TCC@50 : Building on 50 Years of Training, Practice and Research

Keynote Presentation
Frances Lennard, University of Glasgow, UK; Patricia Ewer, Textile Objects Conservation, USA; Laura Mina, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC, USA

‘To keep this knowledge safe’: practice-led research in the work of Karen Finch.
Dr Philip Sykas, Visiting Research Fellow, Manchester Metropolitan University; and Visiting Researcher, The Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester

Throughlines of early textile conservation thinking on cleaning approaches.
Dr Sarah Scaturro, The Cleveland Museum of Art, USA 

Who reads what we record, and who cares?
Rebecca Bissonet, private practice, UK

Fifty Years of textile conservation practice at National Trust 1975 – 2025.
Clare Stoughton-Harris and Claire Golbourn, The National Trust, Norfolk, UK

From the British Library to the Bodleian: Experiences, challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned from practicing textile conservation in libraries.
Liz Rose, British Library, London, UK; Katica Laza, Historic Royal Palaces, London, UK; Gracile Roxas, independent researcher, Metro Manila, Philippines

X radiography of textiles, evolving techniques and approaches.
Christine Balloffet Carr, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA; Dr Mary M. Brooks, Durham University, UK; Dr Sonia O’Connor, Bradford University, UK

I think I won the jackpot! How a simple letter of inquiry led to an exciting and inspiring career in textile conservation.
Gail Niinimaa, Niinimaa Enterprises Inc, Calgary, Canada

Fashioning a place where East meets West.
Isobel Harcourt, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Creating and Initiating collaboration as a core process: Textile conservation in modern and contemporary collections.
Megan Creamer, Art Institute of Chicago, USA; Beth Knight, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, USA

Winging it: Cross disciplinary collaboration in the conservation of David Bowie performance costume.
Erinn Dunlea, British Museum, London, UK; Shoun Obana, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Textile conservation encounters with contemporary art.
Bernice Morris and Sara Reiter, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

The textile after-lives of performance: What role does the textile conservator play in performance preservation?
Tereza Blahova, private practice, London, UK

From the field to the laboratory, an experience teaching textile conservation as an archaeologist and textile conservator in Perú.
Arabel Fernández López, independent researcher, Peru

Conservation of northern Northwest Coast textiles in Alaska.
Sarah Owens, Interwoven Fibers LLC, Alaska, USA

Documentation as a collaborative practice: Enhancing access and preservation of intangible cultural heritage.
Olga Sofia Calvo, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC, USA

Parchment, paper and silk.
Zoe Lanceley, The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester, UK

A collaboration between engineering and conservation: Travelling an English 1600’s embroidered casket to Los Angeles.
Susana Fajardo, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Dr Kerstin Kracht, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems, Berlin, Germany; Sarah VanSnick, Trinity College Library, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Packing of textile objects and responding to crises post sabotage and destruction inside Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo.
Dina yehya AbdElGawad, Museum of Islamic Art, Egypt

Continuous change for a sustainable future.
Caroline Vogt, Abegg-Stiftung, Switzerland

The future of the international team.
Hannah Sutherland and Nora Brockmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

An evaluation of decision making for stitching techniques to support areas of loss.
Martha Peach, independent researcher, UK

Meeting the new need: Work readiness for private practice.
Alison Lister, Textile Conservation Limited, Bristol, UK

Not sticking with what we know – the evolution of adhesives teaching through practice.
Zenzie Tinker and Mira Karttila, Zenzie Tinker Conservation, Brighton, UK

Internships then and now.
Lynn McClean, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

Recalibrating our compass: Textile conservation training at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Beth Szuhay and Laura Garcia Vedrenne, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA

What might the future hold for conservation? Towards a pluriversal and climate-responsive approach to conservation.
Marina Herriges, University of Glasgow, UK

Textile conservation research at the Kelvin Centre.
Kelvin Centre staff, University of Glasgow, UK

