Conservation Work Placement: A Patchwork of Skills

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Helping to de-install the mannequins used for Dame Vera Lynn: An extraordinary life at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft

MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Harriet Brown reflects on her work placement in textile conservation with Zenzie Tinker Conservation studio.

For the placement module of the MA Curating Collections and Heritage, I worked at Zenzie Tinker Conservation (ZTC). This was an incredibly varied placement where I supported a wide variety of projects.

Over 150 hours, I helped with condition checks at Smallhythe Place, the actress Ellen Terry’s Kent house which is now owned by the National Trust. I participated in a shoe mounting workshop at Worthing Museum and helped with the surface cleaning and packing of the Gage family coronation robes for Firle House. I also helped to make mounts for curtains for Rudyard Kipling’s house at Bateman’s, another property owned by the National Trust in East Sussex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surface cleaning the Viscount Gage’s coronation robes and the coronation robes on display at Firle House

The main project I worked on during my placement was a patchwork quilt from the ZTC study collection. It joined the study collection after Petworth Cottage Museum decided to deaccession the object. In return, ZTC did some vital conservation work on objects in their remaining collection.

 The Petworth Patchwork

This quilt is a nineteenth-century unfinished patchwork quilt, made from a variety of fabrics, each wrapped around a paper template. The quilt was made by someone (most likely a woman) who lived locally in or near Brighton. I discovered this through my close examination of the patches in the quilt as many of the addresses and names of businesses on the patches that were still readable could be traced to locations in Brighton. These were mostly around North Street and Ship Street. The earliest date I found on the papers was the 2nd of August 1859 and the latest date I found was the 30th of October 1870. The large range of dates in the quilt was likely down to the fact that paper was relatively expensive, so scraps would have been saved up over time to be used in a project of this size. Due to the fact this quilt is over 150 years old, several of the papers have naturally started to show wear and tear. Also, the quilt had at one point been stored folded and so there were several large creases running through the fabric and papers. These both provided excellent opportunities for learning about conservation techniques.

Over the course of the 150-hour placement I photographed the patches and carried out research on the patches that were legible and had names and addresses on them. I also researched the practice of quilt making. Some of the patches had more information than others. For example, from one of the patches I was able to find out about a solicitors firm that had been operating in Brighton from 1775 to 2019! (more information can be seen here).

Once this cataloguing was finished, I then surface cleaned the paper side of the quilt. This was done using a vacuum with a brush attachment on the lightest setting and then going over the fabric part of each patch using a makeup sponge. Once I had carried out the surface cleaning, I was taught how to humidify the patches in order to release some of the creases. However, this wasn’t a very effective method, so we moved to using a vacuum table. Using the vacuum table, I was taught how to remove the creases from the papers and the fabrics, as well as how to use Japanese tissue paper to create supports for the paper patch templates to prevent them from becoming further damaged.

 

   

Before and after of two of the patches I conserved on the vacuum table using Japanese Tissue Supports

I am incredibly grateful to have worked on such a large variety of projects whilst on my placement at Zenzie Tinker Conservation as it has helped me to better understand the wide variety of conservation techniques that help make it possible for objects to go on display.

The Conflictorium: A radical museum experience

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‘The wall of conflicts’ display at the Conflictorium, 2018, image by Shubhsadhwani, licensed under the Creative Commons

MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Preksha Kothari reviews the Conflictorium in Ahmedabad, praising its politically engaged role in Indian political life.

Time and again, conflict and dissent have been viewed through the lens of caution, and commonly, as concepts that are dangerous to society. The museum setting is often uncomfortable in addressing notions of politics and activism. However, a unique museum in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India has sprung up with these very ideas at its core.

Nestled in an old suburb of Ahmedabad, the Conflictorium is the brainchild of Avni Sethi and is supported by three social organisations, Janvikas, the Centre for Social Justice and Navsarjan. Housed in the Gool Lodge, the museum strives to be a place where one can be introspective and come face to face with conflict in the inner self and their environment. The museum encourages its audiences to engage with and express discord rather than ignore it.

