My Account Log in

1 option

The power of touch : handling objects in museum and heritage contexts / Elizabeth Pye, editor.

Penn Museum Library CC175 .P69 2007
Loading location information...

Available This item is available for access.

Log in to request item
Format:
Book
Contributor:
Pye, Elizabeth.
Series:
Publications of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Antiquities--Collection and preservation--Social aspects.
Antiquities.
Antiquities--Collection and preservation--Psychological aspects.
Cultural property--Protection--Social aspects.
Cultural property.
Cultural property--Protection--Psychological aspects.
Touch--Social aspects.
Touch.
Touch--Psychological aspects.
Museums--Social aspects.
Museums.
Museums--Psychological aspects.
Cultural property--Protection.
Psychological aspects.
Social aspects.
Antiquities--Collection and preservation.
Physical Description:
262 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Place of Publication:
Walnut Creek, Calif. : Left Coast Press, [2007]
Summary:
Despite the fact that we have a range of senses with which to perceive the world around us, museums and other cultural institutions have traditionally used sight as the main way to convey information. In everyday life, though, we use touch constantly in conjunction with sight. Why, then, are visitors discouraged from touching while, behind the scenes, curators, conservators, and connoisseurs regularly handle the same objects? Contributors to this volume demonstrate the importance of touch in ascribing meaning-both in the past and present-and display how it can be used to facilitate learning in museums and in a variety of cultural and heritage institutions. They also explore how incorporating touch can have therapeutic and learning benefits to populations such as children, elderly, traditional communities, and the visually impaired.
Contents:
Introduction: The Power of Touch / Elizabeth Pye 13
Part 1 Science of Touch
1 Weighing up the Value of Touch / Alan Wing, Christos Giachritsis, Roberta Roberts 31
2 Making Sense of Touch: A Multisensory Approach to the Perception of Objects / Charles Spence 45
Part 2 History of Touch
3 Archaeology of Touch: Babylonian Magic and Healing / Mark Geller 63
4 For Your Eyes Only? The Magic Touch of Relics / Jan Geisbusch 73
5 Don't Touch! Hands Off! Art, Blindness, and the Conservation of Expertise / Fiona Candlin 89
Part 3 Professional Touch
6 Exploring the Role of Touch in Connoisseurship and the Identification of Objects / Sally MacDonald 107
7 Understanding Objects: The Role of Touch in Conservation / Elizabeth Pye 121
Part 4 Touch and Memory
8 The Elderly as 'Curators' in North London / Michael Rowlands 139
9 Easing the Transition: Using Museum Objects with Elderly People / Claire Jacques 153
Part 5 Touch and Discovery
10 The Touch Experience in Museums in the UK and Japan / Julia Cassim 163
11 Touching Art, Touching You: Blind Art, Sense, and Sensuality / Sharareh Khayami 183
12 Learning through Touch / Tara Trewinnard-Boyle, Emily Tabassi 191
13 To Play or Not To Play: Making a Collection of Musical Instruments Accessible / Andrew Lamb 201
14 Collaborative Touch: Working with a Community Artist to Restore a Kwakwaka'wakw Mask / Jessica Johnson 215
Part 6 Virtual Touch
15 Touching Ghosts: Haptic Technologies in Museums / David Prytherch, Marie Jefsioutine 223
16 Exploring Virtual Touch in the Creative Arts and Conservation / Angela Geary 241.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9781598743036
1598743031
9781598743043
159874304X
OCLC:
180989451

The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.

Find

Home Release notes

My Account

Shelf Request an item Bookmarks Fines and fees Settings

Guides

Using the Find catalog Using Articles+ Using your account