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The explosion at Beirut's port in 2020 wreaked havoc on the American University of Beirut (AUB) Archaeological Museum, shattering 72 valuable glass artifacts. This talk reveals the story of these vessels' journey from Beirut to the British Museum in London, through their recovery, conservation, and exhibition phases. And it underscores the pivotal role of international collaboration, training, and outreach in heritage conservation. Speakers Dr. Duygu Çamurcuoğlu, Senior Conservator and Researcher, Department of Collection Care, The British Museum In Collaboration with Dhakira Center for Heritage Studies in the UAE, NYUAD
Ashleigh Brown is a trained paper conservator and collection care advisor with experience in both the private and public sector on both sides of the Atlantic. She studied History of Art at Manchester University before completing a master’s degree in Conservation of works on paper at UAL. She gained significant experience outside of conservation as an Art Collection Manager to ultra-high net worth individuals and further knowledge in insurance and the legal aspects of the art trade in her role as Head of Conservation at John Jones. She has since founded a conservation studio called The Conservators Ltd. in London.
This month hails Hugo and Sushma's triumphant return – they are talking with Sandra Smith, head of Collection Care about how your breath helps objects in the galleries. Sushma chats with Imma Ramos, lead curator of our new Tantra exhibition, and Sian and Francesca meet in the archives once again to talk about the staff canteen, of all things.
We squint at the topic of light in this illuminating episode: guest host Sarah Potter enlightens us while Jenny thinks about communication and Kloe reveals she has super eye sight. Christina interviews David Saunders and Jenny reviews his new book about museum lighting. Also tune in for a Dear Jane about dissertations, and a Fluorescent Bulb at the Benchwork Bar! 00:03:00 How we light our galleries 00:15:40 Light monitoring routines 00:20:13 Light levels and material types 00:21:41 Communicating about low light levels 00:28:13 Lights inside cases are basically the devil 00:31:54 Interview with David Saunders 00:59:37 Smart glass?! 01:01:40 Review: 'Museum Lighting - A Guide for Conservators and Curators' 01:05:45 Dear Jane 01:10:50 Benchwork Bar: Fluorescent Bulb 01:13:53 Patreon shout out Show Notes: - Contemporary Art episode: https://thecword.show/2019/04/17/s05e03-contemporary-art/ - Connecting to Collection Care webinar 'How to Change a Lightbulb: LED Lighting for Museums': https://www.connectingtocollections.org/how-to-change-a-lightbulb/ - Example of the handheld monitor we talk about: https://www.preservationequipment.com/Catalogue/Instruments/UV-Light-Monitors/UV-Light-Monitor - 'Spread or Sacrifice: Dilemma for Lighting Policies' by Agnes Brokerhof, Pieter Kuiper & Steph Scholten: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00393630.2018.1504439 - Hampton Court Palace and Smart Tint: https://shop.smarttint.com/Hampton-Court-Palace-Smart-Tint-Inc_b_1058.html - Museum Lighting - A Guide for Conservators and Curators: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Museum-Lighting-Guide-Conservators-Curators/dp/1606066374 or https://shop.getty.edu/products/museum-lighting-a-guide-for-conservators-and-curators-978-1606066379 - Go follow Amanda Richards for more conservation cocktails: https://twitter.com/ConserveItAll Support us on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/thecword Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Sarah Potter. Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. A Wooden Dice production, 2020.
