From Ruin to Museum: the creation of new museums in old buildings in 19th-century Europe

In 1878, Nottingham's Castle Museum opened in what had been a charred shell since 1831 (the result of a riot attacking the Duke of Newcastle and his opposition to the Reform Act). To commemorate the 140th anniversary, the Department of History of Art, University of Nottingham, are organising a conference in collaboration with Nottingham Castle Museum. This will be taking place to coincide with a major building project, which will both restore some of the original museum's 19th-century design and redisplay the collections.

We invite papers which discuss examples of new museums established in disused or ruined buildings in the nineteenth century and later.

We welcome papers which focus on:
- Architectural restoration and/or adaptation and its changing conventions;
- Museums' place in urban structure and its planning;
- The politics of creating new institutions;
- The practical and aesthetic business of creating a collection;
- The museum as vehicle for regional identity.

We encourage international topics, both contemporaneous with 1878 and at other times, as well as comparative examples of new museums in Britain.

Submit papers to Richard Wrigley: richard.wrigleynottingham.ac.uk