

Themes must also be sustainable - not only financially, but also in terms of being properly embedded in the University's wider functioning. So the science departments should be involved, especially in co-creating 'History in the Making'.  Taking the cue from the Boerhaave, Museum staff can visit each department and invite their views on what they'd like to see at the Museum, how they may be assisted in reaching various audiences, the kinds of programmes that might be done together.

Having conversed with the science departments, other subject disciplines can be brought in, shaped overall by the discipline of 'history of science' and the set of values (to be agreed) - I'm certainly not a specialist in this field!   To help with manageability, a special project could be set up to devise new kinds of processes, working towards a kind of evolutionary cycle such that any new initiative will be seamlessly incorporated with supporting materials, ready for further analysis so as to enhance our existing state of understanding.

This leads to broader organisational considerations and arguably the greatest challenge: long-term economic viability.  So it’s perhaps here where we might expect the most radical transformation.  In that spirit, I suggest that ideas of circulation and cycles should be likened to a responsive living organism and the inter-relatedness of its organs.  It prompts me to recall a conversation with the late Alfred Crabtree, FIProdE, an engineer and management consultant, who introduced me to the field of management cybernetics.  He lent me his copy of Stafford Beer’s Brain of the Firm, a seminal work that proposes the Viable Systems Model for organisational design, with the ability to continually adapt to environments they cannot fully control.

There’s a nice explanation provided by Metaphorum, an open society that seeks to further these ideas.  We can see that the model consists of a number of inter-operating subsystems that exhibit a set of characteristics vital for sustainability.  According to this model, the operational subsystem comprises largely autonomous operational units, which applied to our scenario of ‘history in the making’ would include what we might call ‘input streams’ from each science department providing resources.   HSM management would foster the ethos, coordinate and ensure harmony between the respective components: one of the subsystems is in fact devoted to ensuring working together in symbiotic relationships, internally and externally.

There is also emphasis on balance, which readily applies to curation, where there is a need to ensure consistency of the information and fairness in interpretation.   It also applies at higher organisational level: to be feasible the model has to be properly representative of all parties, particularly for the science departments, which may mean that the model has to scale up to the University.  (It might be interesting to use the VSM to assess the highly devolved organisational structures that have evolved over the centuries compared with the more centralised modern ones.)

In terms of the relationship with other heritage institutions, the museums sector, I am pondering thoughts offered by Professor Jim Bennett, former Director of the Museum on how to be small.  Being small places importance on being different, of doing our own thing, and risking something original (as he articulated in an interview about the Steampunk exhibition).   When other museums copy the idea we know it's been successful, but even if it doesn't work out then we can learn from our mistakes and move on.  It motivates being more distinctive and experimental, like a laboratory - with the obvious historical allusions to the building's earlier usage - that generates ideas for the sector.  I see it as a kind of museological maquette, where various creative ideas are tried out on a small scale without being onerous.  It would apply not just to the Experimental Zone, which would seem a natural fit, but to the Museum as a whole.

On a ‘revolutionary’ note, Stafford Beer was invited in the early 1970s to apply cybernetics to Chilean society, resulting in Project Cybersyn, an attempt to implant an electronic "nervous system".   Whilst that particular project was abruptly terminated, the appeal to biological systems was echoed by Bill Gates in his promotion of a ‘digital nervous system’ in the late 1990s.  This ecosystem permeated the entire Microsoft global business and evidently was immensely successful.


Whatever the vision and themes to realize that vision, their fulfilment will need clarity and considerable synergy.  It is in many ways an architectural challenge of the mind, where the designs are to support an intellectual apparatus where the development of scientific knowledge is treated as a whole, operating in a continuum across the full spectrum of human history.

Recurrent Lessons in Interfaith

Organised interfaith activity has become an established feature of British society for decades, but the challenges keep coming and so we needed sustained impetus and even basic reminders of what it’s all for.

I recently visited Colin and Friederike Rice, long-time friends in interfaith. Friederike was Coordinator for the Certificate Course in World Religions at the Multi-Faith Centre in Birmingham, throughout the time when my mother, Fuengsin Trafford, was responsible for the Buddhism module. Even though I already had gathered quite a collection of materials for Thursday’s Lotus, Friederike surprised me when she suddenly pulled out a promotional film for the Centre produced in 1993 only a year or two before it closed due to insufficient funds. The 30-minute production was called Daring to Live Together and follows participants in a week-long course, with numerous interviews and featured speakers, including Prof. John Hick and Fuengsin too:



The film shows how the Multi-Faith Centre, directed by Dr Mary Hall, promoted education through encounter, devising and deploying methods that became widely adopted around the world. This was rooted in her experiences of living for several years in Pakistan, where she became headmistress of the Senior Cambridge high school in Lahore, with Benazir Bhutto among her many pupils.

Only a few years into the 21st Century interfaith had become mainstream, particularly following ‘September 11th’, but the injection of resources that followed arguably led to more ‘managerial’ approaches that changed the nature of the more formal interfaith activities. From my own observations in Oxford, organisations that had focused on creating uniquely supportive spaces ironically lost resources and the personal elements of dialogue diminished.

However, much of this follows cycles and there are always opportunities! A few weeks ago I attended as observer a meeting of the Oxford Council of Faiths - I was invited along because they were celebrating their 10th anniversary and I had been on the working group that led to its formation. At the meeting it was recognised that there needs to be more young people involved. Having read about the importance of faith in her life, I suggested that Malala Yousafzai as someone who would be interested and who could make a valuable contribution. I’m sure, for example, that she would wish to join along with her friends the next Friendship Walk on Thursday 28 June.