The Conflictorium attempts to trace the violent history of the state of Gujarat, which in popular memory is often perceived as a peace-loving region. The 2002 Gujarat riots, which are considered the bloodiest clash between the Hindu and Muslim communities in India, are seen as an anomaly. However, Sethi aims to bring people into confrontation with the oppressive and brutal past of the state and show how it has been largely ignored in Indian society. The museum sits in the vicinity of places of worship for different religious faiths and is located close to residents of underrepresented communities. One glance at the Gool Lodge and it is clear that the museum team has deliberately not gentrified the space and kept it open to everyone. This is in tandem with the core belief of the Conflictorium. The exhibits are not kept in vitrines and rope barriers are not present either. This allows visitors to touch each object and craft their own conversation with it.

The museum comprises both permanent and temporary displays. The permanent exhibits include the ‘Conflict Timeline’, ‘Empathy Alley’, and ‘Moral Compass’ among others. The Conflict Timeline portrays the history of clashes since the making of Gujarat. The Empathy Alley contains silhouettes of important political and cultural figures in the making of the country, including M.K. Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, representing how different ideologies were expressed in pre- and post-independent India. Moral Compass is a room where an authentic copy of the Indian Constitution is placed, openly accessible to any visitor. While the world’s longest-written constitution is often mistaken for a religious text, the museum hopes to make people aware of their rights through Moral Compass and make them conscious citizens.

Apart from these displays, there are poignant community exhibits that invite audiences to participate while visiting the museum. The Memory Lab acts as a path for visitors to leave their deepest feelings inside empty glass jars, offering a safe space where they can write without judgment. The Sorry Tree is a sacred fig, called peepul ka ped in Hindi. It is located in the museum premise and visitors can hang “I am sorry” notes on the branches, based on the belief that forgiveness is a powerful feeling. Recently, the museum has hosted temporary exhibitions such as “Death and Disease,” which explores the issues of the caste system in India with an allegory to the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides exhibitions, the museum invites artists, poets and writers to host talks and workshops on themes ranging from gender binaries to forests and wildlife.

What started as a college project for Avni Sethi has transformed into an internationally recognised institution that is spearheading a movement for society. Sethi was awarded the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice 2020-2022 by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. Also, the Conflictorium recently opened another space in the city of Raipur, serving as a medium for difficult conversations to be had in that city. Here’s to hoping that the many more such Conflictoriums find their inception in different parts of India, and maybe the world.

Caring for Historic Dress Collections at Worthing Museum

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MA History of Design and Material Culture student Chelsea Mountney describes how her current work with the historic dress collection at Worthing Museum draws upon the skills and ideas she developed during her MA, including the module ‘Caring for Collections and their Users’.

“Oh, my goodness” I screeched as I leaned in closer to smell this bodice from a woman’s black taffeta outfit from the 1910s, pictured above. “Can you smell that? What do you think that is?” I was informed by the ever-knowledgeable PhD student, Jo Lance, that the unusual smell was probably the scent of wood smoke that was lingering on the cloth, as homes were, of course, commonly heated with open fires.

This was my first afternoon volunteering at Worthing Museum and I had already been reminded of how crucial physical objects are in divulging history. My first task as a new volunteer was, in my eyes, possibly the best job in the entire world, to repack women’s costume for storage in their new dress archive. This kind of work, as many fashion historians will also agree, is a blissful opportunity to access and handle many items.

I had considered throughout my studies how invaluable embodied knowledge can be to the dress historian and leaned on Hilary Davidson’s work, the Embodied Turn during my MA in Design History and Material Culture. These were my first moments of getting to handle delicate or complex pieces, like the scented black outfit, and work out how they needed repacking for their future care. In the first image you can see that the delicate mesh collar needed an acid free tissue paper support. Each different garment supplied a new lesson in handling and packing. What unfortunately isn’t pictured, is that inside the sleeves were arm pit pads, small patches that were often inserted into historic clothing to protect the garment from sweat prior to the invention of deodorant. These were sadly disintegrating.

Look at the beautiful label which was hanging off the skirt section of the outfit, which of course provides another exciting line of enquiry. And as PhD student Jo pointed out, the outfit appeared to have been unpicked and adapted, the stylistic elements lending itself to an outfit from the previous century. It’s exciting details like these which are an utter privilege to witness up close and remind us how Material Culture study is an exhilarating way to decipher the past.

Photograph of 1917 Black Taffeta Day Dress, Label. Worthing Museum 4302 1-2. 11/11/22. Author’s Personal Collection.

