Call for Papers: The creation, collection and care of textiles and dress in museums and historic houses: amateurs and professionals

11 June 2015, University of Wolverhampton, UK

CHORD invites submissions for a workshop that explores the role of individuals and organisations, both amateurs and professionals, in making, collecting and caring for dress and textiles in museums and historic houses. Papers focusing on any historical period or geographical area are welcome. Museum professionals, conservators, students, academics or anybody with an interest in the topic are warmly invited to submit a proposal. We welcome both experienced and new speakers, including speakers without an institutional affiliation. Potential speakers are welcome to discuss their ideas with the organisers before submission (please see details below). Some of the themes that  might be considered include (but are not limited to)

Collecting and the collector

Class, gender and/or ethnicity and the care of historic dress or textiles

The roles of professionals and amateurs in museums and historic houses

The history of museum curatorship and conservation in dress and textiles

Professional organisations, charities and philanthropy

Amateur production, conservation, repairs and care of historic textiles or dress

The workshop will be held at the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton city Campus.

To submit a proposal, please send title and abstract of c.300 to 400 words to Laura Ugolini, at l.ugolini@wlv.ac.uk by 6 March 2015. Individual papers are usually 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion. We also welcome shorter, 10 minute presentations, which might focus on a specific collection, new project or work in progress. If you are unsure whether to submit a proposal, please e-mail Laura Ugolini at l.ugolini@wlv.ac.uk to discuss your ideas.

Small bursaries will be available for speakers to subsidise the cost of travel (within the UK) and the workshop fee.

For further information, please e-mail: Laura Ugolini at l.ugolini@wlv.ac.uk or Margaret Ponsonby at m.ponsonby@wlv.ac.uk

Or see the workshop web-page at: http://home.wlv.ac.uk/~in6086/textiles2015.htm

News about CHORD events can also be found here: http://retailhistory.wordpress.com/about/

If you would like to join the CHORD mailing list, please e-mail Laura Ugolini at l.ugolini@wlv.ac.uk

Prof. Laura Ugolini
Professor of History
Joint editor, Textile History
Dept. of History, Politics, War Studies
Faculty of Social Sciences
Room MC334
University of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
WV1 1LY