Every public decorative arts and design collection has hidden corners and unplumbed depths, and many private collections are difficult for outsiders to access during the best of times, much less during a pandemic. As decorative arts and design professionals face the possibility that we might not be able to visit each other’s museums and discuss with colleagues in person for some time, this conference gives us the opportunity to uncover unexpected objects and stories that have not yet been told. Focusing on decorative arts and design collections from around the globe, the 2020 ICDAD conference explores collections recently brought to light, reinterprets beloved objects through a new lens, and shows how technology can make storied historical art newly relevant.

Because this is a global conference, times are listed for New York, Paris, and the local time of each presenter. Each session is one and a half hours long. The schedule is as follows:

DAY 1: Thursday, October 15

Session One

7:00 AM USA Eastern time; 13:00 Paris; 16:00 Ekaterinburg, Russia; 19:00 Taiwan; 20:00 Japan

Naoyuki Watanabe — Oda Collection of 20th Century Design

Annie Ting-An Lin — Objects Betwixt and Between: Objects from the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen

Ludmila Budrina — Malachites of the Demidoff Family: Reconstruction of the Collection and Potential Digital Representation

Moderators:

Melissa Rinne (Kyoto National Museum, Japan)

Shoshana Resnikoff (Wolfsonian-FIU, USA)

Session Two

12:00 PM USA Eastern time; 18:00 Paris; 18:00 Netherlands; 19:00 Finland

Femke Coevert, Dafne Diamente, Aafke Wller, and Maud van Suylen — Panoramas from the Depths of the Rijksmuseum’s Storage Room

Maddalena Napolitani — Balthazar-Georges Sage: The “Hidden Collector” and his Cabinet of Decorative Arts

Leena Svinhufvud and Susanna Thiel — The Design Attic: Investigating Hidden Processes in Designer Archives

Moderators:

Kai Lobjakas (Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Estonia)

Shoshana Resnikoff

Session Three

7:00 PM USA Eastern; 1:00 Paris; 6:00 PM Mexico Central

Rebecca Tilles — Uncovering Hillwood, Washington D.C.’s Hidden Gem

Harrison Schley – The Zalinsky Collection: A Union Soldier’s Trove of Japanese Swords and Art

Claudia Marín — Devotion and Self-Representation in the 18th Century: Arts and Crafts at Museo de Arte Religioso Ex Convento de Santa Mónica

Moderators:

Annamarie Sendecki (Tiffany Archives, USA)

Shoshana Resnikoff

DAY 2: Friday, October 16

Session Four

9 AM USA Eastern; 15:00 Paris; 14:00 Portugal

Levi Higgs —Mining the David Webb Jewelry Archive

Naoko Adachi — Finding a Place in Museums for Japanese Photograph Albums from the Late-Nineteenth Century

Samantha Coleman-Aller — Hidden Gems: A Rare Group of Irish Glass Pieces

Moderators:

Kai Lobjakas

Shoshana Resnikoff