Adapting a traditional treatment for stabilizing iron-tannate dye degradation on silk embroidered samplers.
Zofia Zhang, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Birgit Reissland and Ineke Joosten, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, Dr Ana Serrano, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Dyeing to know: Finessing Avitera® dyeing for the future.
Beth Gillions, Kirstin Ingram and Nora Brockmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Assessing the loss of efficacy in textile dyes to inform sustainable conservation practice.
Kirstin Ingram, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Dr Paul Garside and Sarah Foskett, University of Glasgow, UK

Beyond the display case: New methods for documenting and accessing historic textile collections.
Dr Xavier Aure Calvet and Dr George Jenkinson, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

The use of simple volatile chemical detectors to inform conservation decision-making.
Dr Paul Garside, University of Glasgow, UK

(Dis)Solving synthetics? The effects of treating man-made fibres with solvents.
Bryn Kelley, Paisley Park, Minnesota, USA

The conservation of a late 18th early 19th century Japanese Kimono from the National Museums Scotland collection, focussing on the reversal of previous conservation and the use of “green” solvents in its conservation.
Danielle Connolly, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

Funori as an emerging textile conservation adhesive: Exploring Japanese and Western resources.
Yubi Coates, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

Seaweed, mushrooms & gin. The curious recipes for future bio-based textiles.
Dr Brenda Keneghan, independent consultant, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

‘Rinsed in weak tea… not good, too yellow’. Daybooks from the textile workroom at the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1951-1962.
Katy Smith, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

From here to modernity: Reviving a 1930’s armchair.
Susana Fajardo and Isobel Harcourt, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

Curdlan gel – a potential new material for textile conservation.
Joanne Hackett, University of Glasgow, UK

In what ways are the tangible and intangible aspects of Colours preserved: A comparative study exploring the approaches of the National Army Museum, the Royal Scots Museum and St Paul's Cathedral in the care and preservation of regimental colours.
Catherine Harris, British Library, London, UK

Matching the stitch: Autonomous classification of embroidery techniques for replication.
Dr George Jenkinson and Dr Xavier Aure Calvet, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Reflections on sustainability at the National Trust’s textile conservation studio.
Scarlet Faro, National Trust, Norfolk, UK

A poster on posters.
Hannah Sutherland, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

TCC research in Glasgow: An overview.
Karen Thompson, Sarah Foskett, Dr. Paul Garside, Dr. Anita Quye and Joanne Hackett, University of Glasgow, UK

Trends and attitudes in the housing, handling and access of velvet and embroidered bound books across institutional collections.
Caitlin Hartmann, Historic Royal Palaces, London, UK

Textile digitisation tools and methods for a cultural heritage collaborative project.
Dr Christina Margariti, Athena Research and Innovation Centre, Marousi, Greece, and the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens, Greece. Corresponding author.

The peacock dress: A personal life hidden in plain sight.
Rosamund Weatherall, The National Trust, Norfolk, UK

Trial by fire: A multi-disciplinary collaboration for the conservation of a fire-damaged christening robe.
Yubi Coates, National Museums Scotland, UK and Gracile Roxas, independent researcher, Metro Manila, Philippines

Storage of flags.
Imrana Wasi, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

Shining a light on collaboration: Spectroscopy techniques.
Hannah Barrett, Australian Federal Police, Australia

What’s inside? How an internal view can inform the conservation approach.
Lois Glithero, The National Trust, Norfolk, UK

A sticky situation: The challenges of conserving Chinese costume.
Geena Roth, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA

Interdisciplinary conservation of Vietnamese embroidered painting: Merging tradition and modern techniques.
S.R.Karishma, Conservation Division of IGNCA, New Delhi, India

Adapting use of agar gel for localized cleaning on a moisture-sensitive 8th century Shosoin silk textile.
Masumi Kataoka and Daisuke Nagata, Shosoin Treasure House, Imperial Household Agency, Japan