Josefine FrankE: [email protected]: 0121 414 5800 @FrankJosefine
Spreading the Word: An Esmée Fairbairn
Collections Fund Project
Cadbury Research Library
Collects, manages, preserves and makes accessible the University’s collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives, photographs and associated artefacts
Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts
• Over 3,000 manuscripts encompassing Islamic, Christian and Jewish texts
• Over 20 languages, including Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Greek, and Ethiopic
• Dating from 7th to 20th century
Mi’a Kalimat attributed to Ali ibn Abu Talib , 1568-9, Islamic Arabic 1651
The Four Gospels , 17th century, Armenian 1
World-class collection for Birmingham
Edward Cadbury (1873-1948) Alphonse Mingana (1878-1937)
Birmingham – young and diverse
• One of the youngest cities in Europe
about 40% under 25
• Culturally and religiously diverse
42% other than White 46.1% Christians, 21.8%
Muslims, 19.3% no religion
22% born outside the UK
Source: 2011 census figures
Birmingham Council House
University of Birmingham
Our ideaUse the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern manuscripts 1) To connect local people with
their cultural and religious heritage
2) To encourage pride and confidence in Birmingham’s identity as a city shaped by faith diversity Masnavi-yi Ma'navi by Jalal al-Din Rumi,
early 19th century, Persian 1
Project overview
• Internships• Volunteering
opportunities
• Social media• Exhibitions
• Muslim women’s group
• Interfaith youth group
• Bookbinding survey• Archival research on collection
history
Research & documentation
Work with community
partners
Training Dissemination
Reflections after first project year
• Be brave and experiment because visitors’ responses are unpredictable .
• Working with the most obvious community partners does not always result in the best partnerships.
• There is an almost irreconcilable gap between Muslim scholarship and non-Muslim research on Islam.