Much has been written about geography’s interest in materiality and ‘things’. Research in this area has spun out in all manner of directions, from work on non-human agency and hybrid geographies to the materiality of photographs and landscape, as well as joint projects between geographers and artists. Object Love-in is a small collaborative project that explores a path less travelled by geographers, namely museum collections.
Object Love-in is an event that accompanies my ESRC funded postdoctoral fellowship and draws on themes developed over the course of my doctoral research in relation to enthusiasm, material culture and museum practice. The project brings together Science Museum curators and geographers in order to consider the Museum’s collections as material worlds with tremendous potential for geographical research. Affectionately titled Object Love-in, this workshop invites curators and geographers to reflect upon the space of the museum store, the (museum-ified) objects that form the collections and the work that goes on behind the scenes by curatorial staff. The ‘love-in’ will encourage participants to reflect on the ways in which we encounter, what Turkle terms, ‘evocative objects’ or ‘things we think with’ (2007).
On the day…
Participants are required to arrive at Blythe House from 9.30am for a prompt start at 10am. Lunch will be approximately from 12.30pm to 1.45pm. The day will end by 4.30pm.
There is also the option of an informal workshop dinner for those participants in and around London the day before the Love-in. Location TBC.
Venue information
Blythe House is located in West Kensington at 23 Blythe Road, London, W14 0QX.
The nearest tube is Kensington (Olympia), on the District line. This is just five minutes walk from Blythe House, but please note that Olympia trains run less frequently than other District line trains. Other nearby tube stations are West Kensington and Barons Court, both on the District line and just ten minutes walk away.
On the trains, Silverlink & South Central both run services to Kensington Olympia via Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction. Trains to and from Clapham Junction stop at West Brompton station to interchange with the District line.
The bus routes 9, 10, 27 and 28 pass along Hammersmith Road. The 49 bus stops in Holland Road.
Accommodation
Preferable accommodation rates are available from www.imperial-accommodationlink.com.
The Culture of Enthusiasm 