Caring for and Preserving LGBT+ Stories

Call for Papers

Icon Scotland: LGBT+ stories & conservation online event: Contributors sought

The Icon Scotland Group is seeking contributions from all disciplines and locations for a series of 20-30 minutes online talks that connect conservation with LGBT+ collections and heritage. 

Have you been working on the care and conservation of an object that belonged to a trans person? Do you study the life of a gay artist whose paintings have recently been treated by conservators? Are you involved in the conservation of a building that was inhabited by women who loved other women? We want to hear about it! 

We hope talks can touch on the history and background of the heritage treated as well as conservation, so “two-people” talks, and collaborations between conservation and care of collections specialists, and LGBT+ heritage specialists and LGBT+ communities, are strongly encouraged. 

The event(s) will take place online. The format will depend on the response to this call, and dates will be agreed upon with the speakers, but we are currently considering October 2023 and March 2024 as possible dates. 

We have partnered with the Queer Heritage and Collections Network, who will be able to provide resources for speakers, including information on how to present LGBTQ+ histories and narratives. 

If you are interested in participating in this event, you can download one of our “speaker info forms”below and send it to Elina at [email protected] by 15th August 2023. Or, if you prefer, you can send us an email to discuss your idea and any questions you may have. 

Icon Scotland LGBT+ stories Speaker info form.docx