This is the audio version of the blog post 'Stepping Back In Mind, South East Asia'. The post was written by Muny Morgan, who is a volunteer with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 4 December 2020. This audio version is read by Tianyu, who is also a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Muny comes across a photograph taken by Anthony Kersting of Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, in Bangkok. Kersting travelled the world, and thousands of his photos are in the Courtauld's collection. However, this particular photograph leads Muny down memory lane. Muny shares photos from her own photographic archive and other pictures taken by Kersting to reflect on the varied architectures of South East Asia and how they have developed over time, from colonial buildings through to futuristic skyscrapers.

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/12/04/muny-morgan-stepping-back-in-mind-south-east-asia/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'Soutine’s Portraits Exhibition At The Courtauld Gallery'. The post was written by Stewart Cliff, who volunteered with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 1 November 2017. This audio version is read by Elena Vardon, who is a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Stewart discusses the portraits made by Soutine displayed at The Courtauld in 2017. He discusses how the artist's work relates to that of his contemporaries, including photographers, other painters, and modernist and post-modernist designers. Stewart shows us a way of looking at the portraits as having a photographic quality that captures a fleeting real moment in time, and he explains how Soutine - who lived in destitution in Europe - found fame in the USA.

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2017/11/01/stewart-cliff-soutines-portraits-exhibition/

This is the audio version of the blog post '18th Century China Under The Pen Of William Alexander: An Amazing Journey Following The British Embassy'. The post was written by Ruixian Zhang, who did a student placement with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 3 September 2019. This audio version is read by Gill Stoker, who is a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Ruixian traces the journey made in 1792 by the first British Embassy to China. William Alexander was a young draftsman who was recruited to join the embassy and record its trip: copies of drawings and engravings by Alexander are now kept in The Courtauld's Witt Library of art. Alexander's drawings, together with diary extracts by members of the embassy, give an insight into British-Chinese relations in the eighteenth-century, and show the beginnings of a struggle for power between the two countries as Britain sought to relentlessly and ruthlessly expand its trading empire.

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2019/09/03/ruixian-zhang-18th-century-china-under-the-pen-of-william-alexander-an-amazing-journey-following-the-british-embassy/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'On Visiting the British Library's Imaging Studios'. The post was written by Carol Budd, a volunteer with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 9 June 2017. This audio version is read by Bill Bryant, who is also a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Carol recounts a visit to the British Library's imaging studios. Volunteers at the Courtauld frequently visit other digitisation projects, to put our project into context, and find out more about the wider world of digital preservation and archives, and open access. The British Library kindly organised a host of talks during the visit, and volunteers heard from Fiona Clancy, Studio Manager, and Stella Wisdom and Rossitza Atanassova, Digital Curators. Did you know? The British Library are digitising their own collections, which include sound and websites, and they also offer services to other organisations and for commercial purposes. Listen to find out more!

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2017/06/09/visiting-british-library-studios/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'London's Hanging Gardens of Babylon: the Alexandra Road Estate Then and Now'. The post was written by Florence Heyworth, who did a student placement with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 2 October 2020. This audio version is read by Ellie, a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Florence looks at the history of the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, which was designed by Neave Brown for Camden Council in 1968. Known often as simply 'Alexandra Road', the estate became instantly iconic, and has featured in a number of films and music videos. However, the building of the estate ran into problems, and although it has many fans, the fame of the estate also has its downsides. Combining images from the Conway Library, from social media, and with reference to interviews with residents and news stories about the estate, Florence examines the changing fortunes of this unmistakable and ambitious post-war landscape. Her blog also includes a collage by Bella Watts and Florence Heyworth, which combines an illustration by Latheev Deepan Kolad and a Conway Library photograph. 

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/10/02/florence-heyworth-londons-hanging-gardens-of-babylon-alexandra-road-estate-then-and-now/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'Anthony Kersting "Nassau, Bahamas, Chelsea Pottery"'. The post was written by Lorraine Stoker, a volunteer with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 18 September 2020. This audio version is read by Anne Hutchings, a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Lorraine examines a single photograph by Anthony Kersting. The photograph catches Lorraine's eye for the sheer array of different sculptures that are on show, and Kersting has captured a young artist sitting amongst the statues, glazing a plate. On the back of the print is Kersting's annotation: "Nassau, Bahamas, Chelsea Pottery". This clue sets Lorraine off to discover the name of the artist at work - Maxwell Taylor - and she explores Taylor's life and work since Kersting took his photograph in the 1960s.

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/09/18/lorraine-stoker-kersting-nassau-bahamas-chelsea-pottery/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'Utopia Or Incubator? Le Corbusier’s L’Unité D’Habitation As Photographed By Lucien Hervé'. The post was written by Mia Gainsford, who did a student placement with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 10 January 2020. This audio version is read by Francesca Humi, a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Mia explores the resonances of the alternative names given to Le Corbusier’s L’Unité D’Habitation building in Marseille, France. For some, it is 'la maison du fada', or 'the madman's house', while for others it is 'the radiant city'. In the Conway library, many photographs of the building are by Lucien Hervé, who captures people in his images (unusual for most of the architectural photographs in the collection). Children play in the building's stairwells and rooftops, while adults recline on modernist furniture, gazing out of the windows. Mia examines how Hervé may have focussed on the children precisely to explore the reception of Le Corbusier's controversial building: are children innocent victims of the 'madman', his playmates, or living in a blissful utopia?

You can find the written version with images on our blog https://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/01/10/mia-gainsford-utopia-or-incubator-le-corbusiers-lunite-dhabitation-as-photographed-by-lucien-herve/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'Emerging from the emulsion: Milton Hall Chinoiserie'. The post was written by Faye Fornasier, who is the Digitisation Manager with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 26 May 2017. This audio version is read by Christopher Williams, a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Faye examines a beautiful photograph of an ornate bedroom, taken by Anthony Frank Kersting in the 1950s. The entire space is lavishly decorated, with different colours and textures suggested even in the black and white photograph. Looking closely at the digitised photograph, touching scenes - as well as reminders of empire - may be seen in the Chinoiserie wallpaper.

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2017/05/26/milton-hall/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'Worker/Housewife: Designing The Frankfurt Kitchen'. The post was written by Victoria Bennett, who is the Digitisation Assistant with the Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 25 September 2020. This audio version is read by Celia Cockburn, a digitisation volunteer.

In this blog, Victoria weighs up the revolutionary, yet conservative, ideals behind the 'Frankfurt Kitchen'. In the mid-1920s in Frankfurt, Germany saw a desperate housing shortage. In 1925, architect and city planner Ernst May was employed to head a new social housing project, known as the New Frankfurt, which would see the construction of 10,000 new homes for the working classes. He enlisted the help of Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky – Austria’s first female architect and fellow efficiency advocate – to design a new and thoroughly modern kitchen, befitting of this vision for ideal social housing. 

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/09/25/victoria-bennett-the-frankfurt-kitchen/

This is the audio version of the blog post 'Wings and Wheels'. The post was written by Evie Mc, who is a volunteer with Courtauld Connects Conway Library digitisation project. It was first published on 6 November 2017. This audio version is read by Ellie, another digitisation volunteer.

In this blog Evie delves into the symbolism of a print from the Courtauld's collection. A surreal scene of figures with many heads and wings gliding over waters accompanied by enormous wheels covered in eyes leads Evie to explore biblical passages. Evie also uncovers the meaning of the names and abbreviations at the bottom of the image, and explores some of the other works done by the same artist and engraver.

You can find the written version with images on our blog http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2017/11/06/wings-and-wheels-by-evie-mc/