ASMR at the museum | Conserving an Adzido Pan African Dance Costume | V&A

// Listen with headphones for best experience // Note: This is a longer video intended as a relaxation/study aid, which also gives a realistic insight into the painstaking conservation process. Join Senior Textile Conservator Susana Fajardo as she works on a pair of raffia leg wraps – part of a costume worn by a dancer from the Adzido Pan African Dance Company. They would have been worn for the Adzogbo dance which originates from Benin, West Africa, and was used as the finale of their 1999 – 2001 show ‘Sankofa’. Sound designer and performance-maker Julie Rose Bower has documented Susana’s steps using ambisonic sound, letting us get closer to the object than ever before. Watch as Susana tidies up the strands of brightly coloured raffia. Separating the front and back sections, she gently untangles knots and lays the strands straight so that the costume is ready to display on a mannequin. Conservation process: Susana explaining the process: 00:14 Atmosphere of Textile Conservation studio, sounds of spatula and raffia: 01:22 End of stage one of separating the front and back raffias to expose knots: 07:08 No talking, only sounds as Susana works on the costume: 07:41 Find out more about the costume: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1403708/adzido-pan-african-dance-company-dance-costume/ See our Theatre and Performance collection: https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/theatre-performance