pop-up-archive — DHS Reading Groups

Memory Full? Digital keepsake box

This webpage is populated with digital items (pictures, audio, photographs, posters) that respond to the theme of the DHS 2021 Annual Conference Memory Full? We had first named it a "pop-up archive" but then came to call it a "digital keepsake box". It is a transitional, emergent, space between an undisciplined collection of items loosely grouped together and something that might, or might not, become part of an actual archive in the future.

Researcher's Voicemail

Oral histories of researching ︎︎︎
—community building workshop

Memory Full objects
Dear penpal... meet and greet ︎︎︎
—community building session

︎︎︎ move the images around to read the captions and organise them to your liking ︎︎︎

“For many years these tiny little dolls have been listening to my memories, good and bad. They are called “Muñequitos de las penas de Guatemala”. If there is something bothering you, or a situation that needs resolving, or a memory you would like to keep or forget, you tell it to the muñequito before going to bed and let it spend the night under your pillow. On the next morning they go back into the little bag.” Tai Cossich

"This chunky cast bronze owl was made in the RCA foundry by me in 2015 during my History of Design MA at V&A/RCA. It holds the memory of a significant time in my life when I returned to research, and it sits on my desk to remind me of the hands and the senses in design history." Felicity Hall

"This map was my companion whenever I went into Paris during my year as an au pair. It was left by a previous au pair of the family, and I decided to keep it when my year was over. I managed to walk in each of the arrondissements while I was there, so every page holds memories for me, each metro station and street name echoing in my head." Karen Fraser

"Alice au pays des merveilles (still from the 1949 French film). This postcard is both a step out of and into a world of unknowns. Resting on my favourite picnic-themed notebook, this image is a memory full of meaning for Summer 2021. My first visit back to the V&A since the pandemic, taking me both backward and forward at the same time. Like slipping into Alice's wonderland." Jennifer McHugh

Tiny model tree from an architectural model. Fleur Elkerton

3D printed panel of the cast courts at the V&A. Fleur Elkerton

Family ring from (we think) the early twentieth century. Fleur Elkerton

Linen Tablecloth embroidered in silk thread by Miss Isabel Macrae c.1910-20 in Wester Ross in the Highlands of Scotland. Claire O’Mahony

Posters

Recording & Inventing ︎︎︎
—image-making workshop

/// Check out the image-maker "starter kit" ︎︎︎

What is this about?

This series of pre-conference events is an initiative of the Design History Society in conjunction with the DHS 2021 Annual Conference hosted virtually from Basel, Switzerland.

All activities are free and open to everyone (those registered and those not registered for the conference), but participants must book via Eventbrite in advance.

It all started with a Picnic... ︎︎︎

Organising committee

Tai Cossich
Sandra Bischler

Oral histories of researching
Andrea Foffa

Dear penpal... meet and greet
Fleur Elkerton
Karen Fraser
Felicity Hall
Jennifer McHugh

Recording & Inventing
Anna Talley
Alex J Todd
Jennifer McHugh

With special thanks to...
Jenna Allsopp
Denise Lai
Artun Özgüner
Gael Welstead

Useful links

Book via Eventbrite

DHS 2021 Annual Conference Memory Full?
Complete programme
Student-curated keynote speaker

Design History Society
Conference Bursary Application
Publishing Workshops

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