The East-West Workshops on Industrial Archaeology aim to exchange ideas and knowledge among Western and Eastern colleagues to build a more international and diverse industrial archaeology.
The workshops are organised jointly by the Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science and Technology (USTB, China), and the Association for Industrial Archaeology together with its Young Members Board.
It is planned to hold two workshop events each year, in the (Northern Hemisphere) Spring and Autumn.
Recordings of earlier workshops are available on the AIA YouTube channel
7th East-West Workshop
23rd November 2024 10:00 – 12:00 London time
Weaving the industrial period
The production of fabric and its transformation into clothes was worldwide one of the first sectors to embrace modern industrialisation, even though continuities (of domestic working spaces, traditional production processes, manual technologies, etc.) often coexisted with changes (the factory, the factory system, the power loom…). The 7th East-West Workshop on Industrial Archaeology revisits the capital importance of the textile sector in the development of the industrial period. This edition focuses on the heritage and archaeology of the textile industry from the East, the West and the world to explore its commonalities (transfer of technology, building materials, typologies, etc) and singularities (chronological disparities, heritage practices, etc.)
SPEAKERS & TALKS:
Yiping DONG (Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China): “Complexity of the Conservation of Textile Heritage in China“
The textile industry was one of the most important engines for global industrialization. Chinese modern industries were established mainly in port cities through two channels: foreign investments and the “Westernization Movement” after the Opium War. The new manufactory demanded a new type of building–the modern industrial buildings–which had a crucial influence on the modernization of Chinese architecture. From the perspective of technology transfer in East Asia, this research explores the modern textile factories in the Yangtze Delta region of China and the further localization of textile production with the modernization of urban spaces. However, this industry has a long pre-industrial tradition in China, especially in the Yangtze Delta region. How did the new techniques of mechanical mass production impact the region, one with its own rich timber construction tradition? Focusing on the historical origins of Chinese modern industrial buildings and routes of technology transfer, this paper will take early textile mills in Yangzi Delta region as examples to reveal the process of modernization in the building industry in China. The textile industry also significantly impacts urban development with its booming and declining, meanwhile the narrative of industrial past also shifted its discourses in the past decades.
Ian MILLER (The University of Salford, Britain): “Salford Twist Mill: Uncovering an Iconic Textile Factory“
The Salford Twist Mill of 1799–1801 has attracted much attention as a pioneering example of an iron-framed building, the first textile mill in England to have benefited from steam heating and one of the earliest buildings in the world to have been permanently lit by gas. Aspects of the mill’s development have been debated since its destruction in the mid-20th century, although several points of contention were clarified during an archaeological excavation and associated research conducted by the University of Salford in 2016–17. In particular, fragments of structural ironwork recovered from demolition layers yielded fresh evidence for the building’s internal cast-iron frame, enabling a definitive account to be drawn up of one of the first iron-framed mills.
Mark WATSON (Historic Environment Scotland, Britain): “Global Textile Industries and their Built Heritage“
The East-West and West-East trade in textiles- raw materials and finished goods- has left a trail of mills and factories, craft skills and know-how, that mean rich cultural connections, some more or less exploitative. Mark will comment on these and draw on what we have yet to learn about the industry, its role in bringing economic development, commonalities in types of mill, and differences. The story begins locally in New Lanark and crosses the world, an attempt to put that place in context for UNESCO, and the assistance of TICCIH (the International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage) in achieving that overview. The global pandemic in 2020-2022 actually made some places better known and some voices heard through online discussions that replaced in-person meetings that were intended to take place in Europe. Is the east-west balance imperfect but better?
More details and Register via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/7th-east-west-workshop-on-industrial-archaeology-tickets-1072988229679tdtcreator
6th East-West Workshop
11th May 2024
Industrial Ruins
Modern ruins are radically different from those ruins of ancient times that are customarily curated as archaeological heritage. They are irrational, wild and unterminated. In modern ruins, multiple changes occur quickly, making them both fascinating and disconcerting. This edition of the workshop delves into the ancient and modern ruins of industry as particular archaeological sites that allow, and demand, different explorations.
5th East-West Workshop
25th November 2023
The Architecture of Industry
Modern industrialisation changed the built environment with new materials, technologies, scales and typologies. This workshop edition explores the architecture created for or by industry, and how the post-industrial society transforms and repopulates the spaces of the industrial period. The 5th East-West Workshop on Industrial Archaeology looks at China, England, Greece and Spain to discuss current issues, trends, theoretical and methodological frameworks, and creative approaches in the research, protection, activation and divulgation of historical industrial architecture.
The fourth edition of the East-West Workshop was held on the 27th May 2023. The speakers were:
Alice Gorman (Flinders University, Australia)
“Beyond the rocket: the archaeological study of space technology”
Shujing Feng (National Academy of Innovation Strategy & Tsinghua University, China)
“Wenzhou Alum Mine from the perspective of the archaeology of technology”
Geoffrey Wallis (GW Conservation/Dorothea Restorations & AIA, UK)
“Developments in practical engineering conservation. The works of Dorothea Restorations Ltd.”
The third edition of the East-West Workshop was held on the 19th November 2022. The speakers were:
Dongdong WANG (University of Science and Technology Beijing, China)
“Discussion and interpretation of mining and metallurgical cultural heritage in Chinese museums”
Florentina-Cristina MERCIU (University of Bucharest, Romania)
“Diversity in approaching proto-industrial heritage. The water mills from Rudăria area (Romania) as a case study”
The second East-West Workshop was held on 21st May 2022. The speakers were:
- Yuchen Wang (University of Science and Technology Beijing) who spoke on: “Electronic industry heritage: the example of the Chinese display industry”
- Otis Gilbert (Wessex Archaeology) who spoke on: “Digging industrial Britain: two case studies from Sheffield and Normanton”
- Mário Bruno Pastor (Portuguese Catholic University) who spoke on “The Millano’s woollen mills in Portugal: an archaeology of absence”
- Tiago Silva Alves Muniz (Federal University of Pará) who spoke on: “The rubber industrial complex and entanglements in the Brazilian Amazon”
The first East-West Workshop was held on 8th May 2021. The speakers were:
- Professor Marilyn Palmer (President of the Association for Industrial Archaeology) who spoke on: “Industrial Archaeology in Theory”
- Dr. Mike Nevell (Industrial Heritage Support Officer for England) who spoke on: “Industrial Archaeology in Practice in the UK and Europe”
- Professor Wei Qian (Dean of the Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science and Technology, USTB) who spoke on: “Industrial Archaeology and Heritage in China: A General Overview”
- Dr. Juan M. Cano Sanchiz (Associate Professor at the ICHHST. Internationalisation officer for the YMB-AIA) who spoke one: “A Comparative Approach to China and Europe: Differences, Common Points and Potential Lines of Collaboration”