This experience made me feel incredibly grateful for the handling workshops I undertook at Brighton Museum as part of the Caring for Collections and their Users Module, a core module for the MA Curating Collections and Heritage. This mixture of both object-based work and practical and theoretical study provided a rounded background in both the academic and the practical. On the module, we read industry-led incentives from the Museums Association and discovered scholarship on museums and heritage that help contextualise this world, like George Hein’s book, Learning in the Museum. We had sessions on Integrated Pest Management, and learnt what on earth accession numbers actually mean! Importantly, handling workshops taught us how to make a simple acid-free tissue paper pouffe, a crucial part of the packing process of course! All these insights allowed me to approach my newfound volunteering position with confidence.

As you can imagine, a fantastic bonus of volunteering with the dress collection at Worthing Museum is how much it has inspired further study, from researching different historical dressmaking techniques (remaking as methodology is one of my areas of special interest), to trying to better understand the varying forms of production during a specific period, or simply looking up other examples in this collection and beyond to better understand clothing cultures of a certain style. But sometimes there is just the simple joy of discovering a garment you have never seen before like the incredible 1920s crochet dress.

Photograph of gold coloured 1920s crochet dress. Worthing Museum 1976/277/1. 11/11/22. Author’s Personal Collection.

I am only a few weeks into this experience, and I already feel so inspired, not only to see what else this position has in store, but it has confirmed how I wish to work further in this environment, and to contribute to research in fashion and dress in this material manner.

Read our FAQs to decide which is the right course for you

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At Brighton we offer two degrees in this programme area: a Fashion and Design History course and an Art History and Visual Culture course – find out more from lecturer Dr Veronica Isaac about them and what and how you’ll learn.

Here, lecturer Veronica Issac, who has a background in the museum sector and worked for the Department of Theatre and Performance at the V&A Museum for over 10 years, answers key questions on what you can expect from a degree at the University of Brighton.

I haven’t studied history of art or fashion before. Does this matter?

No! We’re looking for students who are excited to learn and open to engaging with news ideas and sources. We also inspired by the different perspectives and knowledge everyone brings to the course.

Should I apply for the Fashion and Design History course or the Art History and Visual Culture course – what are they key differences?

If you already know that you want to specialise in Fashion and Design History then this is one of very few BA courses in which you’ll have the opportunity to do so. Choosing this course will give you access to modules which focus specifically on debates and research connected with fashion, dress and textiles. If you’re not certain, you could actually choose either, as there’s still enough flexibility when you choose option modules in Level 5 (Year 2) to decide to study a module from the Fashion and Design History, or the Art History and Visual Culture course – so there’s scope to build up a range of experience in both areas.

What should I put in my personal statement / cover letter?

We want to know about you and why you want to study at Brighton. What interests you about the course? Is there anything specific you hope to learn or experience? Is there a particular reason you want to study in Brighton (the area, the teaching staff, the things you will have the opportunity to learn about). We’re also keen to understand what experience and ideas you will bring to the course – What do you enjoy studying? What life experience do you have which might be relevant to the course? Do you write, draw, make? All these skills – and more – are relevant and helpful. Do you have any longer term ambitions which this course might help you to achieve? We want to know this course is a good fit for you, and that you’ll enjoying growing and developing during your time here. One of our students has written a blog post sharing tips based on their experience of writing a personal statement, which you can read here. We also have a dedicated page here on our website about this. 

Is a placement part of the course?

There is the opportunity to undertake a 30 hour placement with an organisation from the third sector or public service sector (not for profit) as part of the course. You are matched with a host (generally from the local area and connected with arts and heritage) and have a clearly defined role and focus for your placement. The aim of the placement is to give you the chance to gain professional skills which will boost your employability. They also you a great chance to learn about which areas of work you enjoy and where your strengths lie.

How is the course taught?

The courses are taught through a combination of lectures (delivered by staff and inspired by their ongoing research), seminars (discussions in smaller groups with fellow students, often with some preparatory reading or research tasks) and workshops which often involve object handling (led by staff and external specialists and focussed on gaining specific training or skills, or experimenting with particular research methods). You will also have the opportunity to go on class visits to relevant art galleries, museums and heritage sites. 

What introductory reading do you recommend?

