Posters will be on display in the AIC Exhibit Hall on Thursday, May 29, and Friday, May 30. Poster authors will be at their poster for a Q&A session on Friday, May 30, at 3:30pm.
Banner photo by Lane Pelovsky, Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis
The Royal Pavilion, at Brighton & Hove Museums (B&HM), is a remarkable example of the lavish ideas of the Prince Regent, George IV, and a homage to the Chinoiserie style. Of particular significance are the original Chinese Export wallpapers which form an important part of the colourful interiors. These in-situ papers and the archival holdings are unique in their rarity, quantity, and setting.
As the paper conservator at BHM since 2014 I was only dimly aware of these wallpapers, facing a busy programme of exhibitions and loans. However, during an extended period of furlough in 2020 my thoughts turned to the collections languishing and the Pavilion and how I could make come of these collections accessible and available.
My distant interest in the export wallpapers in the collection soon became an obsession! I was awarded my first of 2 two consecutive research awards from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in 2020. The first phase focused on Adelaide Corridor wallpaper and generated new physical and digital interpretation, working with a network of academics and the inhouse digital team.
A second Mellon grant was awarded in 2021. Phase two included research, paper conservation, and documentation of the Chinese export wallpapers held in the RP’s archives. This recent research gathered strong public interest via a popular live stream on social media, a popular wallpaper study day.
The final part of the funded project was to install hi spec museum grade lighting in the Adeliade corridor with new interpretation, which was installed in 2024.
Additionally, in 2024 I was award a funded PhD studentship which is a collaborative doctoral partnership between Sussex University and B&HM. The studentship will explore and interpret the impact of colonialism in respect of this specific collection, and through a conservation-led research methodology It aims to uncover new links between collections (nationally and internationally), contextualize previously undocumented materials, and lead new research into the (re)interpretation and adaptation of the wallpapers by those who created it and those who used it. Working with the RP archives as primary material for study, using practical conservation methodology and digital technology, it will seek to illustrate how its wallpaper were the product of a continued interplay and exchange of cultural heritage and reinterpretation. Work will also be done with local diaspora Chinese community groups to interpret these papers.
This talk will highlight the power of collaboration to give a collection its voice. It will discuss the passion of a conservator and the collaboration between heritage professionals and community.