The archaeologist Francis Pryor tells Shahidha Bari about a lifetime of building vistas of our history and prehistory through the evidence of pottery shards, holes in the mud and broken bones and palaeo-archaeologist Paul Pettitt who co-discovered Britain's first cave art explains why darkness informed a critical component in the development of the human brain and archaeologist Ruth Whitehouse reflects on the use of caves for ritual. They are joined by Sharon Robinson-Calver who has been tasked with the on-going conservation of a piece of London's fatberg and poet Sean Borodale whose latest collection arises from field studies in grave yards, caves and mines. Together they discuss why the past draws them back and how that past signposts itself. Francis Pryor 'Paths to the Past' is out on March 1st 2018 Paul Pettitt, Professor of Archaeology, University of Durham and Member of the Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Research (BEER) Centre Ruth Whitehouse, Emeritus Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology, University College London Sean Borodale 'Asylum' is out on March 1st 2018 Sharon Robinson-Calver, Head of Conservation and Collection Care at Museum of London: Fatberg! on show until July
Big Ideas is a series of briefings on big ideas coming out of The National Archives' research programme. Covering themes of innovation, creativity and excellence each Big Idea will share with colleagues and professionals aspects of innovative research taking place at The National Archives and elsewhere that could apply to their own area of work. Being able to predict with any precision how collections will change over time is difficult - we are always reliant on historical data. But like fashion designers predicting future trends, we now use the data we collect everyday to model the future. The National Archives uses computer models to underpin collection management decisions and has successfully used them to reduce energy costs. In this talk, Nancy Bell, Head of Collection Care, The National Archives, and Dr Matija Strli?, Centre for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, showcase the potential of computer modelling to support the business and aid decision making.
Mind the Gap is an entirely collaborative project which has has gathered the real-life experiences of professionals in the heritage science field. It has included partners from The National Archives, UCL, Tate and the University of Exeter. The project team has developed recommendations to help turn research into practicable results. Nancy Bell, Head of Collection Care at The National Archives and Principal Investigator for Mind the Gap, shares her experiences of turning research into practice and the challenges of managing a project with partners based across the world.
Colour, pattern and texture are all 'content' but are not searchable like written text. This talk discusses how exploiting digital technology to enhance both access and preservation of the image-rich Board of Trade Design Register could open up the records to new users. The collection contains nearly three million designs (of metal, wood, glass, earthenware, wallpaper, carpets and textiles), represented as drawings, prints, tracings, photographs, samples and products, for example straw bonnets. Making images available in different ways, for instance searching and browsing by Discovery, would allow users to view the designs without handling the collection and could engage a new generation who have grown-up in an age of spectacle and online interaction.Dinah Eastop works in the Collection Care Department at The National Archives as a Curatorial Research Fellow. Her research focuses on promoting access to and preservation of the Board of Trade Design Register - both the written records of registration and the representations of the registered designs (e.g. drawings, photographs and cloth samples). She worked in textile conservation for more than 30 years, mostly at the UK's Textile Conservation Centre, but also overseas, notably for ICCROM. She has lectured and published widely on textile conservation, conservation principles and material culture studies. She has taken a special interest in anomalous objects, for example garments deliberately concealed within the structure of buildings, and string figures (cat's cradles). She is keen to exploit the opportunities provided by online technologies for exploring texts and artefacts.
This talk summarises the outcomes of the Building Environment Simulation (BES) project and discusses next steps in the care of the collection of The National Archives.
Helen Shenton, former head of Collection Care at the British Library, presents a personal perspective on preservation from her current position as executive director at the Harvard University Library.
Welcome to the first podcast from Blake TV!Name- Nicola WalkerCurrent job and place of employment- Head of Collection Care and Access, The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of ManchesterWhat did you study at sixth form or college? - A levels – English, History, ArtDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), BA (Hons) Humanities and Social Studies (English, Art History)- Gateshead Technical College (now University of Northumbria), DATEC Higher Diploma in Conservation of Fine Art (Prints and Drawings)What was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Being told by a tutor at Manchester that I didn’t have the right qualifications to go and train as a conservator – I thought, "Just you watch me!"Any other comments?- I grew up being surrounded by paintings at home and am very happy, and privileged, to work in such a wonderful environment.Nicola comes from an artistic family, some of whom knew Blake personally! You can visit this website featuring work by her grandfather Bernard Fleetwood-Walker - http://www.fleetwood-walker.co.ukDownload the video interview with Nicola Walker