Guest Speakers: Hatice Sule Ozer & Xijing Chen - PhD Students

Abstract 

House museums are places where visitors can see the past life in the present. A house is a one-piece artefact that includes various pieces of furniture, clothes in the cabinet, paintings hanging on walls, dishes in the kitchen, etc.  A house run as one place/house/museum to see the beauty of real life in the past. It was related to seeing beauty in its place, the beauty of daily life. At that point, there could be access difficulties for blind people as everything is supported visually. House of Handel in London is an inspiring space to encourage the younger generation of blind musicians to pursue their dreams. The house was designed as an experimental place to walk in the musician life. Handel's life has inspired the museum to communicate with blind musicians by walking into the room where Messiah was composed, touching furniture, and performing. The communication of the museum focuses on the tactile and imagination. This study investigates the interpretation of musician house museums and their reflections. The case study, the visit to Handel House and virtual tours are primary research methods to achieve the aim. Secondary research methods support this study with critical literature reviews of house museums and 'seeing' beauty from blinds. The study shows that Musician House Museums could teach how they survive with unique struggles in the museum world and its effective uses of interpretations for blind people. Embedded memories and objects turn out to be 'a realistic unreality in a real place'. 

Biography – Hatice Sule Ozer

I am a Ph.D. student in the research group of Architecture, Culture, and Tectonics in the Department of Architecture and Build Environment at the University of Nottingham, which I joined in July 2019, under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Hale and Dr. Laura Hanks. Previously, I received a bachelor’s degree in interior architecture from the University of Seljuk (2011-15) and I worked for a year as an interior designer of hotel museums. I also have an MA in Interior Design from the University of Portsmouth (2017-18).

Biography - Xijing Chen

I am a Ph.D. student in the research group of Architecture, Culture, and Tectonics in the Department of Architecture and Build Environment at the University of Nottingham, which I joined in April 2020, under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Hale and Dr. Laura Hanks. Previously, I received a bachelor’s degree in Arts and Design from Hunan Institute of Engineering, China (2003-07) and worked for 6 years as an in-house interior design manager of retail design in a tailoring brand. I also have an MA in Design Management from Birmingham City University (2015-16), worked for a year at Birmingham Architecture School as a Research Assistant.