One-day conference held during the Wright of Derby Festival, on Thursday, 12 January 2012, Keynote speaker Prof. Stephen Daniels.

What relevance has the work of Joseph Wright of Derby for today’s artists, designers, writers, historians, scientists, city planners, policy makers and citizens of Derby? How is the unique collection of artworks and documents held by Derby Museums and Art Gallery given meaning and value in the C21st?

The location of the conference is of particular significance, as the custodianship of this internationally valued collection is primarily the responsibility of the City of Derby. Through familiarity a special bond has grown between the citizens of Derby and Joseph Wright’s paintings. His art is a subject of professional and personal interest to academics from across disciplines at the University of Derby, and other universities within the region.  Drawing primarily on this pool of expertise, the symposium celebrated a multiplicity of perspectives, in what proved to be a lively, informative, creative and entertaining day of exchanges.

Our keynote address was by Stephen Daniels, Professor of Cultural Geography at the University of Nottingham, who has worked extensively on eighteenth-century British art.  He is author of ‘Joseph Wright’ published by Tate Gallery, London.

The conference was organised by Prof. John Goto, Director of the Digital and Material Arts Research Centre, with support from Identity, Conflict and Representation Research Centre; Design and Visual Communications Research Group; Creative Technologies Research Group at the University of Derby, and Derby City Council, Derby Museums and Art Gallery and the Museums, Libraries and Archive Council (MLA).