Conference: Wallich and Indian Natural History - Collection Dispersal and the Cultivation of Knowledge. London, 6-7 Dec
We are delighted to announce that the Natural History Museum's newly
appointed Director of Science, Professor Ian Owens, will be giving the
welcome address at our conference.
As a result of this new addition to our already exciting list of
speakers, we have extended our registration deadline to the 20th November.
Registration website: http://wallich.eventbrite.com
All welcome. Please do forward this message on to your colleagues.
Wallich and Indian Natural History:
Collection Dispersal and the Cultivation of Knowledge
Tuesday, December 6 - Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Natural History Museum, London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
This conference celebrates the World Collections Programme funded
Wallich Project, a collaboration between the Natural History Museum,
London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the British Library.
Organised by the Centre for Arts and Humanities Research (CAHR) at the
Natural History Museum.
Registration Deadline: 20th November.
REGISTER FOR EVENT: http://wallich.eventbrite.com/
The full conference fee includes:
* Teas and coffees on both days, and a buffet lunch at the Natural
History Museum on day one
* Workshops to include private viewings of the Wallich collections at
Kew Gardens on day two
* A complimentary ticket for entry to Kew Gardens, and a wine reception,
on day two
For further information, including speaker abstracts and biographies,
please visit our registration site: http://wallich.eventbrite.com
Conference Abstract
This international, interdisciplinary conference will be held on the 6th
and 7th December, 2011 at the Natural History Museum, London and the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the general theme of South Asian natural
history collections, with a special emphasis on those of the Danish
botanist Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854). Wallich is a major figure in the
history and development of botany in the nineteenth century. As
Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden between 1817 and 1846, he
undertook botanical expeditions, described new plant species, collected
thousands of plant specimens amassing a large herbarium, and
commissioned local artists to draw beautiful botanical watercolours. His
work has therefore been extremely influential in South Asian natural
history research.
Major South Asian natural history collections from the 18th and 19th
century are now dispersed across institutions in South Asia, Europe and
beyond. This conference will explore the challenges associated with
studying and exploiting such collections and the interesting
opportunities they provide for interdisciplinary research. It forms an
integral part of the World Collections Programme-funded project "Wallich
and Indian Natural History", the first inter-institutional endeavour of
its kind between the Natural History Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, and the British Library. In particular, this project is creating an
exciting new website (coming soon) which supports a virtual collection
of the plant drawings, specimens and correspondence of Nathaniel Wallich.
In celebration of this project, a group of distinguished international
speakers has been brought together to present papers covering a wide
range of different disciplines. They will speak on the first day of the
conference at the Natural History Museum. Day two, held at the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, will provide a unique opportunity to see a wide
range of Wallich and related materials (including original drawings and
herbarium collections) behind the scenes at Kew. We welcome everyone
interested in natural history, art history, botany, South Asian studies,
social history, history of the British Empire, museum studies and
digital humanities to join us for what we anticipate will be a very
stimulating conference.
Programme of Events
Tuesday, 6th December at the Natural History Museum
10:00-10:20 Coffee and Registration in the Flett
Theatre Foyer, Natural History Museum Main Building (Earth Galleries)
10:20-10:30 Welcome note (Ian Owens, Director of
Science, NHM) in the Flett Theatre
10:30-10:40 Opening Remarks (Julie Harvey, CAHR Centre
Manager, NHM)
10:40-12:10 Panel 1. Nathaniel Wallich: His
Expeditions and Collections (Chair: Dr B. Venugopal, Director, National
Museum of Natural History, New Delhi)
David Arnold (Department of History, University of Warwick)
Nathaniel Wallich and the Natural History of India
Bodhisattva Kar (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, and
the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam)
Frontier, Collected: Nathaniel Wallich in the North-Eastern Frontier of
British India
Sangeeta Rajbhandary (Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan
University), Krishna K. Shrestha (Central Department of Botany,
Tribhuvan University), Mark F. Watson (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh)
Wallich and the First Explorations of the Nepalese Flora
12:10-13:10 Buffet lunch in the Flett Theatre Foyer
13:10-14:40 Panel 2. Dispersal and Movement within the
British Empire (Chair: Professor Felix Driver, Professor of Human
Geography, Royal Holloway College, University of London)
Sandip Hazareesingh (Department of History, The Open University)
Plants, Power and Productivity: The East India Company and Cotton
Imperialism in Early Nineteenth-Century Western India
Caroline Cornish (Department of Geography, Royal Holloway College,
University of London)
Circulating India: Kew, Colonial Forestry and Circuits of Display
Kapil Raj (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris)
Natural History Illustrations from south Asia in the Natural History
Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the British Library: Uses
and Potentials
14:40-14:55 Tea and coffee in the Flett Theatre Foyer
14:55-16:25 Panel 3. The Wallich Project (Chair: Dr
Vinita Damodaran, Senior Lecturer in South Asian History, University of
Sussex)
Henry Noltie (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh)
Scottish Surgeons and Indian Botany: Dispersed Collections of Drawings
and Specimens, a Case Study from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Antonia Moon (British Library) and Charlie Jarvis (Natural History
Museum)
Wallich's Papers at the British Library and Beyond
Timothy Utteridge (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Clare Drinkell (Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew) and Ranee Prakash (Natural History Museum)
The Wallich Plant Illustrations in London: Identification and Dissemination
16:25-16:45 Closing Remarks (Julie Harvey, CAHR Centre
Manager, NHM)
16:45-17:30 Tea in the Flett Theatre Foyer
Wednesday, 7th December at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Morning: Free time to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Afternoon: Workshops and private viewings of Wallich material
appointed Director of Science, Professor Ian Owens, will be giving the
welcome address at our conference.