There’s nothing specific you need to read to be ready to study here, but if you’re interested in Fashion and Design History, there are wonderful resources online you can explore – Google Arts and Culture https://artsandculture.google.com/ and the Fashion History Timeline https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/. It’s hard to choose a specific book as it would depend so much on whether there was a particular time period, or aspect of fashion which interested you, but some books I love are: The Birth of Cool, by Carol Tulloch and Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion, by Hilary Davidson. If you’re keen for further recommendations, ask us at open days and we’ll happily provide you with a list! You’ll also have access to fantastic range of texts in the library when you study here and plenty of time to read more about your subject.

How soon after I apply will I know if I have a place? – 

Universities are due to respond to applications submitted by 26 January 2022. This is the generic deadline although we aim to respond as soon as possible. UCAS Clearing opens on the 5 July 2022, this is when students who have not already received an offer from us may contact us to check if there are still vacancies and apply through clearing to be considered for a place.  

TheMuseumsLab 2022: MA Curating Graduate Experience

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MA Curating Collections and Heritage alumni Tony Kalume reports on how his dissertation was a springboard for attending TheMuseumsLab’s prestigious international programme, including a residency in Stuttgart

TheMuseumsLab 2022 Fellowship: What is it?

TheMuseumsLab is a platform for joint learning, exchange and continuing education on the future of museums in both Africa and Europe. The programme has the aim to provide knowledge and competencies, to foster new ideas and approaches as well as to establish close and lasting networks between future shapers of museum concepts on both sides. The programme consists of three one-week seminar modules (online and onsite in Berlin and Cape Town) lead by prominent African and European experts, a two-week residency at a renowned European partner institution and a co-working phase.

The project was developed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the Masters Programme in Museum Management and Communication at the University of Applied Sciences (HTW) Berlin, in close cooperation with the African consultancy group The Advisors.

How is it organised?

Current issues and concepts in museum management, social impact and responsibility, localisation of content, as well as practical aspects of museums as institutions in the 21st century, are divided into three modules:

  • Module 1     Entangled Histories and the Future of Cultural Memories online event
  • Module 2     Collections and Research Residencies in German Museums
  • Module 3     Communication and Strategic Management Cape Town South Africa

Why was I accepted?

I had submitted the synopsis of my MA Curating Collections and Heritage dissertation on 3D Printing as an acceleration for decolonisation to the organisers of MuseumsLab and they were delighted to accept my application. During my fellowship I visited several museums in Berlin and had a two-week residency in Stuttgart courtesy of the Linden Museum.

 

At the Linden Museum I managed to do a presentation on my 3D project and got access to the vaults storing artefacts from Africa. I noticed a lot of mistakes in the catalogues and inventory which was mostly written in German. I had to have them translated, and if I was to return, I would bid for a grant to pay for an interpreter or translator. The Director was keen to see the objects expressed in their unique form by conducting appropriate rituals and performances around them.

The Future

I was keen to emphasise that two weeks is not enough to research the collection. There is a need to get funding for a residential curator from the various African Museums in our cohort to gain access to the collections vault. I will be looking at potential funding options for collaborative work between German museums and UK heritage institutions, as each country has made progress in its own right, but there is a lack of partnership and exchange of information, knowledge and skills. I am also keen to see how we can use 3D printing in museums all over the world to enhance collections and make them readily available to members of the community, especially those who are visually impaired.

We also expect inroads towards restitution and repatriation of contested objects that are sacred and for some human remains that need to go to communities of Origin for burial. My argument is that museums should share intellectual property rights for making replicas so that the copies remain in Western museums and the originals can be shipped back to communities of origin.

Professional Placement in Collections and Heritage: The Fashioning Our World Project at the Salisbury Museum

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MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Jenny Mearns reflects on her placement with the Fashion Collection at Salisbury Museum

As part of the Professional Placements in Collections and Heritage module on the Curating Collections and Heritage MA, I decided to undertake my work placement at the Salisbury Museum in Wiltshire. I am particularly interested in historic dress and textiles, so ideally, wanted to undertake my placement working with a fashion or dress collection. As serendipity would have it, at the time of organising my placement the Salisbury Museum was about to launch the Fashioning Our World Project.

Running from April 2022 – April 2024, the project aims to uncover historic stories of sustainability within the museum’s fashion collection to inspire future generations (specifically young people) to think differently about the fashion system, to treasure what they already have rather than perpetuating the unsustainable cycle of fast fashion.

