Textile Conservation

Background

Textile conservation is a multi-disciplinary field combining scientific analysis and a knowledge of textile history and techniques with the practical skills necessary to carry out conservation treatments.  It offers a fascinating combination of analytical problem-solving and hands-on work as well as the chance to extend and develop knowledge of our rich textile heritage. Through a close study of the textiles they work on, textile conservators can find out more about objects and their stories and contribute to their preservation and interpretation.

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The programme combines the development of practical skills with a foundation in theory, including chemistry, and an awareness of the cultural significance of textiles and other objects. It aims to foster the key skills of judgement and decision-making, enabling graduates to select and carry out appropriate conservation treatments for a range of textile objects. The programme is a development of the MA Textile Conservation offered by the Textile Conservation Centre, University of Southampton, from 1999-2009.

MPhil Textile Conservation is part of the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History, and shares accommodation with students on the MLitt Technical Art History: Making and Meaning. The teaching on some courses is shared with students on other programmes in the College of Arts. Students benefit from the programme’s close links with Glasgow Museums, as well as the University’s own Hunterian Museum, and they are able to draw on the museums’ rich and varied textile collections.

The two-year programme provides a comprehensive, career-entry professional education to meet the needs of the heritage sector. It includes:

• object treatment through professional projects for museums and other clients and a work placement in a museum or other institution
• related practical skills including dyeing and photography
• the science underpinning textile deterioration and conservation treatments
• an understanding of preventive conservation techniques
• the technological, cultural, historic and aesthetic contexts of textile artefacts
• the place of conservation in the wider cultural sector
• an extended research project leading to a dissertation

Facilities

The programme is housed in newly refurbished conservation laboratories in the University’s Robertson Building – it shares space with the  MLitt in 'Technical Art History: Making and Meaning' programme. The facilities include student workrooms, a wet lab, dye lab, chemistry lab and a well-equipped analytical lab.

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Funding for MPhil Textile Conservation

The selection process for the MPhil Textile Conservation programme begins some time before the start of the academic year, to allow students time to raise funds for their study. The closing date for applications is in November, for entry the following year.

All successful applicants to the programme are encouraged to research funding opportunities and to apply for funding  – advice is available from the College of Arts Graduate School.   In addition there is some bursary funding available through the Textile Conservation Centre Foundation – all successful applicants will be sent an application form.  There are some other sources of funding, such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and smaller trusts and grant-giving bodies in the UK, as well as some overseas sources.

Potential applicants could begin to investigate local sources of funding but you should not make contact with funding bodies before you have been offered and accepted a place on the programme. For more information please see: School of Culture and Creative Arts Funding.