Image courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland Natural History
The Unnatural History Museum: Mediating Nature in the Sixth Mass Extinction
We are at a crucial historical moment, in which the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List has announced a catastrophic decline in global biodiversity. Yet nature is, necessarily, interpreted in museums, through taxidermy dioramas and skeletal mounts; virtual tours and digital databases; image, text and film. This event series brings together museum professionals and academics across disciplines to encourage vital conversations about the museum mediation of the natural world during the sixth mass extinction.
Each session will be hosted on Zoom to allow for international participation, and will take the format of short papers around a specific theme, followed by a roundtable discussion.
This event series is organised by Dr Verity Burke as part of the Government of Ireland-funded project,Still Lives: Organic and Digital Animals in the Natural History Museum.
Follow the links to book onto The Unnatural History Museum. Everyone is welcome.
Full event programme: https://www.academia.edu/88404191/The_Unnatural_History_Museum_Series_Programme
Season 1: Michaelmas 2022
Extinction, 5pm Irish Time on 19th October 2022
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-unnatural-history-museum-extinction-session-tickets-424064487297
Featuring talks from and discussion with:
- Dolly Jørgensen (Co-Director of the Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities, Universitet I Stavanger and Co-Editor in Chief of Environmental Humanities)
- Adam Searle (University of Cambridge, Co-Founder of Digital Ecologies)
- Isla Gladstone (Senior Curator for Natural Science Collections, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery)
- Will Tattersdill (Lecturer in Popular Literature, Liberal Arts, and Natural Sciences, University of Birmingham)
Chair: Verity Burke (Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow, Trinity College Dublin).
Digital Media, 5pm Irish Time on 16th November 2022
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-unnatural-history-museum-digital-media-session-tickets-425195680727
Featuring talks from and discussion with:
- Paolo Viscardi (Deputy Keeper at the National Museum of Ireland: Natural History)
- Elisabeth Heyne (Project Lead for ‘Changing Natures: Collecting the Anthropocene Together’, Museum für Naturkunde)
- Matthew Brower (Co-Curator of ‘Digital Animalities’ Exhibition)
- Marijke Besselink (Senior Content Developer for Exhibitions, Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Chair: Finn Arne Jørgensen (Co-Director of the Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities, Universitet I Stavanger).
Season 2: Hilary Semester 2023
Non-Human Life, 5pm Irish Time on 22nd February 2023
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-unnatural-history-museum-animals-session-tickets-425209592337
Featuring talks from and discussion with:
- Verity Burke (Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow, ‘Still Lives: Organic and Digital Animals in the Natural History Museum’, Trinity College Dublin).
- Pandora Syperek (Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Institute for Design Innovation, Loughborough University London, and Visiting Fellow at the V&A Research Institute)
- Jazmine Miles-Long (Ethical Taxidermist and Educator)
Chair: Tim Stott (Head of Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin).
Decolonising, 5pm Irish Time on 22nd March 2023
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-unnatural-history-museum-decolonising-session-tickets-425211989507
Featuring talks from and discussion with:
- Subhadra Das (Historian and Curator)
- Catarina Madruga (Postdoctoral Researcher, ‘Colonial Provenances of Nature’, Museum für Naturkunde)
- Deborah Schrijvers (Ad Astra PhD candidate, University College Dublin)
Chair: Poul Holm (Director of Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities).
