The Textile Conservation Centre Foundation (TCCF) and the University of Glasgow have agreed to found the new teaching and research facility following the closure of the Textile Conservation Centre in Winchester.
The new centre will focus on multi-disciplinary object-based teaching and research that encompasses conservation and the physical sciences as well as art history, dress and textile history.
The centre will inherit existing library intellectual property and analytical equipment from the TCCF, so that staff and future students will be able to draw on the key physical and intellectual assets built up over more than 30 years.
Students will also have the opportunity to work with some of the best textile collections in the world held by Glasgow Museums, the National Museums of Scotland and the University’s own Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery.
Meanwhile, new academic posts will be created and the centre will work closely with the foundation to establish a global research network in textile conservation, textile and dress history and technical art history.
The first student intake is planned for September 2010 offering a two-year Masters in Textile Conservation and a one-year Masters in Dress and Textile History as well as opportunities for doctoral research. These new courses will join the existing Masters programme in Technical Art History, Making and Meaning, as part of the centre.
The foundation is also offering a limited number of bursaries in the first years of the textile conservation programme and a fundraising campaign is already underway to raise further funds for the new development including additional studentships and new research projects.
Potential students who would like to receive updates on the development and course details should email Ailsa Boyd at the University of Glasgow at: A.Boyd@arthist.arts.gla.ac.uk.
