Defining Care: Objects, Students, Archive (part of doing together 24)

Defining Care: Objects, Students, Archive

Workshop with Helen Cobby, Rebecca Davies and Sarah Morton as part of doing together 24

Thursday 4 April 2024

Caring for museum objects has a dual meaning. Collections care is a discipline with near-universal industry guidelines. However, there is a more emotive side to this practice, with objects carrying emotional and socio-cultural importance which may impact the way in which we treat them. These two definitions of care can conflict, with examples of emotive care such as frequent handling working against collections care best practice.

This workshop invited participants to collaboratively create an alternative set of museum guidelines for the emotional care of objects in the Bath Spa University archives. Through discussions and reflections about the language used around object care, we will work towards shaping an alternative set of museum guidelines at the University.

doing together 24
doing together is a yearly two-day making and sharing practice symposium at Locksbrook Campus, hosted by the Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries in collaboration with Bath School of Art, Film and Media and Bath School of Music and Performing Arts.

Workshops, delivered by staff and postgraduate students from across the University, share practice-based research methods and a broad range of approaches to practice. doing together is proposed as a generous space to make/do/share and discuss practice with colleagues from a range of different Schools.

Throughout the symposium, facilitators – alongside participants – test out ways of doing together in an effort to make their practice-based research explicit, rather than simply describe it.