Initially, I was tasked with investigating the fashion collection to find garments that evidenced sustainable fashion practices, such as mends, repairs, re-purposing, or alteration. This was a huge task, as the fashion collection holds over 3,500 items. I began my search by looking through supporting documentation, such as accession cards and the collections database. This proved to be challenging, as past museum practices historically privileged ‘perfect’ garments and objects, so whilst repairs, mends, alterations, and repurposing were certainly present in the collection, often such information was omitted from supporting documentation. At times, certain phrases on accession cards such as ‘messed about with’ provided hints as to the alterations and hidden stories of sustainability that may be present.

Once I had identified a garment that showed promising signs of sustainable fashion practices, I then physically located and carefully unpacked the garment from the fashion storerooms for further investigation. I have been incredibly lucky in my placement to be able to spend many hours with historical garments, noting signs of wear and use that could so easily otherwise be overlooked. Some included subtle alterations, such as the sleeves of a wedding gown that have been enlarged to exaggerate a fashionable silhouette of the 1850s, while others were more radical, such as a man’s eighteenth-century waistcoat which had been repurposed into a woman’s bodice front over 100 years later. Spending time with the fashion collection has unlocked these fascinating stories of sustainability and ingenuity.

Image 2: Fabric remnants and unpicked fabric pieces from an 1880s dress made by Mrs James of 2 Hanover Square London.

Image 3: A women’s bodice front repurposed in the 1880s from an eighteenth-century male waistcoat.

 

Image 4: Interior of an 1850s wedding bodice, enlarged at the side seam by an insertion of a fabric panel alteration.

In addition to investigating the fashion collection, during my placement I also had the opportunity to expand on my presentation skills, delivering a presentation to members of the Southern Counties Costume Society. This enabled me to build up my confidence in public speaking and, surprisingly, I discovered I enjoyed it!

I was also tasked with compiling a set of guidelines for other museums to reference when searching within their own collections for stories of sustainability, and evidence of repairs, mends and repurposing. This document has now been shared with the Wessex Museums Partnership, and is subsequently being used by collections volunteers.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, and gained many practical skills, as well as development on a personal level. Even though my placement is now complete, I continue to volunteer at the museum on the Fashioning Our World project, as I feel very attached to the project and thoroughly enjoy working with the collections.

 

Image 5: A repurposed eighteenth-century pocket.

Caring for Collections: Learning about pest control in the Museum Lab

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MA Curating Collections and Heritage student Lola-May Baldock reports on study visits to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery’s Museum Lab

As part of our second semester module ‘Caring for Collections and their Users’, we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to partake in two workshops at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. Both workshops provided us with invaluable sectoral skills that are important to carry into any job role within the gallery, museum and heritage sector.

Woman placing tissue paper over exhibitOn the morning of Tuesday 3 May, we had a practical session on Integrated Pest Management with Gaye at the Brighton Museum Lab. Starting with an informal presentation delivered by Gaye on identifying pest types, how to trap them and preventative measures, the second half of the session consisted of practical collections care. We learnt about the handling and process of moving objects, artefacts and works of art. The session finished with a demonstration of how to pack objects for moving. Acid-free paper was used to create packaging called ‘puffs’ that would help safely transport a fragile taxidermy pheasant.

Our second visit to the museum lab, on the morning of 17 May was a session on disaster and risk planning. The first half consisted of a presentation on types of risk within a museum or heritage environment. We learnt about the importance of a disaster plan and what it should entail. The session included a few group tasks such as a discussion on what we would do in a crisis. The second task was a constructed situation in which we would also use the information given to handle a certain minor incident. Lastly, in groups, we got to handle ‘water damaged’ objects and delicately salvage the items using relevant techniques to dry them.

The first session taught me how to identify pest infestation. It helped me develop an understanding and awareness of how pests affect artefacts and learn about signs of infestations to look out for. This also helped me to build upon my observation skills. By extension, problem solving was necessary to help create solutions to prevent further damage caused by pest infestation. In both workshops, we had the opportunity to work in small groups and use our new skills to brainstorm how we would plan around a crisis scenario. In any role within the museum, gallery, archive or the heritage sector, being able to communicate effectively  with colleagues is imperative. Both sessions really helped solidify the academic readings and seminars that we had undertaken throughout the semester, especially when thinking about the importance of preservation of collections in the event of disaster and risk to artefacts within the museum and heritage environment.

