8 May 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr Karen Finch OBE, the Founder of the Textile Conservation Centre, the predecessor of our Centre at the University of Glasgow. Karen’s legacy is enormous. As Jane Bridgeman wrote at the time of her death in 2018, “It is no exaggeration to say that… Continue reading
By Nicole Giacomantonio, Textile Conservator. The Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History has officially moved house! After 10 years in the Robertson building, the Centre has relocated temporarily to the Hunterian Collections Study Centre, awaiting the development of a more permanent lodgings, also in Kelvin Hall, scheduled for completion later in the year.… Continue reading
Ahead of Karen’s centenary on 8th May 2021, please visit the blog on the Karen Finch website. Here you can find out what is planned for the centenary year and where to send your recollections and reminiscences for inclusion in the upcoming Centenary section of the site.
by Beth Gillions, 2nd year student, MPhil Textile Conservation My first encounter with dyeing came at a young age when my family started participating in historical re-enactments at a beautiful Tudor Manor House in Suffolk. Nestled in the grounds of Kentwell Hall’s barn sward sits the woolshed where first I learned to turn sheep’s fleece to yarn, and the ‘Dyers’ where I first… Continue reading
By Katica Laza, 1st year student, MPhil Textile Conservation. Over the past decade we have become more aware of the impact the fashion and garment making industry has on the world. Reports have emerged not only of the humanitarian issues, such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza in 2013 which highlighted the inequality and… Continue reading
By Beth Gillions and Anna F Robinson Setting the scene March 2020: lockdown of the UK in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic has been declared and we, two first year textile conservation students, make a journey to the northwest of England to weather the uncertainty of lockdown with Beth’s family. The decision to leave… Continue reading
Nicole Giacomantonio As a conservation student with a background in textile art, I tend to linger in the textile world even outside of the formality of my studies. This lockdown has provided generous free time to return to some of my favorite textile hobbies, namely quilting and knitting, that keep my manual skills in check… Continue reading
On March 16th the University of Glasgow stopped all face to face teaching and by the end of that week Scotland, along with much of the rest of the world, was in lockdown. For the students on the MPhil Textile Conservation programme the ramifications have been significant – dissertations have had to be re-conceived to… Continue reading
It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that Valerie Carson, New Zealand’s pioneering textile conservator, died on 21 January. Please have a look at this lovely tribute to her remarkable life and work by Rachel Collinge and Rangi Te Kananwa. https://mailchi.mp/tepapa.govt.nz/blog_valerie-carson?e=6e0869543e
by Anna Robinson, first year student MPhil Textile Conservation. In the last week of October, the first-year students paid a visit to the Whitworth Art Gallery at University of Manchester. At the Gallery, we were treated to a whirlwind tour, including both public and behind-the-scenes spaces by the museum’s textile conservator, Ann French. The tour… Continue reading
