Science and Heritage research cluster
Understanding Complex Structures: The Conservation, Display and
Interpretation of Lace and Natural Objects
First Workshop 24th March 2009 at Natural History Museum 'Orientation
and Agenda-Setting'
This is to alert you the first of three workshops that will look at
conserving, displaying and re-interpreting complex textile artefacts
and natural objects. They comprise a Research Cluster funded by the
EPSRC/ AHRC Science and Heritage programme to encourage the
interdisciplinary exploration of the conservation needs, curatorial
demands and cultural challenges of complex artefacts.
Places are limited, so if you are interested in attending, please
contact Sabine Hielscher ([log in to unmask]). The closing
date for applications to attend is Monday March 16th.
The cluster activities centre on the lace collections at Victoria and
Albert Museum (V&A), Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham City
Museums as well as the collections of botanical, zoological and fossil
objects at the Natural History Museum. Despite this focus, the
outcomes will be relevant to any setting which houses complex
'difficult' items where the demands of conservation may conflict with
those of display and the nature of the objects makes interpretation
and display problematic.
Participants will include conservators, cultural practitioners,
curators, designers, physicists and technologists, drawn from
universities, museums, archives and business. The workshop activities
will generate research ideas and propose possible solutions to a range
of practical issues, through presentations, discussion and 'close
encounters' with objects at the Natural History Museum, V&A,
Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham City Museums and
Galleries. This exchange of skills, experience, resources and
scientific knowledge will uncover a range of topical and insightful
research questions to generate further funded research work.
As well as being fundamental to conservation, science can reveal the
structure of complex artefacts, as well as their full significance as
part of historic material culture. Techniques ranging from computer
animation to non-invasive imaging can reveal structures, and inform
interpretation. The workshops may point towards techniques to see
below surfaces which can feed into representations and computer models
of structures, as well as new manufacturing techniques and processes
to radically enhance the display and interpretation of artefacts.
Further information can be found at the project website: http://ntu.ac.uk/science_heritage/
.
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Paul Brown - based in Germany Jan - Feb 2009
mailto:[log in to unmask] == http://www.paul-brown.com
UK Mobile +44 (0)794 104 8228 == USA fax +1 309 216 9900
Skype paul-g-brown
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Artist in Residence, compArt Project - Bremen University
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