On Wednesday 19 May the Conservation Department at Camberwell will be running an all day event featuring lectures, project presentations, a performance and a round table debate focusing on the college’s Diaghilev costume collection. The event will precede the Victoria & Albert Museum’s autumn exhibition heralding the centenary of the Ballets Russes’ first visit to London.
Through 4 short lectures, the mornings’ contributors will inform the audience of the Diaghilev diaspora, understanding Ballets Russes costumes, a conservator’s role in making costume pieces accessible and working with Ballet Russes costume pieces in preparation for the creation of interpreted dance performances. The 4 talks will set the context for the afternoon’s student project presentations, based on their own involvement with the colleges Diaghilev collection.
The mornings’ contributors will be Keith Cavers, ballet historian; Jane Pritchard, Curator of Dance at the V&A; Alison Lister, private textile conservator and Associate Lecturer on the BA Conservation course; Millicent Hodson, dance historian, choreographer and graphic artist.
Students participating in the projects are from Camberwell’s Conservation Dept., CSM’s Performance: Design and Practise, CSM’s Fashion: History and Theory and The London Studio Centre (LSC). The student groups will present their own projects in the form of a power point presentation. Rounding up this section will be a short, site specific performance inspired by the costume collection from CSM and LSC students.
The day will finish with a round table discussion to be chaired by Judy Lindsay, the Manager of CSM’s Museum. The panel will try to uncover what has been learned from working with the collection and how these lessons might be impressed upon similar collections around the university.
Background:
From the Cuming Museum in Southwark to a chance meeting with a member of staff from CSM’s Performance: Design and Practice course, Dave Garnett from the Conservation department at Camberwell College of Arts explains some of the background to the projects inspired by the Diaghilev Ballets Russes Costume Collection here.
Useful links:
The V&A Diaghilev and Ballet Russes exhibition.
Guardian article on the V&A’s autumn exhibition.
International Council of Museums.
Ligatus – the St.Catherine’s project.
BA Conservation at Camberwell College of Arts.
BA Performance: Design and Practice at CSM.
BA Fashion: History and Theory at LCF.
Have your say!