'Art, City, Spectacle: The Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition Revisited' 9-10 November 2007
Interior of the Art Treasures Palace
2007 is the 150th anniversary of the Manchester Art-Treasures Exhibition: the largest temporary art exhibition ever held in Britain. The Exhibition comprised c.16,000 exhibits and attracted over 1,300,000 visitors in just over five months. However, the significance of the Art Treasures Exhibition exceeds its extraordinary dimensions and scale alone: as well as revisiting the Exhibition itself, this conference will address the effect of the Exhibition on: -
- the disciplinary formation and organisation of art history in Britain;
- the development of museum display in Britain and abroad
- the production of the canon of art history, shifting patterns of taste, and the recuperation of neglected artists' reputations
- changes in art market supply and demand, including the expansion of the transatlantic art trade
- the self-image and cultural identity of nineteenth-century Manchester
- the designation of new public spaces for art and the production of new audiences for art
- contemporary debates regarding the respective roles of the state, municipal authorities, voluntary associations and private individuals in the pubic provision and promotion of the visual arts
For further information about the conference, contact Helen Rees Leahy, helen.rees@manchester.ac.uk
Gallery of Modern Masters
Junior Conference
On Thursday 8th November, there will be a Junior Conference on the 1857 Manchester Art-Treasures Exhibition and its significance. This is designed for students in Y12 &13 and is an opportunity to experience the research environment and debate of an international conference at an appropriate level.
The Centre for Museology is pleased to be working in partnership with the Widening Participation team in the Faculty of Humanities on this exciting initiative. Further information
There will be an article by Helen Rees Leahy on the significance of the Manchester Art-Treasures Exhibition today in the October 2007 issue of the Museums Journal.