LAMPHHS Education Committee presents
An Act of Kindness: Conserving Human Remains
Join the LAMPHHS Education Committee for an event on conserving human remains with Cat Irving.Rafaela Ferraz poetically described conservation on the head of Portuguese serial killer Diogo Alvez as “Rather than an act of museological preservation, it felt like an act of kindness towards a fellow human being”. Human remains in museums have the unique status of being both an object embodying historic and scientific ideas, and actually being the physical vestiges of a person. Conservation work of human remains has to balance a tightrope of care and respect. This talk will look at the practical aspects of human remains care and conservation, and how these sit alongside the ethical considerations that go hand-in-hand with collections that preserve the remains of the dead.📅 Date: November 7, 2024
🕛 Time: 12-1 PM EST
📍 Location: Online (Zoom)
Meet our Speaker!
Cat Irving (she/her)
Human Remains Conservator, Surgeons' Hall Museums, Royal College of Surgeons of EdinburghCat Irving has been the Human Remains Conservator for Surgeons’ Hall since 2015 and has been caring for anatomical and pathological museum collections for over twenty years, following training in the care of wet tissue collections at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Cat is a licensed anatomist, and gives regular talks on anatomy and medical history, as well as writing the blog Wandering Bones. Recently she has carried out conservation work on the skeleton of serial killer William Burke prior to his display in National Museum of Scotland, and is Consultant Human Remains Conservator at the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.
