This joint session will explore the role of adornment in museum architecture, collections, and display as a means of both self and social expression as well as cultural identification within domestic environments. It welcomes papers on house museums, decorative art objects, décor, ornament, design, and architecture.
The home is a place where personal expression, the formation of identity, and aesthetics collide. The site of some of the greatest debates about the role of design, houses are also expressions of their owners, their time periods, and their geographic location. House museums, period rooms, and museum objects produced for use in domestic environments remind us of the importance of the home, presenting interiors that reflect social standing, artistic movements, and evolving tastes. They often exhibit personal artifacts that show the individual preferences of their residents over time.
This collaborative session between DEMHIST and DESIGN (formerly ICDAD) allows for a broader discussion regarding how adornment shapes and reflects identity across a diversity of homes, daily lives, and societies.
Key discussion points for this joint session include these three subthemes of the Dubai 2025 General Conference:
1) Intangible Heritage: How do museums represent and educate the public about the artisanal skills of living craftspeople and artists, past and present, who contribute to domestic adornment? What challenges exist for house museums or museum installations of period rooms when artisanal traditions die out in the modern age. How are living artistic traditions associated with the domestic sphere used to activate museum collections and engage museum audiences?
2) Youth Power: How can museum engagement with younger generations connect audiences with historic forms of adornment? How have younger designers, architects, and craftspeople engaged with history in their work in the domestic sphere? How are young designers and artists today understanding the role of adornment in their designs for interior spaces? How can house museums promote contemporary interpretations by new generations of artists within apparently past styles of decoration?
3) New Technologies: Which digital and technological innovations allow museums to effectively document, preserve, and share narratives of adornment in relation to domestic environments? How can new technologies help us understand traditions of adornment through the study of homes long destroyed, or never built? How have social media and digital technologies been used to present domestic spaces and objects in museums.
By bringing together perspectives from DESIGN and DEMHIST, this session will highlight the intersections between personal heritage and material culture, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on the role of adornment in domestic interiors, house museums, and beyond.
