Repair Week: Solander Box Making Masterclass

*** Ticket bookings go live on Thursday 23rd September at 8pm. Due to the popularity of the workshops we can only allow two bookings per person across the week. ***

In this masterclass, paper conservator Ashleigh Brown, from The Conservators, will be showing the group how to make a medium-sized solander box to store heritage material safely. A Solander box is a type of specialist casing, commonly used in archives to store old and precious manuscripts, maps, prints, documents, books, and other paper objects. Together with Ashleigh, you will learn how to build your most treasured paper possession its very own custom archival case, which will help keep it in tip top condition and act as preventative conservation.

No experience or skill necessary, all welcome!

To take part in the session you need to bring:
- a smaller-than-A4 object you'd like to store archivally!

Ashleigh Brown has been working as a paper conservator in the UK for nearly a decade, both for private individuals and public institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. She aims to work with a broad range of paper materials, from more traditional materials including parchment, photographs, prints and drawings, to modern 'paper' objects including 3D paper sculpture, paper interior objects (like Japanese lamps and wallpapers), and even plastic money. 

Important: our COVID-19 policy for Repair Week

We have adopted some temporary measures for our in-person events during Repair Week, to ensure the safety of our team and to help everyone attending to feel as comfortable as possible.

Negative test result required

All event participants coming to the Institute of Making will need to show proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within 48 hours of the event. You can either show your test result on your NHS app, or show text message confirmation of a negative test result. Unfortunately we will not be able to give access to anyone without a negative test result.

Links: Order a free lateral flow test / Register your test result on the gov.uk website

Face coverings

At our in-person events, all participants are required to wear a face covering. If you are unable to wear a face covering, please book our online events instead. We are happy to help you find an online event or to work with you to work out a type of face covering that will enable you to attend the in-person event. Email events@instituteofmaking.org.uk with any questions.

COVID symptoms

If you experience any COVID-19 symptoms, including a temperature, please cancel your event booking through Eventbrite and stay at home. We know it can be disappointing to miss an event, but it is important to keep everyone safe.

Do you have specific access requirements?

We would like to make sure that everyone can join our events and use our website as easily as possible. Please message us if you need any particular support or assistance while attending our space or using our platforms, so we can ensure those. We are also always interested in feedback to help us improve access to our activities. Contact Sara on events@instituteofmaking.org.uk.

Image credits: Solander box by Marie Brannon from Pearland TX, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All other images by Ashleigh Brown

Please let us know if you have any access requirements in order to attend this booking by emailing members@instituteofmaking.org.uk.

Contact events@instituteofmaking.org.uk if you have any additional questions.

We look forward to seeing you soon!