Centre for Design History

Conference Report

March 2018 saw two members of the Centre for Design History contribute to the Swiss Design Network Research Summit annual conference ‘Beyond Change: Questioning the role of design in times of global transformations’ at FHNW Academy of Art and Design, Basel, Switzerland. Addressing 500 delegates, Professor Cheryl Buckley’s keynote ‘ On the Record: Researching Women…

Flying the Flag for Picasso’s Guernica

Dr Benjamin Hannavy Cousen, artist and author of the article Memory, Power and Place: Where is Guernica, reviews Nicola Ashmore’s 2017 book, Guernica Remakings. In a recent essay in the London Review of Books, the art historian T. J. Clark provocatively proposes that ‘Perhaps… we turn to Guernica with a kind of nostalgia’. He…

News from the Wolfsonian, Florida International University

Jeremy Aynsley, Director of the Centre for Design History reports from the USA Over the past eighteen months, I have been guest curator for the exhibition Julius Klinger Posters for a Modern Age that opened on 5 October at the Wolfsonian Florida International University, Miami Beach. Julius Klinger (1876-1942) was a Viennese-born poster designer, graphic artist…

Making and Unmaking the Environment: Reporting on the Design History Society 2017 Annual Conference

By Tania Messell, Lilian Sánchez-Moreno and Dora Souza Dias This year the DHS Annual Conference, held at the University of Oslo, was not only an opportunity to engage with fellow design historians, but also a moment of celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Society and the 30th Anniversary of the Journal of Design History….

Janet Aspley stands by the shirt she designed in the The Country Music Hall of Fame Museum

Sparkle, Twang and Two-step

Doctoral student Janet Aspley reports back from a productive research trip to USA This year I was honoured to be the recipient of the British Association of American Studies’ 2017 Marcus Cunliffe Award, which funds short-term research trips to the USA. I took my trip in June 2017, dividing my time between attendance at the…

Sale catalogue for Paris department store Au Printemps, 1924-25. University of Brighton Dress History Teaching Collection.

Appearances, Body and Society

Dr Charlotte Nicklas introduces the work of an international research group in dress history, and describes its recent committee meeting held in Brighton. On 7 July 2017, the University of Brighton hosted a meeting of the Steering Committee of the GIS –ACORSO (Groupement d’Intérêt Scientifique – Apparences, Corps & Société / Research Interest Group…

Two years on: Organising my first conference

Jenna Allsopp recounts her experience co-organising the 2017 University of Brighton Postgraduate Design History Symposium In January 2015, I wrote a post for this blog recounting my experience of attending my first academic conference as a recent BA graduate. Now, two and a half years later, with an added MA and about to embark…

Unpacking the Archive – Workshop for doctoral students in design history at the Royal College of Art

Unpacking the Archive was the second in a series of student-led events for PhD students working on research projects in history of design, architecture and related disciplines organised in partnership between the Royal College of Art, Kingston University and the University of Brighton, and supported by TECHNE. As such, the workshop built on a previous…

Modern Living in Asia 1945 – 1990

Dr Hui-Ying Kerr of Nottingham Trent University, a contributor to the University of Brighton’s recent international conference, reviews its contents and contexts. Recently, in design history, the importance of the international has been brought into focus, acknowledging the impact of globalisation and interlinking partnerships that frame competing localisms and histories. Fundamental to this is the…

The Indigenous Moment

Doctoral candidates Jo Pilcher and Adam Talbot outline a seminar event at the University of Brighton focusing on the symbolic inclusion of the ‘Other’ in the Sydney and Rio Olympic Ceremonies. Olympic ceremonies are frequently among the most-watched television events in the world. They present a unique moment for cities and countries to rebrand themselves,…

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