A talk and Q&A by Dr Lucie Whitmore, Fashion Curator at Museum of London
This event is part of the 'Fashion Stories' event series, co-ordinated by Rosie Findlay (MCCI) and Johanna Payton (Journalism).
In the field of preventative conservation, the separation of an object from its story is known as ‘dissociation’. The ‘Jewish Fashion Makers’ research project, started in 2019, intended to combat the ‘dissociation’ of objects in the Museum of London fashion collections from the Jewish designers, makers and retailers who were integral to their production. Four years later the exhibition, Fashion City, shares the outcomes of this research, while acknowledging and celebrating the contribution Jewish Londoners have made to the city’s reputation as a global fashion centre. Individual human stories, many of which have not been told before, are at the heart of the content and drive the overarching narratives.
This talk will recount the process of building this exhibition: from the initial object research, through the internal processes of exhibition production and external community consultation, to the finished product. It will reflect on the many different ways that stories, and storytelling, are integral to exhibition making. And it will address the responsibility that comes with telling the stories of others, of associating objects with human lives, and presenting the findings in the public domain.
All are welcome! Students can also attend Fashion City for free if they book tickets at the 10.15am or 10.45am timeslots, Mondays-Thursdays.
Biography
Lucie Whitmore is Fashion Curator at the Museum of London and is the lead curator for the current Museum of London Docklands exhibition Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners shaped global style. Lucie is primarily interested in the human stories behind fashion objects, and the power of those objects to tell affective stories of society and culture in the museum. Lucie’s PhD (University of Glasgow, 2019) was titled Fashion Narratives of the First World War and explored the ability of fashion objects to communicate civilian women’s experience of war. She has a background in textile design and is an enthusiastic knitter.
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