TCC Blues :: Wessex Scene Online

TCC Blues

4th December 2007
Ashleigh Toll

Rate this story

More by Ashleigh Toll

The Textile Conservation Centre (TCC) based at Winchester School of Art (WSA) is to close its doors in 2009, the University of Southampton has recently announced.

The decision will mean the loss of all jobs and courses across the centre, and has prompted one student to petition to the government to save it.

Internationally recognised as the leading institution in its field, the TCC specialises in textile conservation research, education and practice, and was originally located at Hampton Court Palace, London, before merging with the University in 1998.

However, after an extensive review of the TCC, the University has decided ‘with profound regret’ that due to financial losses, the centre will have to close. A University statement suggests that continuing to meet the Centre’s budget shortfall and to fund its new purpose-built facilities, "can no longer be justified."

Efforts to find an external source of income to bridge the funding gap were not successful, and developing a new business plan was also not a viable solution. Transferring the centre to another University was suggested, but the ‘specific professional needs’ of the organisation could not be adequately met by any of the proposed institutions.

Staff and students of the TCC have been left feeling disheartened by the recent news; one comment to the Wessex Scene was that to close an internationally famous institution like the TCC is nothing short of "an act of philistine vandalism." Mandy Patterson, an MA Museums and Galleries student has also made an E-petition on the government website to keep the TCC open: "The number of signatures in the first week is more than I had ever hoped for, but we need more if there is any hope of people listening" she said. The petition had received over 1,600 signatures at the time of going to press.

Ali Williams, WSA President, commented: "WSA Students’ Union are obviously saddened by the University’s decision to close the TCC but understand that it is no longer financially viable to keep it open. Claire Chappell (VP Education and Welfare) and I are currently arranging a meeting with the Faculty Dean to discuss the implications this decision may have on the students who are still studying specialist courses."

Professor Nick Foskett, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences, said: "The University’s top priority through any closure process will be sustaining the quality of programme and experience for all students at the TCC. All students will be able to complete their programmes at the Centre."

"We have briefed all TCC students fully and have given them opportunities to raise any questions or concerns they may have" he added.

The University has said that it "fully acknowledges the international excellence of the TCC and its significant achievements. However, postgraduate conservation education is a resource-intensive activity, [and] conservation programmes elsewhere face similar pressures."

An international summit on conservation education in the UK is being arranged by the University and the TCC Foundation, and is scheduled for the early part of 2008. Whilst this is a positive measure, it will still be of little comfort to those currently fighting to preserve an institution of such academic and historical precedence.

For more information on the closure or to add your name to the petition, please visit http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TCCClosure