Maria Florou, Head of the Industrial Gas Museum has graduated from the department of History and Archaeology in the University of Thessaloniki, Greece and has a master degree in Museum Studies/University of Leicester, UK. In the past she has worked in archaeological excavations and in educational programs in art museums. Since 2004 she worked as an assistant curator in Technopolis City of Athens in the Department of Visual Arts. In 2011, she participated in the museological team of the Industrial Gas Museum (IGM) and since then she is Head of the IGM at Technopolis, in Athens. Since 2018, she is also in charge of the Educational Program Kids4theCity, a programme dedicated to citizenship and public awareness of the protection of the city’s monuments. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Cultural, Sports and Youth Organization, City of Athens (2018-2019). She has participated in conferences and projects for the promotion of the Industrial Archaeology and Heritage and for the use of Oral History in museums. She is also very interested on audience development and communication strategies on historical sites.
Sessions in which Maria Florou participates
Tuesday 30 August, 2022
Sessions in which Maria Florou attends
Monday 29 August, 2022
This session presents case studies and policy reviews that contribute to ongoing debate and international dialogue on the role of planning systems and conservation practices in addressing the challenges of citizen engagement—conserving local interests, place attachments alongside physical remnants of industrial heritage. Over the past half century, we have witnessed the development and changing focuses of urban planning and conservation discourses addressing industrial heritage. Relevant p...
This roundtable will examine innovative and creative pedagogical approaches and partnerships that have created opportunities for experiential learning and community engagement, while enabling successful delivery of programs and courses in industrial heritage. In recent years and with the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, undoubtedly online and distance teaching and learning are a top priority. The discussions will offer an analytical dialogue on digital learning strategies and ...
During the Industrial Revolution coal was the most important energy source for both homes and industries. At the time, coal mining created strong regional industrial identities and mentalities, as well as industrial images and imaginaries in the eyes and minds of external observers. Such identities and ideas of coal would go on to shape industrial landscapes and communities.The papers presented in this session investigate the social and economic changes that were triggered by ...
Industrial heritage and photography have a close relationship. Photography is a source for industrial archaeology. It sheds light on the links between people, their tools, their machines and their workplaces. Once the industrial activity is over, photography is also a tool for documenting and studying the sites. But far beyond that, captured by artists capable of transcending common representations, conferring on industrial remains the ugliness of an era that was thought to be over, photog...
Si la vallée du canal de Lachine a été le berceau de l’industrialisation canadienne, la géographie industrielle métropolitaine ne s’y est pas confinée, peu s’en faut, Outre les grandes concentrations d’entreprises des quartiers centraux, elle est constituée des réseaux infrastructuraux, d’une douzaine de centrales hydroélectriques et des ensembles manufacturiers disséminés dans une quinzaine de petites villes aujourd’hui intégrées dans l’aire métropolitaine. La conférence proposera un surv...
Tuesday 30 August, 2022
Drawing on case studies from diverse social, cultural, and political contexts the papers in this session discuss the different responses to maintaining and assessing not only the physical sustainability of industrial heritage but also the sustainability of its social values and meaning.
Efforts to preserve industrial heritage occurs in a socio-economic and political context. But what is being preserved and for whom? And, relatedly, what is the relationship between industrial heritage sites and the deindustrialized working-class communities that often adjoin them? The keynote will consider the ways that the preservation of Montreal’s Lachine Canal, Canada’s premier industrial heritage site, has enabled gentrification processes that have forc...
Wednesday 31 August, 2022
North America has a large number of historic canals, which have been closed to commercial shipping due in part to the evolution of transportation (higher tonnage ships, trains, trucks, etc.). While some historic canals have been filled in, forgotten or disused, many have survived, in whole or in part, becoming attractive heritage sites. For some of these, the challenge is to reconcile the preservation of historic components with the need to keep their waterway accessible to navigation. Thi...
Examples from several continents, in Europe, South America, North America, Turkey, show strong continuity in the objectives that govern the reuse of industrial buildings, for example the concern to take into account the industrial heritage as a resource for urban and territorial development, or the close links that it has with culture, whether it is used to house cultural facilities or more simply to bear witness to the history and memory of the place. Increasingly, policies for the reuse ...
The Soulanges Canal is an infrastructure, located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, which was opened to maritime traffic in 1900, succeeding the "old canal" of Beauharnois (established since 1843 on the north shore of the St. Lawrence). The Soulanges Canal was abandoned in 1959, when the current St. Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic opened.The Soulanges Canal was designed by the engineer Thomas Monro (1831-1903). Of Irish origin but trained in civil engin...
This tour offers an excursion on a privatized deck of Montreal's bateau-mouche; a playful guided tour that takes in some of the city's industrial landmarks from the St. Lawrence River.The tour is priced to cover additional costs; the fee includes access to the bateau-mouche, the tour and a drink.Departure will be on foot from the conference venue; boarding is at 3:45 p.m. at the l...
In this lecture, I would like to talk about deindustrialised communities, heritage and memory in the context of right-wing populism. Drawing on studies of memory and heritage, I argue that right-wing populists have cornered the market on talking about the past of deindustrialised communities. They have successfully misrepresented this rich and complex history to fuel rage, resentment, fear and reactionary nostalgia. Indeed, ‘the past’, and in particular the industr...
Friday 2 September, 2022
Walkers will meet at the entrance (there is only one) of Lionel Groulx Metro and from there walk along the canal to the St-Gabriel Locks. This was once the most heavily industrialized area in Canada. It is now a zone of affluence between the hardscrabble, but now gentrifying, Point Saint-Charles, historically Irish and French, and Little Burgundy, one of Montreal's first multi-racial neighbourhoods. Several former factories were converted into condominiums in the...
