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SUMMARY:Objects in Motion: Material Culture in Transition - Speaker to be 
 confirmed
DTSTART:20150618T080000Z
DTEND:20150618T170000Z
UID:TALK55719@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:24901
DESCRIPTION:Material objects are produced within specific contexts - geogr
 aphical\, cultural\, and temporal. This is true for things as diverse as a
  fifteenth-century brass astrolabe produced in France\, a wooden ceremonia
 l mask carved in Nigeria four centuries later\, or a mobile phone made in 
 China during the twenty-first century. But what happens when objects such 
 as these transition into other contexts? How are differences in use and me
 aning negotiated? Sometimes later reinterpretations and reincarnations (in
 cluding ‘fakes’ and reproductions) incorporate elements of the objects
 ’ original use and meaning\, and other times they diverge entirely.\n\nT
 he negotiation between different contexts is sometimes mainly practical\, 
 for example when actors use technology on the move or in different locatio
 ns – geographical and also sometimes cultural transitioning. Today the v
 ariability of technology use worldwide often centres on local infrastructu
 re. Users of pre-modern technology faced far greater challenges as they tr
 ied to operate non-standardised instruments\, especially in changeable and
  distant environments such as at sea or on expeditions. How did individual
 s and institutions react to such challenges? How did non-standardisation o
 f use and experience affect the knowledge embodied in and found with such 
 objects?\n\nIn other instances the transitions undergone by material goods
  are mostly cultural and temporal in nature\, as with many objects embodyi
 ng spiritual knowledge or aesthetic values. For example\, art and architec
 tural elements are sometimes reinterpreted and repurposed across centuries
  or even millennia. Examples include the Classical antiquities revered in 
 early modern and Victorian Europe\, and ancient masterpieces such as the C
 yrus Cylinder and the Antikythera mechanism which have become modern cultu
 ral touchstones. How much remained of these objects’ original meanings a
 nd uses in any given era? How have they been reinterpreted and often incor
 porated into new aesthetic\, historical\, and national narratives?\n\nThe 
 conference will bring together scholars and curators from a variety of loc
 ations\, disciplines\, and periods of study to examine these and other iss
 ues surrounding material objects in transition. This discussion will be co
 mplemented by creative responses to the theme including artwork to be disp
 layed in the Alison Richard Building\, and by events at local museums. The
  subjects discussed will range in time from antiquity to the present day\,
  and in geography across multiple continents and oceans. This breadth of s
 peakers and topics will help to shed light on the nature of dynamics which
  are central to the human experience\, and on different disciplinary and i
 nterdisciplinary approaches to studying them. These dynamics remain highly
  relevant today despite the growth of multinational corporations\, global 
 communication\, and increasing standardisation. 
LOCATION:CRASSH\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridge\, CB3 
 9DP
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