Kitchen Power: National Parallels online symposium
The Kitchen Power exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in County Mayo, Ireland, looks at the promised lifestyle and everyday reality of rural electrification and the effect that it had on the lives of Irish women. This symposium brought together a selection of international academics in design, architecture and technology history to look at how issues surrounding domesticity, gender and technology played out in a wide range of national contexts. The papers look at the gendered nature of kitchen design, the consumption and promotion of electric appliances, the impact of rural electrification programmes, and the role of women’s organisations, as well as the different ways in which international ideas about ‘modern homes’ were implemented.
The symposium was convened by Dr Sorcha O’Brien (NCAD), co-curator of the Kitchen Power exhibition, and run in partnership between the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life and NCAD. It was also supported by a Design History Society Virtual Event Grant . The Kitchen Power exhibition was developed by the Museum in partnership with Kingston University and the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) , and with support from the ESB , Irish Farmer's Journal, Age & Opportunity , and GMIT Letterfrack.
Session 1: Kitchen Power: Modernity and Domesticity in Ireland and South Korea
Chair: Noel Campbell (National Museum of Ireland)
Speaker: Dr Sorcha O’Brien (NCAD)
Speaker: Dr Yunah Lee (University of Brighton)
Session 2: Kitchen Power: Domesticity and Design in Belgium and Scandinavia
Chair: Prof Jane Pavitt (Kingston University)
Speaker: Dr Fredie Floré (KU Leuven)
Speaker: Maria Göransdotter (Umeå Institute of Design)
Session 3: Kitchen Power: Science and Modernity in West Germany and the United States
Chair: Prof David Crowley (NCAD)
Speaker: Dr. Sophie Gerber (Technisches Museum Wien)
Speaker: Prof Barbara Penner (Bartlett School of Architecture)
Session 4: Kitchen Power: Women and Education in Canada and Spain
Chair: Prof Penny Sparke (Kingston University)
Speaker: Dr Ana María Fernández García (Universidad de Oviedo)
Speaker: Prof Ruth Sandwell (University of Toronto)