Repertoire International d'Iconographie Musicale (RIdIM).

Baldassarre, Antonio

The period between the past IAML conference in Montreal and this year's annual meeting in Vienna has been busy and successful for Association RIdIM on many levels. The following report will highlight the most important achievements during that period.

Meetings of the Council and the General Assembly of Association RIdIM

On 6 June 2013 the Council and the General Assembly of Association RIdIM met and processed all necessary business. These meetings took place during the 14th International Conference of Association RIdIM in Istanbul (4-7 June 2013). The bodies that were the sponsoring societies prior to the change of status of RIdIM, were invited to attend the Council meeting. Association RIdIM regards the relationship with IAML, IMS and CIMCIM as vital and this meeting, the first at which the newly-appointed Liaison Officers were present, was an excellent first step toward mutually beneficial strategies and deliverables for all concerned.

Liaison Officers

At the last meeting of the General Assembly of IAML in Montreal, Paul Banks was elected IAML liaison officer to the Council of Association RIdIM. I am pleased to report that CIMCIM has elected Gabriele Rossi-Rognoni as their liaison. Nomination of the liaison officer of IMS is currently on hold and will--according to the latest information from the President of IMS--be clarified at this year's meeting of the IMS Directorium in Taipei in October 2013. (In lieu of this IMS Liaison, we were very pleased to welcome Dinko Fabris, the President of IMS, to the meeting as described above.)

14th International Conference of Association RIdIM, Istanbul, 4-7 June 2013

In collaboration with the Don Juan Archiv (Vienna), Association RIdIM organized its 14th International Conference in Istanbul that took place between 4-7 June 2013, hosted by the Pera Museum. The theme was "Visual Intersections: Negotiating East and West."

The death of Prof. Dr. Walter Salmen on 2 February 2013 meant a significant loss to both the research of music iconography and Association RIdIM to which Prof. Salmen has been appointed honorary lifetime member in early 2012. His continuous openness to new methodological approaches and toward topics often neglected by general music research ought to be a model for scholars who are both ready to enlarge the often limited perspectives embodied in academic research and willing to overcome the useless--and at times rather pathetic--battles regarding the "cultural authority to speak about music." (Kevin Korsyn, Decentering Music. A Critique of Contemporary Musical Discourse. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press 2003, 6 und passim). Association RIdIM was therefore honored that Dr. Gabriele Busch-Salmen, the widow of Prof. Salmen and herself an outstanding music and music iconography scholar, accepted RIdIM's wish to honor Prof. Salmen's commitment for and impact on music iconography research by dedicating the 14th International Conference of Association RIdIM hold in Istanbul this year in his honor and memory.

From more than 80 submitted proposals the program committee approved more than 60 papers from a range of scholars both early-career and those with a wealth of experience, coming from as far a field as the Antipodes, US, Pakistan, Iran, China, Turkey and throughout Europe. The ample topical and methodological range of the selected papers reflected the diversity and development of music iconography research, not in the sense of a falling back on the hackneyed pluralism of the discipline as a laissez-faire or as a go-anywhere ticket replacing intellectual exchange. Rather the conference provided a framework for multi-fold and interdisciplinary discourse, promoted intellectual examination and exchange concerning the variety of musical cultures of the world, and gave a platform to "enlarge the possibility of intelligible discourse between people quite different from one another in interest, outlook, wealth, and power, and yet contained in a world where, tumbled as they are into endless connection, it is increasingly difficult to get out of each other's way." (Clifford Geertz, Works and Lives. The Anthropologist as Author. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, 147.)

The paper sessions over a full the three days turned out to be an inspiring and intellectually exacting experience, enriching everyone attending the conference during a politically crucial yet promising time in Istanbul. The joy and hopes from the streets in Istanbul became at some point part of the conference since scholars have not closed their eyes to the reality outside the lecture halls--the conference has not performed research enclosed in the academic ivory tower.

Association RIdIM is pleased to inform IAML that the 15th International Conference will take place in New York City, 1-4 September 2015, and will be involved with manifestations of power in music iconography. Intercongressional symposia will be held in Copenhagen in 2014 dedicated to the visual in pop culture and in St. Petersburg in 2016 focusing on the iconography of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century salon-culture. A further intercongressional meeting is already on the radar to be organized in Manaus, Brazil, to be directed toward opera iconography.

