Octagon Friday Forum: Gold

An Octagon Friday Forum on the theme 'Gold' will take place on 9 February 2018 at UCL's Institute of Advanced Studies. Organised by Professor Alison Wright and Dr Allison Stielau of the History of Art Department, this half-day conference is designed to develop a network of UCL researchers interested in gold as a physical material and signifier of value across temporal, geographical, and disciplinary fields. We aim to open discussions that bridge not only Arts & Humanities and Social & Historical Sciences, but also medical science, digital technology and contemporary artistic practice. 

Presentations will address the changing economies of gold and its role within larger economies of all kinds including, but not restricted to, those of finance, global trade, luxury, aesthetics and technology. At a moment in which gold has gained a renewed visibility in global markets, high street fashion and in the contemporary art world, and its properties are instrumentalised in medicine as well as in digital and nano-technologies, historical perspectives on gold remain as vital as ever. Speakers include:

• Dr Peter Oakley (Royal College of Art)
• Professor Marcos Martinón-Torres (UCL Institute of Archaeology)
• Dr Kate Ricketts (UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science)
• Dr Sam Nixon (UCL IAS) 
• Dr Elizabeth Baquedano (UCL Institute of Archaeology)
• Dr Natasha Eaton (UCL History of Art) 
• Ellie Doney (Slade School of Fine Art, UCL Institute of Making) 
• Simson & Volley (Henrietta Simson and Jo Volley, Slade School of Fine Art)  

Download the programme here.

This event is free and open to the public. No advance booking required. Questions can be directed to Allison Stielau at a.stielau@ucl.ac.uk.