CREATe (University of Glasgow), The Hunterian and the Institute of Art and Law are delighted to announce their collaboration in convening two events to take place in Glasgow 18-19 April 2024 under the overarching theme From Scotland to the World.
On Thursday 18th April, 5.30-6.30pm, we will consider Donor Restrictions on Galleries and Museums. Over drinks in The Hunterian Art Gallery, we will celebrate the collaboration of CREATe, The Hunterian and the Institute of Art and Law on a Special Issue of the Institute of Art and Law’s journal Art Antiquity and Law (general editor Ruth Redmond-Cooper): Donor Restrictions on Galleries and Museums guest-edited by Elena Cooper (CREATe) and Steph Scholten (The Hunterian). The Special Issue was first published in April 2023, and has been made available for free download on the CREATe website in April 2024. While the formal legal channels for varying donor restrictions are well-known, at this event we explore how scholarly work – particularly legal history – can facilitate the relaxation of donor restrictions in certain circumstances. To illustrate this approach, the painting Brown and Gold: Portrait of Lady Eden by James MacNeill Whistler (1834-1903) will be brought out of store and displayed in the main gallery space, which is made possible by the legal history scholarship in the Art Antiquity and Law Special Issue. Could a similar approach be taken to donor restrictions in relation to other paintings held elsewhere? This event is made possible by funding from the University of Glasgow’s Knowledge Exchange Fund (GKE) for the project: Interpreting Donor Restrictions: Going Beyond Whistler’s ‘Portrait of Lady Eden’.
On Friday 19th April, 9am-5pm a full-day conference is to take place in Kelvin Hall, where the theme From Scotland to the World will be explored as regards Repatriation and Museums. In recent years, a number of UK museums have repatriated artefacts and ancestral remains to a range of countries and communities. Returns to India, Nigeria, Australia, Taiwan and Native American communities, raise the question of current best practice on museum repatriation, a hotly debated and current issue globally. Drawing on diverse international case studies – including presentations from those directly involved in returns of Aboriginal material to Australia, the Ni’isjoohl Totem Pole to Canada and a natural history specimen to Jamaica – this conference will involve leading professionals, scholars and practitioners in the fields of museums, heritage and repatriation, addressing diverse questions around legal and ethical frameworks, community engagement, intellectual property, museum practice and more. This event is funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant awarded to CREATe (GBP 1 million, 2024-2028) as UK research infrastructure. The full programme can be found here.
How to register:
Both events are open to scholars, museum and gallery professionals (and their professional advisers), as well as students, those from claimant communities and those working on aspects of reparative justice relating to the conference themes. For any questions about your attendance, please contact elena.cooper@glasgow.ac.uk.
Separate registration is required for each event, as follows:
Click here to book Donor Restrictions on Galleries and Museums, 18th April, 5.30-6.30pm.
Repatriation and Museums, 19th April, 9am-5pm
LAST MINUTE TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR FROM 8.45AM.