Actually, faith has been central to Oxford’s development for its religious foundations that led eventually to the present day University owe much to the memory of its patron, Saint Frideswide. Frideswide (or Frithuswith), derived from Old English, means (I think) “peace made strong”. It’s a quality that surely may inspire future leaders.

Malala is studying at Lady Margaret Hall (LMH). Whilst in Oxford between 1998 and 2002, Ebrahim (“Eboo”) Patel, a determined young Muslim from Chicago and Rhodes Scholar at LMH also, grew his interest in interfaith by participating in various activities in Oxford and abroad. I recall that during his doctoral studies he was seeking to enhance interfaith and was already planning what became the Interfaith Youth Core shortly after he obtained his DPhil. He continued to develop his pluralist activism, with a growing record of activities. If Malala continues to move into widening social spheres, then it’s inevitable that she will have to engage in interfaith, so I hope she will be provided the space and support to do so, similar to Eboo.

Peace Vigil in Oxford for the People of Thailand

On a blustery afternoon on Thursday 23 March, about 25 friends and supporters of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, including three bhikkhus, gathered in Radcliffe Square, Oxford. We’d rather be sitting on cushions indoors, especially those of us more use to the tropics, but given the circumstances we took our meditation and flags into the streets.

So, huddled together and holding on to our banners, we reflected internally, cultivating metta (loving kindness) to spread especially to Thailand.

The ‘land of smiles’ is a country grimacing in the midst of a crisis that is little known and generally poorly reported in mainstream media. It’s a complex situation, whose recent events have seen the Thai military government apply excessive force in a siege involving thousands of police and military, with the backing of the Prime Minister, who is using the all-powerful Article 44. In the UK, we say, in typical understatement, that this action is “disproportionate” and hence the plea for help, and my puzzlement over why success in cultivating Buddhist values is being attacked.

Curiously, those thousands of security people were under the direction of the Ministry of Justice, which normally carries out investigative research into special cases (as its name implies). I think it is an indication of how Thai law is not being properly applied, so for a fair legal assessment the temple has to turn to authorities outside of the country and, as already mentioned, the International Commission of Jurists has already condemned Article 44.

Unfortunately, the United Nations appears slow to respond. I’ve not yet read reports from the recent two day meeting of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, but I was told at the gathering that Article 44 was not discussed. So it means we have to continue spreading the word until it is brought to light. We need to remind the UN that the Dhammakaya Foundation, which is the extension of the original Dhammakaya temple, became a United Nations-accredited non–governmental organization in 1986 and has been an active participant ever since with many education programmes. I hope to share in a forthcoming blog post a few of my own experiences of a special ceremony that took place at Wat Phra Dhammakaya for the UN Day of Peace that welcomed the present Millennium.

Aftewards, we took refreshments at Vaults & Gardens, the cafe of the University Church and then moved on to reflect broadly about events at the Quaker Meeting House, a wonderful venue for spiritual activities. As part of the process I gave a presentation on Dhammakaya Pioneers in the UK, naturally focusing on my mother, Fuengsin Trafford (née Sarayutpitag).




If we can persuade the Thai military government and others through peaceful action to stop their aggression, then we have a chance to restore peace in Thailand and enable spiritual practitioners like my mother to flourish.

Last Day at the Museum of the History of Science

Today was officially my last day as Web Officer at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, which has the distinction of being housed in the world’s oldest surviving purpose-built museum building, the Old Ashmolean, an early impression of which is as right.

I had the pleasure of working there since October 2009 with a close-knit group of dedicated, friendly and enthusiastic staff with a wide range of interesting backgrounds. So I was sad to leave and surprised how difficult it was to hand in my keys and especially the University card - I felt quite bereft as though I had lost part of my identity.

I found the Web Officer role similar in many ways to a previous one where I was responsible for anything Web-related; it requires some flexibility as the duties are varied, ranging from system administration (at the command line) and documentation through to some elements of graphic design, particularly image composition. In summary I would characterise much of the effort as consolidation - in terms of the Linux-based hosting provision, and the use of WordPress as the gateway to the entire online presence.

WordPress gets used mainly for blogging, albeit with resources built around it, but at MHS it is used as a content management system. Perhaps the most significant development was the integration of the KE EMu collections management system, for which I prepared the following slide for the 2011 KE EMu User group meeting, held at the Natural History Museum.

KE User Group 2011 showcase: WordPress integration

View more PowerPoint from Paul Trafford

A lot of the work was behind the scenes. A particular challenge was search engine optimisation (SEO); it took me a long time to realize that a WP upgrade had inserted canonical URLs into the header, leading to just a handful of collections pages being indexed. Once I had removed that and made the page titles more distinct the index grew and more visitors came.

Just occasionally I could do something a little different. For instance, when faced with slightly blurred image, I suddenly realized an opportunity to create an inverted reflection in time for the somewhat wacky and hugely successful Steampunk exhibition:


(I manually traced the figure; some regions have little contrast so I suspect an automated tool would probably struggle)

The old uniform is brought into the present, whilst the photographers (who strive to capture the present moment) recede into the background, into the past, by being faded to grey.

Now too my fleeting role as Web Officer will start to become a faded memory. However, I'm not leaving the museums world, as soon I shall start another role, supporting not one but many museums ...