Kelvin Centre for Conservation & Cultural Heritage Research
The Kelvin Centre, located in Kelvin Hall, is part of the University of Glasgow’s College of Arts.
Teaching
The Kelvin Centre offers the internationally renowned MPhil Textile Conservation, a two-year full time programme, as well as two one-year programmes: MLitt Dress and Textile Histories and MLitt Technical Art History, Making and Meaning. In September 2023 a new two-year programme is due to begin: MPhil Book and Archival Materials Conservation.
If you would like more information about the Centre or about any of these postgraduate programmes please do contact the University of Glasgow's admissions department.
Research
The Kelvin Centre offers PhD opportunities in all the above subject areas and also in conservation science. Research at the Centre for Textile Conservation has thrived at the University of Glasgow. Among recent staff research projects are:
This 3-year research project, led by Professor Frances Lennard and funded by the AHRC, helped to transform our understanding of Pacific barkcloth manufacture using a multidisciplinary approach. Project partners include: Kew Economic Botany Collection, Hunterian Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.
This 3-year project, led by Frances Lennard and funded by the Leverhulme Trust, focuses on conservation and display of tapestries. The Centre's partner is the University's Engineering Dept. and uses digital image correlation and other techniques to monitor the effect on tapestries of display and of different conservation techniques.
Dye Research
Among the dye projects being led by Professor Anita Quye, are research into: dye manual and pattern books, 1700-1900; early synthetic dyes 1850s-1900; development of techniques to analyse historical dyes; the effect of light and pollution on historical dyes, and its mitigation.