1. About this Blog/ger

“History belongs… to the man who preserves and honors, to the person who with faith and love looks back in the direction from which he has come, where he has been. Through this reverence he, as it were, gives thanks for his existence… And so he serves life.” (Nietzsche 1873 On the Use and Abuse of History for Life).

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Welcome to the Dan Cull Weblog, my eponymous blog, if you’d like to find out more about the history and original intentions behind this blog, and rather than repeating myself endlessly may I humbly suggest that you read the interview I did with the website: “Voices of the Past: Heritage is Social”.

For a bit about my personal background, well, I studied at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, which is college of the University of London. I obtained a BSc in Archaeology, and then an MA in Principles of Conservation, and an MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums.

I interned at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, in Exeter, and then was awarded an Andrew W Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, I was a conservation assistant for several exhibits and worked on many consultations and collaborations with Native American tribes including members of the Chirichua Apache Tribe with whom we developed this exhibit for the Mall museum. During my time at the NMAI I also travelled to the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota, and lived and worked with a traditional arts instructor at the Sinte Gleska University; which was a wonderful experience. I also spent some time conducting research at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, also in DC. And now I work at the Musical Instrument Museum, in Phoenix, AZ.

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… this is a picture of my intake year… and a more fabulous group of people you never could meet. Hard drinkers, hard thinkers. Archaeology was made for people like these…

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During my time at University and since I developed an interest in a wide field of topics that this blog covers to a greater or lesser extent, but, which all feed into the blog in one way of another. These topics include most obviously conservation and archaeology, but also museology, anthropology, philosophy, history of science, politics, theology, cultural studies, material culture studies, indigenous studies, and the study of the internet, some of these influences have been made into bibliographic lists in the ‘Influences and Inspirations’ section of this blog.

Strangely, for someone who works in an industry that is often referred to as “the arts”, I don’t have a huge interest in art history or fine art, having said that I do have a soft spot for Dada and Surrealism, my favourite painting is Dorothea Tanning’s 1943 painting ‘Eine Kleine Nachtmusik’ , and my favourite two exhibits I’ve ever been to were the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Tate, and the ‘Undercover Surrealism’ exhibit at the South Bank Centre.

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” What have we learnt? That I’m right, and other historians are wrong. And that history is all around us… behind us, at the sides… not in front… that’s the future.” (David Oxley, B.A. Hons.)

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This blog, whilst it contains a CV and covers issues with which I have a professional interest, should not be considered an exclusively academic publication, as it is a personal weblog. Furthermore; all the writings by me shall be considered my personal work and should not be taken to be associated with any of the institutions I work with now, in the past, or may work with in the future. Come to think of it some of the writings wont even reflect my own thoughts, because this blog aims to be a “process” a place of “thinking out loud” and a public internal dialogue.

That all being said: I hope you find some of the blog useful or interesting, as ever, I enjoy reading your comments.

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Note on the header: The image was taken from ‘Bristle’s Blog from the BunKRS’. The image by Hajo relates to the the riots and occupations that followed the murder of 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, in the Exarcheia district of central Athens. The image is used without permission, but as a show of solidarity with the artist and the anti-authoritarian movement in Greece.