Lloyd Old and Constance Old Award for Early Career Scholars

During the 14th International Conference of Association RIdIM in Istanbul, the first competition of the Old Award for early career scholars was organized. The award is sponsored by Dr. Lloyd Old and Constance Old and is the expression of the Old-siblings' passionate support of the arts and their encouragement of young scholars in both appreciation and contribution to music, dance and theatre iconography scholarship. Association RIdIM expresses its heartfelt gratitude to Lloyd and Constance Old for this very special opportunity to promote and support early career scholars.

Two very promising young scholars were selected to present their papers. The first winner of the Old Award for early career scholars is Candela Perpina of Universitat de Valencia who gave an inspiring and convincing paper entitled "A Musical Bestiary: Musical Properties of Animals in the Medieval Tradition Between East and West".

RIdIM Database Workshops

In conjunction with this year's International Conference of Association RIdIM in Istanbul, a database workshop was organized which developed the ideas from IAML 2012 and integrated the useful feedback from that session. Such workshops are crucial for the introduction of new features of the database and for enlarging the pool of cataloguers. Association RIdIM is therefore pleased that a similar workshop was organized within the framework of this year's IAML conference in Vienna. In addition two additional workshops will be conducted later this year, one in China and the other in Brazil during the 2nd Conference of RIdIM Brazil in Salvador, Bahia. Additional workshops are planned as part of link the above-mentioned intercongressional symposia.

In addition on-line support is planned to be available in late 2013 in the form of video tutorials and "ask an expert" Skype sessions.

Honorary Lifetime Members

At its meeting on 6 June 2013 the Council of Association RIdIM nominated Richard Leppert and Mercedes Reis Pequeno as new Honorary Lifetime Members, both of whom accepted the nomination.

Richard Leppert is Professor in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. He has published numerous books on music and visual culture. In his early scholarly career he was involved in Barry S. Brook's initiative regarding music iconography and he played a decisive role in the development of the first RIdIM card for cataloguing visual objects with musical subject matter.

Mercedes Reis Pequeno is a graduate of the School of Music of the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and received a librarianship degree in 1942. From 1947 to 1949 she served as member of the music division of the Pan American Union (today called the Organization of American States) and worked closely with Charles Seeger, then chair of the music division. In 1951 she started her work at the Music Library of the National Library in Rio de Janeiro of which she later became the director. Until her retirement from this position in 1990 she contributed significantly to the introduction of bibliographical and indexing projects and conducted numerous research projects including exhibitions and projects on Brazilian music iconography. From 1965 to 1974 she served as Vice-President of IAML and played a leading role in the establishment of RISM and RILM in Brazil. She has extensively published and is a member of numerous national and international distinguished organizations.

International Office

The contract with the University of London regarding the International RIdIM Centre will expire in May 2014. Association RIdIM is considering both renewal of the collaboration with the University of London and entering a new collaboration with a different institution. Whatever the outcome will eventually be, Association RIdIM will maintain close ties with the University of London, in particular with the School of Advanced Studies.

Special Day of the R-Projects during the conference New Musicology: Theories, Methods and Resources, 6-8 July 2013, Beijing, Central Conservatory of Music

Thanks to Zdravko Blazekovic, member of the Council of Association RIdIM, a special day dedicated to the R-projects was organized during the conference "New Musicology: Theories, Methods and Resources" that took place from 6-8 July 2013 at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. The events included presentations of the R-projects and a meeting with the chair librarians of the seven major conservatories in China. These events were crucial with respect to many aspects, above all to get acquainted with the needs of Chinese scholars and librarians linked to the R-projects and to establish relationships for the exchange of knowledge and information. Association RIdIM is very grateful for having been invited to participate in these events out of which first fruitful results have already emerged, including the organization of a database workshop and the interest of Wuhan Conservatory in establishing a RIdIM center.

Database

Development of the database, presented at IMS and IAML in 2012, has continued. The feedback from the IAML and IMS delegates has been instrumental in the improvements that Association RIdIM was able to present at this year's meeting of IAML in Vienna. Of the many improvements the following--at least--should be mentioned.

* A new simple search tool has been implemented.

* An advanced search tool is in preparation and will include filters for refined search.

* The option for uploading images has been implemented.

* A new thesaurus for "item types" has been developed and implemented going beyond the former classification and replacing the older, culturally- and temporally-based classification.

