Object handling workshop

A workshop about the value of object handling among disadvantaged and underrepresented groups marks the last session in the UCL-organised series 'Touch and the Value of Object Handling'.

Organised by Dr Helen Chatterjee, Deputy Director, UCL Museums and Collections, the last session, 'Knowledge transfer in object handling' will take place at the British Museum on 7 March 2007.

The project has brought together museum practitioners, researchers and clinicians who are interested in exploring the value of object handling, touch and sensation and in measuring the impact this might have on a variety of emotions; our general wellbeing; and in enhancing knowledge acquisition. Ultimately it is hoped that the results of the workshops will provide the museum world with a toolkit for improving access and interpretation.

Previous workshops have looked at the history of touch, the impact of new technologies on our experience of touch and the therapeutic benefits of touch on hospital patients. Some of the results of these discussions are being tested, for example a related project at UCLH is using the results to determine ways of evaluating a handling box, based around reminiscence for use by hospital patients.

A final conference, summing up the discussions, will take place at UCL on 4 May 2007 and the main outcomes of the project will be collated in a book. To find out more about the project and details of how to attend the final conference, contact Devorah Romanek.