Thursday, November 7, 2024

16:30 - 17:00

Teatro Studio Borgna

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Details

Isolde Nicolaysen, British Museum, London, United Kingdom Taking the "Man" out of Manual Labour - Women's Work in Collection Management at the British Museum While women have come to dominate the field of conservation (at least in the UK), the more “technical” or “practical” aspects of art and object handling have long been seen as bit of a “boys’ club.” Yet more and more women are now joining the discipline, and there are an increasing number of professional groups being created to support the unique challenges of changing this paradigm – challenges which are in addition to the longstanding issues of low pay, job insecurity, and lack of pathways for progression that are endemic to the arts and cultural heritage sector. Rooted in the experiences of the first woman to lead the British Museum’s Heavy Object Handling team, this presentation aims to bring together knowledge and insight from women across this Museum’s Collection Management department. By sharing the obstacles we face when seeking to build museum communities based in mutual respect and understanding, we can use these lessons to extend a greater welcome to other underrepresented groups and reflect the diversity of our collections in an inclusive workforce. to be followed by: Annabel Stogdon, National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Re-framing the Landscape: Women in Art Handling Nearly 50% of the core team of Art Handlers at the National Galleries Scotland are women, with a core team comprising 7Art Handlers, 3 of which are women. In this presentation, one of the three, Annabel Stogdon, will reflect on establishing a career as an Art Technician, her route to a full time permanent Technician role at National Galleries Scotland and offer thoughts on working within a mixed gender team. This will include considering perceptions surrounding gender in relation to the physicality of the role, allocation of tasks, use of equipment and the extent to which gender is a factor in interactions with other members of the team, colleagues in other departments and encounters outside of the organisation. Looking to the future, Annabel will also share information on the Art Technician training programme at the National Galleries Scotland, trialled last year and currently being developed into a formal programme within the organisation, and how this is supporting recruitment of women into the field. Moderator: Wendela Brouwer, Head Registrars Office, Rijksmuseum, Netherlands