For more information about the course, please visit: Curating Collections and Heritage MA (brighton.ac.uk)

Exciting news! Our MA graduate Arisa Yamaguci wins a prestigious award

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Reporting on MA History of Design and Material Culture graduate Arisa Yamaguci’s successes, including completing a PhD, winning a prestigious award and making important contributions to the study of dress history.

On March 26th 2022, Arisa Yamaguci, graduate from the University of Brighton MA in Design History and Material Culture, was awarded her PhD from Seitoku University, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan. She was also given the honour and prestige of receiving The President Award at graduation, which recognises highly esteemed accomplishments.

Allie joined our MA Design History and Material Culture programme in 2014, researching a dissertation titled: Japonisme in France, Japonisme in Japan: issue of the cross cultural design and consumption of silk textiles 1880 – 1914 and its related museum exhibition in Kyoto and Paris.

Her PhD from Seitoku University built on this MA research, but with a focus on the reception and use of the kimono in Britain in the late 19th and nearly 20th centuries.

Advertisement in the Bexhill Chronicle May 1914 for the local department store Miller and Franklin’s ‘real Japanese kimonos’.

Allie  is now a Lecturer at the University of Tsukuba. On March 27th she was a member of the virtual panel “Fashioning Misunderstanding – Transcultural Engagements and the Material Culture of Fashion,” chaired by Toshio Watanabe, University of East Anglia, at the annual Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, with presentations by Elizabeth Kramer, Northumbria University , Sarah Cheang, Royal College of Art, Keiko Suzuki, Ritsumeikan University  and Arisa Yamaguchi, University of Tsukuba on “Fancy Dress Described” (1879-1896.)”

Allie is currently developing a book proposal for a UK publisher with a provisional title of Kimono Circulates: Sartorial Japonisme and the Experience of Kimonos in Britain 1865-1914.

Corbin Shaw’s latest exhibition ‘Nowt as Queer as Folk’ at the Guts Gallery, London

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Piers Courtney, final year BA (Hons) Visual Culture student reports on artist Corbin Shaw’s exhibition Nowt as Queer as Folk at the Guts Gallery, London.

In the newly relocated Guts Gallery, situated opposite automobile repair shops under the arches of Hackney, artist Corbin Shaw’s newest exhibition Nowt as Queer as Folk stands in solidarity with its working-class surroundings. It’s a fitting exhibition for London’s most exciting new gallery, founded to combat London’s major institutions, a business model the gallery describes as “socio-political austerity.”

Shaw first came prominence creating St George’s flags that criticise the toxic masculinity of his own upbringing, working class routes in Yorkshire that mirror my own. The flags inscribed within the blank spaces, with the survival tactics of a young man growing up in austerity “GET A JOB, GET A CAR, GET MARRIED, GET A MORTGAGE” or simply “WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT OUR FEELINGS.” The simplicity of Shaw’s poetry has gained traction within the political background of rising right-wing politics, rising poverty through the economic turmoil of the pandemic and the scenes of rowdy young men shouting through the streets following England’s national football teams’ journey to the Euro 2020 final.

His latest instalment has a similar eloquence, but instead it is inspired by Adam Curtis’s 2021 film Can’t Get You Out of My Head, the documentary outlining the history of folk music and it’s hijacking of musicians such as Cecil Sharp, who used folk music to bolster British pride whilst spreading messages of right-wing radicalisation and racism.

Corbin Shaw, Nowt as Queer as Folk, Guts Gallery personal photography by author, 19 Feb 2022

Shaw uses iconography and cultural elements of folk as a social commentary of rural communities such has his own in Harthill, South Yorkshire. Shaw weaves in his usual slogans from his upbringing such as “PLAYING ON THE PARK UNTIL IT GETS DARK”, but instead of against the background of English nationalism, he plays upon the practice of ‘well flowering’, a pagan custom in which a water source, such as wells, are adorned with flower petals as an appreciation to the Gods for a consistent water supply. Whilst also adding badges to the tapestries, and creating vibrancy, Shaw plays on the myth of contemporary and historical village life, by juxtaposing practices as well-flowering, or adding ribbons to public drinking penalty notice signs to mimic a maypole. By accompanying working class slang with passages of rural myths, Shaw is reminding us of the instability of progress, illustrated by the roots of Brexit through nostalgic ideals of an imperial and independent Britain advertised by right-wing TV personalities.

