Issues of cultural and national identities in design.
15 Aug 2013
Centre for Research & Development on 6 June 2008
Material Matters, the third annual conference of the University of Brighton Postgraduate Design History Society (PDHS), took place in the Centre for Research & Development on 6 June 2008. Full to capacity, with delegates from the Courtauld Institute, London College of Fashion, Royal College of Art, the Costume Society, School of African and Oriental Studies, Brighton Museum and the V&A as well as from Kingston, Southampton and Teeside universities, the record number in attendance evidenced the growing reputation of the 30-strong student society.
The ten papers of Material Matters explored issues of cultural and national identities in design. The morning sessions began with a fascinating glimpse at the PhD research of University of Brighton’s Denise Gonyo into Anglo-Indian and South Asian responses to late nineteenth-century colonial exhibitions. Daniel Harrison’s presentation utilised dissertation research from his MA in the History of Design and Material Culture, and continued with the theme of cross-cultural exchange through close readings of the design and manufacture of fashionable dress made in India for European consumption from 1880-1914. Moving the chronological period forward, Susan House Wade (PhD candidate, University of Brighton) explored representations of Korea appearing in British popular media in the years 1910-1939 with the help of an extraordinary range of archival imagery.
The PhD research of Christina Lindholm into fashion and Muslim dress in Qatar formed the basis for a grounded contribution to a sometimes controversial contemporary debate. Cat Rossi (MA History of Design, 2007) followed with her current research for the V&A / RCA on the conflicting modernities at play in mid-century American promotion of Italian craft, and the session was completed by Katy May of the Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton, arguing for the Englishness of a unique collection of twentieth-century clothing preserved by a Norfolk farming family.
Two further sessions completed the day. In the Novelty and Industry panel, current History of Design MA student Bridget Millmore offered a fascinating and probing look at thread and linen button manufacture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. University of Brighton PhD candidate Anna Vaughan Kett explored the same period in her fascinating examination of attitudes to slavery readable in the Wedgwood Slave Medallion. In the Approaches and Methods panel, Amy Clark, University of Brighton alumni, discussed the challenges of fusing material culture methodologies with oral history for her current MA in Life History at Sussex. Chris Warren, PhD candidate, Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton impressed the audience with his innovative methods of interpreting large numbers of now-forgotten nineteenth-century artists, suggesting strategies that might be applied across design research.
Lively as ever, the 2008 PDHS symposium provided a warm and welcome environment for members to showcase their work, make new friends and associates, and contribute to the university’s existing design history research culture. With thanks to the School of Historical & Critical Studies and the Centre for Research & Development for their generous funding for this event.
University of Brighton’s Postgraduate Design History Society (PDHS) was established in 2005 as a peer-to-peer support network for students and emerging scholars in Design History and related subject areas. They exist to support each other’s research through regular meetings, an online forum for exchange of information, social events and an annual conference to showcase their work. New members are always welcome.
Images:
- Corean chief and his secretary from Basil Hall's (1788-1844) Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the west coast of Corea, and the great Loo Choo Island
– Dorset Buttons from the University of Reading Museum of English, Rural Life as featured in Bridgit Millmore's paper