* The thesaurus of MIMO--Musical Instrument Museums Online. More information on the MIMO project is available at http://www.mimo-international.com

* A new thesaurus of timelines is under development, including non-Western, nonChristian time and period classifications.

* The list for names has been cleaned up.

* The lists for media and techniques is under revision and expansion to incorporate "materials" in order to reflect the development from a core of Western representational art toward a more inclusive repertoire as highlighted by the new "item types."

These are only a few but significant improvements to be seen in the latest version of the RIdIM database. Work and Development will continue in the coming years and we look forward to welcoming many cataloguers to input data into the database so that we can keep it free of charge.

Currently about 2,000 records are published and about 3,000 are still at the editor status.

Association RIdIM is actively collaborating with museums and galleries, as well as private collectors, to enhance and increase the data contained in the database through data sharing and data input.

Partners of RIdIM

Association RIdIM has already processed or is about to realize negotiations with many potential partners that expressed interest in collaborating with RIdIM and to exchange or migrate data source material. Among these institutions and organizations are the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD) in The Hague, the Christian Art Index at Princeton University, the German RIdIM Center in Munich, the Performing Arts Index of the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, the Musiconis Project (a joint project between the Universite de Poitiers, Universite ParisSorbonne and the CRNS), the Centro Nacional de Investigation, Documentation e Information Musical in Mexico City, the private collection of visual source material of Ton Koopman, the Asociacion Espanola de Documentacion Musical, the Royal College of Music in London, the Istituto per i Beni Musicali in Piemonte in Turin, and the Biblioteca di Firenze. Such partnerships are crucial not only for making as much source material available but also with respect to the exchange of knowledge and information on the broadest level possible.

Website and Social Media

Association RIdIM now has a fledging blog (ridimblog) and a Facebook page will follow in the next months. The website in English and Brazilian Portuguese continues to be popular and will incorporate translations into French, German Spanish and Italian by the end of 2013.

Newsletter and Imago Musicae

There has been a hiatus in the production of the Newsletter as Association RIdIM makes the change from a paper-based to a mainly electronic mode of transmission. Association RIdIM is pleased, however, to announce that the very comprehensive first edition in the new format, being available via the website and also mailed to our contacts, will be available by the end of 2013. Printed copies may be requested directly.

No report has been received for Imago Musicae by the submission of this report.

Finances

Finances remain a crucial matter for a nonprofit organization such as Association RIdIM. The Council is determined to hold onto its mission to make knowledge and information available to no cost and to guarantee the continuation of RIdIM's work with the support of third party funds.

Acknowledgements

The achievements of Association RIdIM within the period between the last IAML conference in Montreal in 2012 and this year's meeting in Vienna would never have been possible without the commitment and support of so many individuals and organizations. Association RIdIM therefore acknowledges its heartfelt gratitude to the Stavros Niarchios Foundation that provided a generous grant for the development of the RIdIM database, to Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts who supports Association RIdIM's efforts to apply for an EU grant, and to Ohio State University for supporting the editorial staff of Association RIdIM. Included in this thank you note are Michael Huttler and Nora Gumpenberger of the Don Juan Archive Vienna and Ozalp Birol of the Pera Museum who played a core role in the organization of the 14th International RIdIM Conference this year. This sincere gratitude is extended to Alan Green (Database Project Manager), Sean Ferguson (Editor in Chief), Laurent Pugin (Chief Technical Advisor), and Richard Brown and Michael Hardi (Database Developers) as well as to Zdravko Blazekovic and Dorothea Baumann who served as Council Members of Association RIdIM at different periods as chair of the Database Working Group. The commitment and knowledge of all these individuals has been crucial for the successful strategy and development of the RIdIM Database. Furthermore I would like to express gratitude to Arnold Myers (Vice-President of Association RIdIM) and Pablo Sotuyo Blanco (Council Member of Association RIdIM) as well as Paul Banks and Gabriele Rossi Rognoni (Liaison Officers of IAML and CIMCIM respectively) and Dinko Fabris (President of IMS and interim Liaison Officer of IMS) for their extremely valuable support in all matters concerning the benefit of RIdIM. Last but truly not least, I would like to express my special gratitude to Debra Pring, Executive Director of the International RIdIM Center in London and member of the Council of Association RIdIM. She was involved in so many projects, and the successful achievements of Association RIdIM within the last twelve months are largely due to her knowledge, passion, and positive persistence.

Antonio Baldassarre

President