Corbin Shaw, Nowt as Queer as Folk, Guts Gallery personal photography by author, 19 Feb 2022

The romanticism of Shaw’s tapestries, however, is what drives the work. As a Yorkshireman living in the south, I couldn’t help but smile at the largest piece, undecorated by flowers or badges. It reads like an echo chamber of memories if you’re brought up in those working-class northern cities; “BABYCAKES YOU JUST DON’T KNOW KNOW” was my first song sent on Bluetooth as a child ‘larking’ on the park. “HELLY HANSEN, TRACKIES TUCKED INTO SOCKS” was not only embroidered, but, coincidentally, was the outfit I wore to visit Guts Gallery that day.

Shaw’s work mirrors that of the gallery’s ideals, “when trying to be a force for change, we must all ask ourselves, do you want to uphold traditional views or models, or join in with change?” The artworld cannot sustain its financial disparity, nor can Britain, change is a must, and it seems to have begun with the sprouting of a flower.

Nowt as Queer as Folk runs from 10th February – 3rd March 2022.

Amy Winehouse Wardrobe: Fashion and Dress History graduate contributes to the Design Museum exhibition

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Imogen Warner-Dart in front of the ‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’ credits, in the Design Museum. 24th November 2021.

Imogen Warner-Dart, BA (Hons) Fashion and Dress History graduate shares her experiences of collecting Amy Winehouse’s clothes and working with The Design Museum curators on the Amy: Beyond the Stage exhibition

Over the past eighteen months throughout the various lockdowns, I decided to develop a project as a form of continuation after graduating from the University of Brighton’s BA (Hons) Fashion and Dress History in 2019. As both, a fashion and dress historian, and a massive Amy Winehouse fan, I started my Instagram fashion archive blog called @amywinehousewardrobe which explores not only the brands worn by Winehouse, but also her own designs and fashion collaborations, investigating their historical connotations with Mod and Ska culture through her Fred Perry designs and so on. By discovering the brands of her most famous dresses and iconic pieces she wore on stage, I started to collect Amy’s clothes. I also sourced the designs as second hand items online.

The third room of the exhibition ‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’. A display of her worn clothing among some of my ‘replica’ pieces from my collection. Pieces which are mine (Left to right) first row: the blue dress half cut off from the image with belt, the multi-coloured pastel dress second along with the gold anchor necklace, the black and nude bustier ruched tulle dress, the red polka dot silk halter neck dress. Last row towards the back, in the middle is a tiger print halter neck wiggle dress which is also mine. Plus other pieces cropped out of the photo.
December 19th 2021. Imogen Warner-Dart

During this period, my work was recognised by Fred Perry, friends and collaborators of Amy Winehouse, and finally the Design Museum curators who were putting together the exhibition ‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’. Initially the museum had two free mannequins, so they approached me to borrow two outfits from my collection to be displayed among Amy’s own clothes in the exhibition. However, due to mistiming with some of Amy Winehouse’s estate shortly before the opening of the exhibition, the museum found themselves needing more pieces at the last minute to fill the places of the missing outfits. I worked in collaboration with the curators to provide them with the pieces that they needed from my personal collection. What I hadn’t realised was that the curators in charge had been following my work for a long time while putting together the exhibition, and so were already aware of most of the pieces I owned. This made it a lot easier to figure out which items I would loan to them to stand alongside Amy’s own clothing.

A display of both Amy Winehouse’s owned and worn pieces among my own in the Design Museum. The red satin corseted Karen Millen dress, white palm print Miss Sixty Dress and abstract Dolce and Gabbana dress are my own. 19th December2021. Imogen Warner-Dart.

I believe that Amy Winehouse has been one of the most culturally significant influences on style and art in popular culture from the twenty-first century. This is why I find it so fascinating to explore her fashion to further understand her impact on style today while exploring her own stylistic roots and inspirations. The twelve pieces which I have loaned to the exhibition will remain in the Design Museum in Kensington, London until April 2022.

A plaque describing my involvement in the exhibition. Featured in the exhibit ‘Amy: Beyond the Stage’. Taken 24th November 2021. Imogen Warner-Dart.