KEYNOTE
Friday, February 13, 5PM at Herring Hall Auditorium (HRG 100)
Prof. Dr. Pamela H. Smith (Columbia University) - History of Science
Artisan Epistemologies, Material Imaginaries, Embodied Knowledge: Insights from the Making and Knowing Project
Over the course of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, artists and artisans increasingly produced writings about their practice. An intriguing late sixteenth-century anonymous manuscript, Ms. Fr. 640 (now held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France), collects together over 900 “recipes" for objects of art, technology, and everyday use. In 2020, the Making and Knowing Project released Secrets of Crafts and Nature in Renaissance France, an open-access digital edition and English translation of this manuscript. The technical and artistic instructions contained in Ms. Fr. 640 provide opportunities to explore the meanings and conceptualization of making and materials in early modern Europe, and shed light on the embodied knowledge of handworkers, showing how the work of making was (and is) a form of knowing. This lecture will review results from the Making and Knowing Project's research and teaching in the lab, classroom, and the field over the last decade.
Prof. Dr. Pamela H. Smith (Columbia University) - History of Science
Artisan Epistemologies, Material Imaginaries, Embodied Knowledge: Insights from the Making and Knowing Project
Over the course of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, artists and artisans increasingly produced writings about their practice. An intriguing late sixteenth-century anonymous manuscript, Ms. Fr. 640 (now held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France), collects together over 900 “recipes" for objects of art, technology, and everyday use. In 2020, the Making and Knowing Project released Secrets of Crafts and Nature in Renaissance France, an open-access digital edition and English translation of this manuscript. The technical and artistic instructions contained in Ms. Fr. 640 provide opportunities to explore the meanings and conceptualization of making and materials in early modern Europe, and shed light on the embodied knowledge of handworkers, showing how the work of making was (and is) a form of knowing. This lecture will review results from the Making and Knowing Project's research and teaching in the lab, classroom, and the field over the last decade.
ROUND TABLE
Saturday, February 14, 5PM at Herring Hall Auditorium (HRG 100)
Material Matters: A Conversation with Experts across the Studio, Lab, and Field
A discussion with academic and professional experts on how to engage with materiality and making of art in your own research
Panelists
Prof. Dr. Pamela H. Smith (Columbia University) - History of Science
Prof. Dr. Pamela H. Smith is Seth Low Professor of History at Columbia University. Her research focuses on early modern Europe, particularly the history of science, art, and knowledge, and her scholarship has reshaped understandings of early modern knowledge production through sustained attention to intellectual culture, scientific practices, and the relationship between learned theory and practical expertise.
Prof. Dr. Farshid Emami (Rice University) - Art History
Prof. Dr. Farshid Emami is Associate Professor of Art History at Rice University. His research examines the architecture and urban and visual culture of the Islamic world, with particular emphasis on early modern Iran, focusing on questions of urbanism, patronage, spatial organization, and the social, political, and cultural meanings of built environments.
Sarah Darro, Chief Curator and Exhibitions Director (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, HCCC) - Curatorial Practice
Sarah Darro is Chief Curator and Exhibitions Director at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. In this role, she oversees exhibitions, collections initiatives, and public programming that interpret contemporary craft and material culture. She is the curator of Clutch City Craft, a major exhibition on view at HCCC from February through August 2026 that examines the craft traditions and material cultures that have shaped Houston’s identity, featuring a wide range of work from vernacular infrastructure and cultural practices to innovations connected to the city’s industrial and artistic communities.
Lorena Morales, Multidisciplinary Visual Artist - Art Practice
Lorena Morales is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose work spans installation, sculpture, and mixed media. Her practice engages themes of identity, cultural memory, and material culture, and her work has been presented in a range of exhibition and residency contexts.
Moderator
Jackson K. Doyle (Rice University) - Art History
Material Matters: A Conversation with Experts across the Studio, Lab, and Field
A discussion with academic and professional experts on how to engage with materiality and making of art in your own research
Panelists
Prof. Dr. Pamela H. Smith (Columbia University) - History of Science
Prof. Dr. Pamela H. Smith is Seth Low Professor of History at Columbia University. Her research focuses on early modern Europe, particularly the history of science, art, and knowledge, and her scholarship has reshaped understandings of early modern knowledge production through sustained attention to intellectual culture, scientific practices, and the relationship between learned theory and practical expertise.
Prof. Dr. Farshid Emami (Rice University) - Art History
Prof. Dr. Farshid Emami is Associate Professor of Art History at Rice University. His research examines the architecture and urban and visual culture of the Islamic world, with particular emphasis on early modern Iran, focusing on questions of urbanism, patronage, spatial organization, and the social, political, and cultural meanings of built environments.
Sarah Darro, Chief Curator and Exhibitions Director (Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, HCCC) - Curatorial Practice
Sarah Darro is Chief Curator and Exhibitions Director at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. In this role, she oversees exhibitions, collections initiatives, and public programming that interpret contemporary craft and material culture. She is the curator of Clutch City Craft, a major exhibition on view at HCCC from February through August 2026 that examines the craft traditions and material cultures that have shaped Houston’s identity, featuring a wide range of work from vernacular infrastructure and cultural practices to innovations connected to the city’s industrial and artistic communities.
Lorena Morales, Multidisciplinary Visual Artist - Art Practice
Lorena Morales is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose work spans installation, sculpture, and mixed media. Her practice engages themes of identity, cultural memory, and material culture, and her work has been presented in a range of exhibition and residency contexts.
Moderator
Jackson K. Doyle (Rice University) - Art History