As a result of this new addition to our already exciting list of
speakers, we have extended our registration deadline to the 20th November.
Registration website: http://wallich.eventbrite.com
All welcome. Please do forward this message on to your colleagues.
Wallich and Indian Natural History:
Collection Dispersal and the Cultivation of Knowledge
Tuesday, December 6 - Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Natural History Museum, London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
This conference celebrates the World Collections Programme funded
Wallich Project, a collaboration between the Natural History Museum,
London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the British Library.
Organised by the Centre for Arts and Humanities Research (CAHR) at the
Natural History Museum.
Registration Deadline: 20th November.
REGISTER FOR EVENT: http://wallich.eventbrite.com/
The full conference fee includes:
* Teas and coffees on both days, and a buffet lunch at the Natural
History Museum on day one
* Workshops to include private viewings of the Wallich collections at
Kew Gardens on day two
* A complimentary ticket for entry to Kew Gardens, and a wine reception,
on day two
For further information, including speaker abstracts and biographies,
please visit our registration site: http://wallich.eventbrite.com
Conference Abstract
This international, interdisciplinary conference will be held on the 6th
and 7th December, 2011 at the Natural History Museum, London and the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the general theme of South Asian natural
history collections, with a special emphasis on those of the Danish
botanist Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854). Wallich is a major figure in the
history and development of botany in the nineteenth century. As
Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden between 1817 and 1846, he
undertook botanical expeditions, described new plant species, collected
thousands of plant specimens amassing a large herbarium, and
commissioned local artists to draw beautiful botanical watercolours. His
work has therefore been extremely influential in South Asian natural
history research.
Major South Asian natural history collections from the 18th and 19th
century are now dispersed across institutions in South Asia, Europe and
beyond. This conference will explore the challenges associated with
studying and exploiting such collections and the interesting
opportunities they provide for interdisciplinary research. It forms an
integral part of the World Collections Programme-funded project "Wallich
and Indian Natural History", the first inter-institutional endeavour of
its kind between the Natural History Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, and the British Library. In particular, this project is creating an
exciting new website (coming soon) which supports a virtual collection
of the plant drawings, specimens and correspondence of Nathaniel Wallich.
In celebration of this project, a group of distinguished international
speakers has been brought together to present papers covering a wide
range of different disciplines. They will speak on the first day of the
conference at the Natural History Museum. Day two, held at the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, will provide a unique opportunity to see a wide
range of Wallich and related materials (including original drawings and
herbarium collections) behind the scenes at Kew. We welcome everyone
interested in natural history, art history, botany, South Asian studies,
social history, history of the British Empire, museum studies and
digital humanities to join us for what we anticipate will be a very
stimulating conference.
Programme of Events
Tuesday, 6th December at the Natural History Museum
10:00-10:20 Coffee and Registration in the Flett
Theatre Foyer, Natural History Museum Main Building (Earth Galleries)
10:20-10:30 Welcome note (Ian Owens, Director of
Science, NHM) in the Flett Theatre
10:30-10:40 Opening Remarks (Julie Harvey, CAHR Centre
Manager, NHM)
10:40-12:10 Panel 1. Nathaniel Wallich: His
Expeditions and Collections (Chair: Dr B. Venugopal, Director, National
Museum of Natural History, New Delhi)
David Arnold (Department of History, University of Warwick)
Nathaniel Wallich and the Natural History of India
Bodhisattva Kar (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, and
the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam)
Frontier, Collected: Nathaniel Wallich in the North-Eastern Frontier of
British India
Sangeeta Rajbhandary (Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan
University), Krishna K. Shrestha (Central Department of Botany,
Tribhuvan University), Mark F. Watson (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh)
Wallich and the First Explorations of the Nepalese Flora
12:10-13:10 Buffet lunch in the Flett Theatre Foyer
13:10-14:40 Panel 2. Dispersal and Movement within the
British Empire (Chair: Professor Felix Driver, Professor of Human
Geography, Royal Holloway College, University of London)
Sandip Hazareesingh (Department of History, The Open University)
Plants, Power and Productivity: The East India Company and Cotton
Imperialism in Early Nineteenth-Century Western India
Caroline Cornish (Department of Geography, Royal Holloway College,
University of London)
Circulating India: Kew, Colonial Forestry and Circuits of Display
Kapil Raj (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris)
Natural History Illustrations from south Asia in the Natural History
Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the British Library: Uses
and Potentials
14:40-14:55 Tea and coffee in the Flett Theatre Foyer
14:55-16:25 Panel 3. The Wallich Project (Chair: Dr
Vinita Damodaran, Senior Lecturer in South Asian History, University of
Sussex)
Henry Noltie (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh)
Scottish Surgeons and Indian Botany: Dispersed Collections of Drawings
and Specimens, a Case Study from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Antonia Moon (British Library) and Charlie Jarvis (Natural History
Museum)
Wallich's Papers at the British Library and Beyond
Timothy Utteridge (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Clare Drinkell (Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew) and Ranee Prakash (Natural History Museum)
The Wallich Plant Illustrations in London: Identification and Dissemination
16:25-16:45 Closing Remarks (Julie Harvey, CAHR Centre
Manager, NHM)
16:45-17:30 Tea in the Flett Theatre Foyer
Wednesday, 7th December at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Morning: Free time to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Afternoon: Workshops and private viewings of Wallich material