Understanding Egyptian Collections
Innovative display and research projects in museums
September 1-2, 2014
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Convener: Mark Norman, Head of Conservation
The Conservation Department at the Ashmolean Museum, in partnership with Oxford ASPIRE and , is hosting a two day international conference on the care and display of Egyptian collections to be held at the Ashmolean Museum on 1-2 September 2014.
Convened by Mark Norman, Head of Conservation at the Ashmolean Museum, the conference will focus on innovative ways of conserving, displaying, understanding and interpreting Egyptian collections. Day 1 will explore the redevelopment of the Ashmolean’s Egyptian displays which reopened in November 2011, while day 2 will feature papers from both the UK and the international community.
Bookings are now open through the Oxford University shop. There are four ticket types, please select the one that is correct for you:
- Delegate rate, full conference: £150
- Delegate rate, single day: £100
- Delegate rate, student (full conference): £90
- Speaker rate: £75
Bookings will close at 5pm on 15 August 2014. If you have any questions about the booking process please contact | .
Accomodation is not included in the booking fee. It may be possible to secure rooms in one of the Oxford Colleges, or further information about accomodation in Oxford is available here.
Conference Programme
Download a pdf version
Day 1, 1 September 2014
Day one will explore the redevelopment of the Ashmolean’s Egyptian galleries which reopened in November 2011. Papers will look at aspects of their interpretation, design and display, together with the conservation history of the Egyptian collections and conservation carried out during the project.
There will be opportunities for tours and technical sessions in the Egyptian galleries in the afternoon when the museum is closed to the public, as well as exclusive tours of the museum’s Discovering Tutankhamun special exhibition.
There will also be an evening reception in the museum featuring a keynote address from Richard Parkinson, Professor of Egyptology and Director of the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford and former curator in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum.
Day 2, 2 September 2014
Day two will feature four sessions welcoming speakers from around the world on the themes of conserving, displaying, understanding and interpreting. Talks will include:
On not exhibiting a corpse: the Mummy Chamber, Brooklyn Museum
Lisa Bruno, Head Objects Conservator, Brooklyn Museum
Innovations for the display of Dynastic textiles using existing designs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Emilia Cortes, Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ancient Worlds: Open Data, Mobile Web, Haptics, Digital Touch
Stephen Devine, Digital Communications Officer; Sam Sportun, Collection Care Manager/Senior Conservator, Manchester Museum
Colour on the edge: a study of pigments used at the edge of the Egyptian Empire
Kate Fulcher, PhD Student, University College London
King Menkaure in Motion: the metamorphosis of a Monolithic royal sculpture from the Old Kingdom
Susanne Gänsicke, Conservator; Matthew Siegal, Chair of Conservation and Collections Management, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Bringing it all together in the Artifact Lab
Molly Gleeson, Rockwell Project Conservator, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The importance of technical analysis and research for the conservation and display of archaeological garments
Anne Kwaspen, Conservator of the Archaeological Textile Collection, Katoen Natie
Reflecting on Egyptian Pigments: the use of Fibre Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS) for pigment analysis at the Fitzwilliam Museum
Jennifer Marchant, Antiquities Conservator; Abigail Granville, Pigment Analyst, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Problems and possibilities for the Petrie Museum’s pottery display
Susanna Pancaldo, Senior Conservator, UCL Museums and Collections
Co-Author: Dr Alice Stevenson, Curator, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL
Mummy case saved by LEGO: a collaborative approach to conservation of an Ancient Egyptian Catonnage
Sophie Rowe, Conservator; Julie Dawson, Senior Assistant Keeper, Conservation, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A case for keeping: the life and afterlife of ritual metal statuary in Ancient Egypt
Deborah Schorsch, Conservator, Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The APPEAR Collaboration: a comparative study of ancient mummy portraits
Marie Svoboda, Associate Conservator, J. Paul Getty Museum
Evolving Attitudes: past and present treatment of the Egyptian Collections of the Oriental Institute
Alison Whyte, Associate Conservator, University of Chicago
Co-Authors: Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, PhD Candidate in Egyptology, University of Chicago; Emily Teeter, Egyptologist and Special Exhibitions Coordinator, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
There will also be a number of posters presented as part of the conference; details to follow shortly.
Registration will begin at 9.30 on 1st September and the conference will close at 5.45pm on 2nd September.
If you have any questions about the conference please contact | .
