‘Thinking Through Heirlooms’ is an interdisciplinary symposium that is hosted by the Centre for Design History and will be held at the University of Brighton from 5-6th Nov 20206. The symposium anchors the heirloom (a subject less discussed but of growing interest) as a starting point to branch off into both object-based and theoretical perspectives, as well as personal reflections and artistic explorations across various media.
We will have 30 speakers presenting papers, as part of 7 panels across the 2 days, addressing various aspects of the ‘Heirloom’ theme – rituals, heritage, material culture, craft practices, dress and textiles, photography and creative inheritances. As part of the presentations, there will be 5 performances as well, which highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the project. We hope that this conference will establish new theoretical, practice-oriented, and methodological foundations for future practice and research around heirlooms. We very much look forward to building an interdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners dedicated to understanding heirlooms.
Below is the link for further information, registration links and the full programme.
Event | Thinking Through Heirlooms: An Interdisciplinary Symposium | 5-6 November 2026
Image caption: ‘Ancestral Portraits of Descendants’, Kamal Badhey.